No abstract

Chemical and physical traits and fatty acid composition of meat samples from 148 Piemontese beef samples were predicted by near infrared spectroscopy. Coefficients of determination in calibration (R2) ranged between 0.44 and 0.99 for chemical composition and between 0.02 and 0.98 for fatty acid (FA) profile, being in general more accurate for the major FA. The calibration results gave inaccurate prediction for cholesterol and collagen content and for most physical traits, such as Warner-Bratzler shear force, cooking loss, drip loss, colour (L, a, b) and pH

The study compared growth and slaughter performance and meat quality of organic beef cattle finished with or without pasture grazing. One group of 10 Limousin heifers was finished under confined conditions and fed ad libitum a total mixed ration based on maize silage, hay and cereal grains. A second group of 10 Limousin heifers rotationally grazed two contiguous pasture plots of 1.5 ha each with a daily supplementation of a concentrate mix based on cereal grains and roasted soybeans. Heifers were slaughtered at commercial finishing and meat quality traits were assessed on Longissimus thoracis muscle. The grazing group, due to a lower average daily gain (0.74 vs. 0.95 kg/day; P<0.05), required a prolonged finishing period (172 vs. 155 days; P<0.05) than the confined animals. Meat samples from grazing cattle were less tender (shear force: 3.92 vs. 3.24 kg/cm 2 ; P<0.05) and showed a lower lightness (L*: 33.0 vs. 35.8; P<0.001) and a higher redness (15.4 vs. 13.7; P<0.01) and yellowness (15.6 vs. 14.6; P<0.05). Fatty acid composition of the intramuscular fat was significantly affected by the finishing system. Grazing heifers had a higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (4.06 vs. 3.66% of total fatty acids; P<0.05), conjugated linoleic acids (0.16 vs. 0.10% of total fatty acids; P<0.01) and ω-3 (0.44 vs. 0.30% of total fatty acids; P<0.001) than confined animals. The detrimental effects of pasture grazing on growth performance and on some important meat quality traits explain the limited adoption of this finishing system in organic beef production.

The study compared behaviour and clinical parameters of beef cattle housed on two different types of floor (fully slatted vs. deep litter) considering animals belonging to 2 live weight classes (less vs. more than 350 kg). The assessment of behavioural and clinical parameters was carried out in 20 intensive farms, all rearing imported bulls. Floor type had no effect on cattle behaviour except for the duration of the lying down sequence, which lasted more for bulls kept on slats. Slatted floor increased also the likelihood of occurrence of hair and skin lesions and lameness. On the other hand, bulls cleanliness was more likely to be impaired on bedded floor. Regarding the class of live weight, behavioural observation showed lighter animals performing more antagonistic interactions, while horning resulted more frequent in heavier bulls. Avoidance distance test indicated that bulls >350 kg were more fearful of humans. About health status, light animals were more affected by respiratory disease and hairless patches, likely because they are more sensitive to the stressful situations imposed by their transfer and adaptation to the new housing environment of the fattening unit. The risk of skin lesions and dirtiness increased instead in heavier bulls

The study evaluated the use of extruded pea as an alternative to soybean in the protein feeding of dairy cattle raised in organic Alpine farms. The research was carried out in a commercial organic dairy farm located in the Province of Trento (Northern Italy) and it considered two separate periods of cows' lactation: early and late lactation. According to the traditional management practice of alpine dairy herds with the seasonal calving of the cows in early winter, the former period was carried out during the cold season when cows were housed indoors, while the latter period started after the transfer of the entire herd to an alpine pasture for the summer grazing. In both periods, 16 cows of Rendena breed were equally assigned to 2 experimental groups. The dietary forage (meadow hay in early lactation or pasture in late lactation) was supplemented to one group of cows with a Control concentrate in which soybean expeller, sunflower expeller and wheat bran were the main protein feeds. Soybean proteins were replaced by extruded peas in the Soy-free concentrate given to the other group of cows. The daily amount of concentrate was adjusted to the individual milk yield on a weekly basis adopting ratios of 0.360 and 0.125 kg of DM per kg of milk in early and late lactation periods, respectively. Cows receiving Soy-free concentrate showed a higher milk yield than the Control cows in both lactation periods (18.7 vs 17.5 kg/d in early lactation and 9.3 vs 8.6 kg/d on pasture, respectively). Milk fat and protein were not affected by the diet at any stage of lactation, while a higher concentration of milk urea was observed in milk samples taken from Soy-free cows in both periods of the study. This result could have been promoted by the higher soluble fraction of extruded pea proteins in comparison to that of soybean expeller. Cows feeding behaviour was monitored only in the early lactation period and despite of the different amount of concentrate consumed by the two groups of cows (7.0 vs 6.6 kg/cow/d for Soy-free and Control, respectively), their total time spent eating and ruminating was not affected by the diet. Based on these findings, extruded peas can be considered a valuable alternative to soybean in the protein feeding of cattle raised for organic milk production in the Alpine region