Carcass and meat sensory traits of steers finished on fescue and clover, summer forage, or for different periods in drylot

Abstract

During a 3-yr period 184 steers were allotted to five treatment groups. Group 1 steers were pastured on fescue-clover and slaughtered in the spring at approximately 540 d of age. Group 2 steers were pastured on fescue-clover then placed on summer pasture regimens and slaughtered at approximately 620 d of age. Group 3 steers were treated the same as Group 2 then placed in the drylot for 45 d. Group 4 steers were treated the same as Group 2 steers then placed in the drylot for 75 d. Group 5 steers were placed in drylot after weaning and conditioning and were slaughtered at endpoints that corresponded with those for Group 3. Steers selected for slaughter at each endpoint were those evaluated to have reached the most optimum slaughter weight and finish by project personnel. Carcasses of steers from fescue-clover and summer pasture had lower yield grades and a lower quality grade than carcasses of steers from drylot (P < .05). Carcasses of steers from fescue-clover and summer pasture had a more yellow fat covering than carcasses of steers that received a concentrate (Treatments 3, 4, and 5, P < .0001). Fescue-clover- and summer pasture-fed steers had a higher percentage of lean and a lower percentage of fat in the 9-10-11th rib section than did steers that received concentrate (P < .005). Chemical analysis of the lean tissue of the 9-10-11th rib section indicated that summer pasture-fed steers had a lower percentage of ether extract and higher percentage of moisture than the lean tissue from steers that received concentrate (P < .05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of forage silage species on yearling growth performance, carcass and meat quality, and nutrient composition in a forage based beef production system

“…This minimum fat requirement is believed to prevent cold shortening that may arise due to fast chilling of the carcass, which can decrease meat tenderness. These grade fat values are typically lower than subcutaneous backfat values reported for forage-finished beef from pasture (Kerth et al 2007;Scaglia et al 2012) or conserved forages (Schaake et al 1993;Petit et al 1994;Berthiaume et al 2006), most likely due to heavier carcass weights and (or) much greater ages at slaughter than in the present study. Similar subcutaneous backfat depth values were reported by Rumsey et al (1987) and Pordomingo et al (2012) for forage-finished beef, but in cattle with lighter carcass weights than the present study.…”

“…Subjective lean and fat color scores were similar (P 0.19) across forage silages (Table 3). Forage finishing has been associated with more yellow color fat due to deposition of carotenoid pigments from forage feeding (Schaake et al 1993) and with darker-colored lean (Garmyn et al 2010). This association has been discounted when recently weaned calves are placed on high-forage diets, attaining similar subjective lean and fat color scores to grain-fed cattle (Mandell et al 1997(Mandell et al , 1998.…”

Benchmarking carcass characteristics and muscles from commercially identified beef and dairy cull cow carcasses for Warner-Bratzler shear force and sensory attributes1

“…Boleman et al (1996) concluded that as time on a high-energy diet increased, myofibrillar fragmentation became easier and detectable connective tissue decreased, therefore contributing to the improvement in overall tenderness. Conversely, several authors reported that feeding high-energy diets versus feeding low-energy diets to young steers had no significant effect on sensory overall tenderness (Bidner et al, 1985;Schaake et al, 1993). Similarly, Miller et al (1987) reported no difference in loin sensory tenderness between cull cows fed a high-energy diet or a maintenance diet before slaughter.…”

Meat quality and fatty acid composition of pasture-finished beef steers fed barley and soybeans

“…Early research comparing grain-fed and pasture-fed cattle suggested that carcass quality attributes were inferior for pasture-fed cattle (Schroeder et al 1980;Melton et al 1982). However, more recent literature suggests that, provided carcass fatness, age at slaughter and post-mortem carcass ageing are similar across treatments, then effects of diet on carcass tenderness, juiciness and acceptability are small (Schaake et al 1993;Muir et al 1998;French et al 2001).…”