Production and carcass traits of purebred Nordic Red and Nordic Red×beef breed crossbred bulls

Abstract

SUMMARYThe objective of the current study is to determine the beef production traits of purebred Nordic Red (NR) and NR×beef breed crossbred bulls. The data collected from slaughterhouses included observations of 164 812 purebred NR, 2329 NR×Aberdeen Angus, 1466 NR×Blonde d'Aquitaine, 1044 NR×Charolais, 782 NR×Hereford, 5293 NR×Limousin and 1270 NR×Simmental bulls. For estimating valuable cuttings, a separate dataset including a total of 16 827 observations was collected. Crossbreeding NR cows with late-maturing breeds (Blonde d'Aquitaine, Charolais, Limousin or Simmental) had favourable effects on carcass gain, conformation and proportion of high-value joints of the progeny when compared with purebred NR bulls. No advantages in proportion of valuable cuttings seemed to be obtained by crossbreeding with Aberdeen Angus or Hereford breeds, while the improvements in gain and conformation were intermediate compared with the late-maturing crossbreds. A feeding experiment comprised 36 bulls: nine purebred NR, nine NR×Aberdeen Angus (NR×Ab), nine NR×Limousin (NR×Li) and nine NR×Blonde d'Aquitaine (NR×Ba). The animals were offered total mixed ration (TMR) ad libitum. The dry matter (DM) of the TMR consisted of grass silage (500 g/kg DM), rolled barley (425 g/kg DM) and rapeseed meal (75 g/kg DM). There were no differences in DM, energy or nutrient intakes between NR and crossbred bulls during the feeding experiment. Instead, the carcass gain of the NR×Ba bulls was 13% higher than that of the pure NR bulls. In addition, the carcass gain of the NR×Li bulls tended to be 8% higher than that of the NR bulls. The feed (kg DM/kg carcass gain) and energy (MJ/kg carcass gain) conversion rates of the NR×Ba bulls tended to be better compared with purebred NR bulls. There were no differences in feed or energy conversion between NR, NR×Ab and NR×Li bulls. In conclusion, crossbreeding, especially with late-maturing bulls, largely improved carcass production compared with purebred NR bulls. The feeding experiment indicates that there is no difference in DM intake between pure NR and crossbred bulls when animals are fed with high-energy rations. Therefore, differences in growth and carcass traits describe well the economic superiority of crossbreds compared with pure dairy bulls from beef producers’ point of view.

Beef Production Systems with Steers of Dairy and Dairy × Beef Breeds Based on Forage and Semi-Natural Pastures

“…At the start (3.3-3.8 months old), the liveweight of the C steers was 25 kg higher than for D steers, and at slaughter this breed difference had increased to 42 kg across the two feed intensities. This result was a surprisingly low increase in difference compared to that in previous studies [14][15][16]37]. However, those studies generally used higher feed intensities, even compared with the production system with a moderately high feed intensity (H) strategy in the present study.…”

“…The superiority of dairy × beef crossbreeds compared to pure-bred dairy cattle has been established in previous studies, but mainly in intensive rearing conditions [14][15][16]. Eriksson et al [17] show that the breed effect of using beef breed sires for dairy cows is greater in intensive than extensive production systems, as the genetic potential of the beef breed can be utilized in the former.…”

Production, carcass characteristics and valuable cuts of beef breed bulls and heifers in Finnish beef cattle population

“…The one possible way by which carcass weight can increase without a subsequent increase in fatness is to inseminate dairy cows with semen derived from beef cattle if the calves are not to be used as replacement animals on the dairy farm. For example, Huuskonen et al (2013Huuskonen et al ( , 2014 concluded that crossbreeding with Continental beef breeds (Ba, Ch, Li, Si) had favourable effects both on daily carcass gain and carcass quality traits of the progeny when compared with purebred dairy bulls.…”

Carcass characteristics and meat quality of bulls and steers slaughtered at two different ages

“…High-quality beef that meets consumer expectations can only be produced in beef and crossbred cattle herds characterised by high productivity (Sakowski et al 2001). When dairy cattle production predominates, the quantity and quality of beef can be effectively increased through commercial crossing of beef bulls with dairy cows and creating herds for the purpose of beef production (Huuskonen et al 2014). The offspring produced by commercial crossing are characterised by higher fattening performance and higher slaughter quality (Nogalski and Kijak 2001).…”