Performance and carcass quality of forage-fed steers as an alternative to concentratebased beef production

Blanco, M. ; Joy, M. ; Albertí, P. ; Ripoll, G. ; Casasús, I.

Resumen: This paper studies the performance and carcass quality of Parda de Montaña cattle under different management systems to find alternatives to concentrate feed indoor beef production. Treatments were: i) Control, with 8 bulls (216±34.3 kg initial weight; 282±45.6 days) fed concentrate and straw ad libitum during winter housing period until reaching 500 kg; ii) G-supp, with 8 steers (204±31.2 kg initial weight; 271±47.5 days) fed a total mixed ration (TMR) (50% alfalfa hay, 10% straw, 40% corn) ad libitum during winter housing period (from mid-April steers rotationally grazed on a mountain meadow supplemented with 1.8 kg dry matter corn/d until reaching 500 kg); iii) TMR, with 8 steers (200±42.5 kg initial weight; 261±39.0 days) managed as G-supp steers until mid-July, when they were housed and fed TMR ad libitum until reaching 500 kg.Control bulls had 45% greater weight gain than TMR and G-supp steers during housing period (P<0.001). In the finishing period, TMR had 31% greater weight gain than steers finished on pasture (P<0.01). At slaughter, Controls were 97-127 days younger than others (P<0.001). Steers finished on TMR had worse conformed carcasses, greater fat and fewer edible meat proportions than G-supp and Control (P<0.01). Total cost of TMR and G-supp was greater than Control, with a similar income for G-supp and Control. TMR steers were paid less because of their worse carcass quality. Hence, finishing of steers on pasture with a supplement can be a feasible alternative to fattening bulls on concentrates, depending on the relative availability and price of feedstuff.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.4081/ijas.2014.3384

Año: 2014

Publicado en: Italian Journal of Animal Science 13, 4 (2014), 864-872
ISSN: 1594-4077

Factor impacto JCR: 0.718 (2014)

Categ. JCR: VETERINARY SCIENCES rank: 83 / 132 = 0.629 (2014) - Q3 - T2
Categ. JCR: AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE rank: 32 / 56 = 0.571 (2014) - Q3 - T2

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-CAIXA/GA-LC-01-2009
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/INIA/RTA2010-057
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/INIA/RZP2009-005
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/INIA/RZP2010-02

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)