Production Efficiency & Meat Quality

Automated animal monitoring or precision livestock farming tools developed for the fattening phase, in order to improve production efficiency and meat quality of beef cattle 

View the Good Practices and Research Innovations relating to this topic on the BovINE Knowledge Hub here

View the Good Practices and Research Innovations relating to this topic on the BovINE Knowledge Hub here

View the Good Practices and Research Innovations relating to this topic on the BovINE Knowledge Hub here

Ready available data, such as traceability or quality measures, that could be used to improve by genetics animal carcass and beef quality (and their effect in productivity). Use of that information for individual farmers. 

View the Good Practices and Research Innovations relating to this topic on the BovINE Knowledge Hub here

Meat quality: We include attributes relevant for consumers, such as appearance: visible fat, meat and fat colour; eating quality: tenderness, flavour, juiciness; shelf-life; and credence attributes. Credence attributes relate to the mode of production that accomplish niches expectations, such as higher standards of animal welfare, use of local food, organic production; or production of healthier meat (Henchion et al 2017, Meat Science 128: 1-7). Consumer perceives these attributes by information provided, certifications, labels, brands. 

Feeding: Animal feeding can greatly impact the meat quality, for example, by using organic feeds or local resources or exploitation of available by-products, changes in the nutritional quality of the feeds, inclusion of antioxidants, pasture base systems, finishing on concentrates. The idea is to collect innovations that use animal feeding to improve some of the mentioned meat quality aspects and exploit such differentiated products (i.e. by a brand). 

Stress: good management can reduce animal stress which improves animal welfare and therefore the credence attribute associated (i.e. meat with an animal welfare assurance scheme certification), but at the same time a proper pH can be reached so no alterations of meat colour and shelf-life will be produced. There is evidence that even meat from pH compliant carcasses (with pH24h less than 5.8) could deteriorate the eating quality of the meat influenced by pre-slaughter stress (Loudon et al. 2019, Animals, 9: 2-14).  There are several stressors, but we will tackle two of them: 

• At the farm: behaviour/ relationships among animals. Dominance and competition can be avoided through proper batches, density, feeding strategies, environmental enrichment, etc. 
• At transport: time and conditions on transport, slaughter on-farm or mobile slaughterhouses, mixing unfamiliar animals, etc. 

A key driver of profitability on suckler beef farms is the ability to produce one calf per cow per year. In order for this to occur reproductive efficiency must be optimised. After calving, cows go through a recovery period, known as the post–partum anoestrus interval which can often vary between 25-180 days in suckled beef cows. Various farm management factors can affect this duration such as nutrition of the cow and management of the suckling calf amongst many others. Following this, a period of time occurs where successful mating and conception must take place followed by a standard gestation length. In order for a live calf to be weaned, herd health must be optimised at all stages throughout the production cycle.  

Good practices that the farmer can undertake to ensure that they reach the target figure of one live calf per cow per year can be related to: 

• Management of the post-partum anoestrus interval: body condition score (BCS) at calving, calf management (weaning, creep-feeding, restricted suckling, calving season), cow management (level of bull exposure, cow health, breed/genetics). 
• Management of pregnancy rate: natural mating or artificial insemination (AI), estrus synchronization, estrus/heat detection, BCS at conception, mating season, pregnancy detection. 
• Management of abortion rate: health status, nutrition. 
• Management at first calving: age, nutrition, breed/genetic (precocity), bull selection. 
• Management of bull fertility: body condition score, good libido, health (lameness and venereal diseases), quarantine of new bulls, control of previous results, breeding value, etc. 
• Others: data management, grouping animal according to physiological state and BCS, calf mortality rates, calving detection, sexed semen, etc.             

Instruments or methods that can be used in the farm or in the slaughter line to measure or predict carcass (conformation and fattening, carcass composition, retail yield, etc.) and meat quality (colour, pH, ribeye area, marbling, fat thickness, tenderness, safety, etc.) of beef cattle.  

 For the purpose of this topic, we have defined “tool” as any instrument or method that can be used to measure or predict carcass and meat quality traits, in the farm or in the slaughterhouse. In the farm, these evaluations will help in decision making about management, such as definition of the slaughter time. In the slaughterhouses, they would allow carcasses to be classified according to their potential value and, among other things, to establish more transparent payment systems and to ensure homogenous products. Additionally, some tools could target meat quality attributes, therefore, carcasses and cuts could be graded according to consumer expectations. In both locations (farm and slaughterhouse), the data collected can be used for genetic improvement of animals.   

We propose for this theme, the collection of innovations to evaluate the following variables:  

 Carcass quality: beef carcass classification (conformation and fattening) in the EU (SEUROP) is based on visual patterns. Replacing visual assessment with automatic systems could ensure more accurate and objective data, which can generate higher mutual confidence among the stakeholders involved. Furthermore, the marketable meat prediction would be very useful towards a more efficient production.   

Meat quality: here are included meat intrinsic attributes, both measured or predicted, such as visible fat, meat and fat colour, pH, size of the steak, and eating quality (tenderness, flavour, juiciness). It can include safety assessment as well, such as bacterial contamination.  

Network Manager Refinements:  

• How to evaluate the live animal pre slaughter (conf, fat score) 
• What systems are in place across partner regions in factories to implement the EUROP scale? (mechanical or manual grading?) 
• What information is fed back to farmers in each country (final carcass wt)? 
• What info is fed back to suppliers? 

Genetic, nutritional and management factors applied in beef cattle farms that contribute to increase or improve meat quality attributes such as marbling, tenderness and colour.  

The content of intramuscular fat perceived visually as white flecks or a streak within muscles, determines marbling level in the meat, which is positively associated with a tender, flavoursome and juicy beef and consumers are being aware of this (Kang et al. 2022, Meat Science 186, 108730). Marbling can be modified through on-farm practices to increase added value and a higher consumer eating satisfaction, but potential negative impacts on production efficiency should be considered.  

Innovations that the farmer can adopt to increase marbling in the beef meat can be related to one or a combination of the following factors, recently reviewed by Nguyen et al. 2021 (Veterinary and Animal Science, 14, 100219):  

• Genetic factors: High marbled beef breeds are used by some farmers. Furthermore, the intramuscular fat accumulation is regulated by various associated genes, and the heritability is moderate to high and therefore can be increased by selection. 
• Nutritional factors: concentrate to roughage ratios, the supplementation or restriction of vitamins (A, C, and D), and even feeding during pregnancy, are crucial nutritional factors affecting the formation and development of intramuscular fat. 
• Management factors: castration and age and weight at slaughter are some examples of management factors affecting marbling. 

The colour of the meat influences purchase decisions, but what colour is preferable (light red, intense red, etc.) may change according to different markets or type of consumers. Tenderness is related to the eating satisfaction and affect repurchase decisions. At farm, both attributes can be modified at farm level with genetic, age at slaughter, production systems, feeding…  

Network Manager Refinements:  

• Does the market dictate the requirement? 
• Does the farmer receive a premium?