Re-Veal the Beef Industry: Strategies to Produce High- Quality Beef From Young Cattle in Pastoral Systems

Abstract

Veal is a high-value meat produced from young cattle less than 12 mo of age. The characteristic light red/pink color, tenderness, and low-fat content of veal products (especially milk-fed white veal or bobby veal) are the main features preferred by consumers. However, consumer concerns over the impact of meat production and consumption on the environment and animal welfare have increased significantly in recent years, becoming a threat to the sustained growth of the meat sector. On the other hand, processing veal from young calves (especially bobby calves) has threatened the social license to operate for both dairy and meat industries. Recently, research has been conducted to develop alternative strategies to produce beef with reduced environmental impacts and to improve animal welfare. One of the strategies could be to accelerate the beef production cycle by producing beef from younger animals of 8 to 12 mo old (i.e., vealers), especially those from dairy surplus, meanwhile reducing the number of mature animals, which are the main contributors to greenhouse gases. Information on veal from feedlots with concentrate diets is more available in the literature, compared to the equivalent from veal produced in pastoral systems, limiting the strategies that can be developed to improve the quality of veal as a whole. The present review aimed to overview the factors affecting the nutritional composition and quality of veal reported in the literature and to offer some strategies to produce value-added veal products to support the sustainable growth of veal in the dairy and beef industries.