Abstract
Bovines slaughtered at the Central Oaxaca Valleys in Mexico show high diversity due to their source and production systems. The objective of the present study was to grade slaughtered cattle in this region. A total of 1,375 carcasses were valuated by breed, age, origin, production system, dorsal fat depth, marbling, conformation and weight. Ninety five percent of the carcasses evaluated came from tropicalre as and 75 % of them were reared under grazing conditions. Slaughtered animals were predominantly Zebu x Brown Swiss (37 %) and Zebu x Holstein (16 %) crosses, three to four years old. Bulls from the humid tropics showed the higher carcass weight (309.4 kg P<0.05). Zebu, Zebu x Creole and Zebu x Brown Swiss bulls showed the higher carcass weights (325.8, 301.6 and 297.8 kg, respectively). Bullocks and bulls from the humid tropics showed the higher rate of carcasses with good conformation (P<0.05) as well as those from feed lots and grazing plus supplement (85.2 and 78.8 %, respectively). Breed has strong influence on growth and carcass composition, however, after genetics, the production system, feeding and maturity are determinants of yield and carcass quality.
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