The relationship of live animal muscular and skeletal scores, ultrasound measurements and carcass classification scores with carcass composition and value in steers

Conroy, Stephen; Drennan, M. J.; Kenny, David A.; McGee, M.

doi:10.1017/s1751731109990395

Cited by 34 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Previous studies using 336 steers (Conroy et al, 2009a) and 74 bulls (Conroy et al, 2009b) showed carcass conformation and fat scores to be potential predictors of carcass meat, fat and bone proportions. This study includes animals used by Conroy et al (2009a and2009b) in addition to bulls, heifers Table 4 Prediction equations for meat, fat and bone proportion estimated using a linear model on the entire data set (662 animals) using hindquarter weights. The table contains the intercept and regression coefficient of the regression model estimated from the entire data set including the R 2 of the model fit using the entire data set.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following a period of 24 h at 48C, the right side of each carcass was quartered at the fifth rib into an eight-rib hindquarter (pistola) and the remaining forequarter. After recording the weight, the hindquarter was dissected into 13 cuts (leg, heel, silverside, topside, knuckle, rump, tail of rump, cap of rump, fillet, strip loin, cube roll, cap of rib and eye of the round) from which all visible fat and bone (where applicable) were removed (Conroy et al, 2009a). The weight of each individual meat cut and total fat from the hindquarter was recorded, as was bone weight following the removal of all adhering lean tissues.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lean trim was weighed separately and included with the meat cuts to give total hindquarter meat yield. A similar procedure was carried out with the forequarter, which was dissected into 11 cuts (front shin, neck, brisket, chuck, flat ribs (1 to 5), plate, M. triceps brachii, bladesteak, braising muscle, chuck tender and clod; Conroy et al, 2009a). Hind-and forequarter meat, fat and bone weights were combined to give the weight of each component in the half carcass.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies quantified the associations of ultrasound (Faulkner et al, 1990;Herring et al, 1994;Hamlin et al, 1995) and live animal scores (Perry et al, 1993a and1993b) with carcass traits. However, few studies have examined the relationship between EU carcass classification scores and carcass composition (Drennan et al, 2008;Conroy et al, 2009a and2009b). Muldowney et al (1997) reported that although conformation (EUROP coded 1 to 5) and fat scores (1 to 5) are routinely measured on beef -E-mail: mark.mcgee@teagasc.ie carcasses, their value as indicators of carcass characteristics and commercial value is not well established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Muldowney et al (1997) reported that although conformation (EUROP coded 1 to 5) and fat scores (1 to 5) are routinely measured on beef -E-mail: mark.mcgee@teagasc.ie carcasses, their value as indicators of carcass characteristics and commercial value is not well established. Carcass conformation and fat scores have explained moderate to high proportions of the variation (R 2 ranged from 0.47 to 0.70) in carcass meat yield (Perry et al, 1993b;Drennan et al, 2008;Conroy et al, 2009a and2009b). According to Gardner et al (1997), the evaluation technique used to predict meat yield must be able to function online in a commercial setting without disrupting the normal product flow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predicting beef carcass meat, fat and bone proportions from carcass conformation and fat scores or hindquarter dissection

Conroy

Drennan

McGee

et al. 2010

Animal

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Equations for predicting the meat, fat and bone proportions in beef carcasses using the European Union carcass classification scores for conformation and fatness, and hindquarter composition were developed and their accuracy was tested using data from 662 cattle. The animals included bulls, steers and heifers, and comprised of Holstein-Friesian, early-and late-maturing breeds 3 HolsteinFriesian, early-maturing 3 early-maturing, late-maturing 3 early-maturing and genotypes with 0.75 or greater late-maturing ancestry. Bulls, heifers and steers were slaughtered at 15, 20 and 24 months of age, respectively. The diet offered before slaughter includes grass silage only, grass or maize silage plus supplementary concentrates, or concentrates offered ad libitum plus 1 kg of roughage dry matter per head daily. Following the slaughter, carcasses were classified mechanically for conformation and fatness (scale 1 to 15), and the right side of each carcass was dissected into meat, fat and bone. Carcass conformation score ranged from 4.7 to 14.4, 5.4 to 10.9 and 2.0 to 12.0 for bulls, heifers and steers, respectively; the corresponding ranges for fat score were 2.7 to 11.5, 3.2 to 11.3 and 2.8 to 13.3. Prediction equations for carcass meat, fat and bone proportions were developed using multiple regression, with carcass conformation and fat score both included as continuous independent variables. In a separate series of analyses, the independent variable in the model was the proportion of the trait under investigation (meat, fat or bone) in the hindquarter. In both analyses, interactions between the independent variables and gender were tested. The predictive ability of the developed equations was assed using cross-validation on all 662 animals. Carcass classification scores accounted for 0.73, 0.67 and 0.71 of the total variation in carcass meat, fat and bone proportions, respectively, across all 662 animals. The corresponding values using hindquarter meat, fat and bone in the model were 0.93, 0.87 and 0.89, respectively. The bias of the prediction equations when applied across all animals was not different from zero, but bias did exist among some of the genotypes of animals present. In conclusion, carcass classification scores and hindquarter composition are accurate and efficient predictors of carcass meat, fat and bone proportions.

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