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The objective of the present study was to compare the quality of the carcass and beef of bulls genotyped for leptin (TT and CT) of the Czech Fleckvieh cattle with Galloway and Charolais bulls. Analysed were 232 bulls. The quality of the carcass body was significantly (p < 0.05) the highest in Charolais bulls (78.1% beef, 1.66% fat) as compared with bulls of the Czech Fleckvieh cattle (77.06% beef, 2.52% fat). The percentage of bones in the weight of the carcass body was the same in all breeds (20.49%; 20.28%; 20.24%, respectively). Indicators of the nutritional quality apart from the energetic value of meat of the Galloway and Charolais breeds were not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by the breed. In terms of fatty acids significant (p < 0.01) differences were discovered in the intramuscular fat of the MLT between the Czech Fleckvieh cattle and both beef breeds in the levels of C16:0; C20:0; C14:1; C16:1; C20:1; C20:2 and rate of the C14index. A significant (p < 0.05) difference in the level of oleic acid was detected between the meat of the Czech Fleckvieh cattle (37.77 g.100g −1) and Charolais (41.23 g.100g−1). From the viewpoint of human health the most favourable rates of fatty acids (C14index = 22.07; C16index = 13.63; C18index = 64.19; AI = 0.67) were seen in the meat of the Czech Fleckvieh cattle. The smallest diameter of muscle fibres (35.61 µm) was detected in the Czech Fleckvieh cattle as compared to the Galloway (37.60 µm) and Charolais (38.01 µm) breeds.

The introduction of robotic milking into farms in the Czech Republic began in 2003. This paper gives the results on 7 farms with robotic milking machines, with regard to breed (Bohemia Spotted cattle, Holstein), company size (number of robots 1 to 8) and type of ownership (private, cooperative). All farms used Lely Astronaut A3 robots. The companies showed statistical differences in average daily milk performance (P≤0.001) from 21.04 kg of milk/head/day to 40.43 kg of milk/head/day. Small private companies with one robot reached significantly (P≤0.001) higher milk performance of 28.79 kg of milk/head/day. On average, the daily milk performances of the Holstein cattle were 7.17 kg of milk higher than those of the Bohemia Spotted cattle (29.97 kg and 22.80 kg, respectively). The average number of milkings per head and day in individual companies ranged from 1.97 to 2.67. The average number of rejections per head and day (1.11) was low in companies with one robot and is influenced by the number of cows per one robot. The highest number of cows that had to be accompanied to the robot could be seen in large cooperatives -20.1%. Bohemia Spotted cattle showed the lowest number of breeding-cows needing to be accompanied to the robot (8.8%).

A pasture-based system for dairy cattle is not common due to the need for milking, despite the fact that this system provides the possibility of natural animal behaviour. Six behavioural observations were carried out during the grazing season in dairy herds bred in a mountainous area (700 m a. s. l.) The basic herd was comprised of 53 cows, mainly of the Holstein breed.

The aim of this study was to determine the potential association between candidate loci and indicators of meat quality in Czech Simmentals. For the study, loci for calpain (CAPN530) and myostatin (MSTN) were chosen. The analysis revealed 258 bulls (locus CAPN530) and 228 bulls (locus MSTN) of Czech Simmental cattle. Genotyping was carried out by PCR/RFLP method. The association analysis was performed for polymorphisms of both loci and shear force of the raw and grilled meat on the 1 st , 14 th and 28 th day after slaughter. The CAPN530 locus showed a statistically significant effect on the power cut for raw and grilled meat in the 1 st day after the slaughter (P < 0.05), and for grilled meat significant changes were stated in the 14 th and 28 th day post mortem (P < 0.05). No significant relationships in locus MSTN between genotype and shear force (P < 0.05) were found. The MSTN genotype affected the ability to bind water. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution to the unequal representation of genotypes for the locus MSTN in the study.