Carcass traits of Nellore, F1 Simmental × Nellore and F1 Angus × Nellore steers fed at maintenance or ad libitum with two concentrate levels in the diet

Ivanna Moraes De Oliveira,Sebastião De Campos Valadares Filho,Pedro Veiga Rodrigues Paulino,Victor Rezende Moreira Couto,Mário Fonseca Paulino,Lúcio Alberto De Miranda Gomide,Edenio Detmann,Marcio De Souza Duarte

doi:10.1590/s1516-35982011001200042

Ivanna Moraes De Oliveira, Sebastião De Campos Valadares Filho + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1516-35982011001200042

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Abstract

This trial was conducted to evaluate the quantitative carcass traits of Nellore, F1 Simmental × Nellore and F1 Angus × Nellore steers fed at maintenance level or ad libitum with 1% and 2% of the body weight in concentrate. The animals were allotted to the treatments in a completely randomized experimental design, in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement. The animals fed the ad libitum diet with more concentrate had greater cold carcass weight, cold carcass yield and longissimus muscle area/100 kg of cold carcass weight when compared with animals fed the diet with low concentrate allowance. There was no difference between the ad libitum diets for all of the carcass cuts yields, except for top sirloin. Crossbred animals had cold carcass yield larger than the Nellore animals. F1 Angus × Nellore animals had greater rib fat thickness and smaller longissimus muscle area/100 kg than the F1 Simmental × Nellore cattle. The yield of commercial carcass cuts was not influenced by genetic group, except for the shoulder clod yield, which was smaller in crossbred animals compared with Nellore animals. The longissimus muscle area, rib fat thickness and rump fat, taken by ultrasound were influenced by the body weight of the animals. Crossbred animals fed diets with higher concentrate level produce carcasses most suitable for the requirements of the market.

Highlights

With the recent challenges in the Brazilian beef industry, concepts about the production system adopted by the beef producers must be reviewed
Treatments consisted of 3 genetic types (Nellore; F1 Simmental × Nellore; F1 Angus × Nellore) and 3 feeding regimes with six replicates in each ad libitum level and four replicates in the group of animals fed at maintenance
Cattle fed at maintenance presented lower values (P

Summary

Introduction

With the recent challenges in the Brazilian beef industry, concepts about the production system adopted by the beef producers must be reviewed. Even though Brazil has advantages regarding beef production compared with some other countries, the Brazilian beef chain presents productivity and economic index below the expected for an efficient beef production system. The use of feedlot animals has increased in Brazil, as the rate of weight gain with high energy diets is greater than with roughage-based diets which reduce the time that cattle need to be fed (Duarte et al, 2011). Carcass yield is economically important, as most of the inspected meat commercialized in Brazil is based on carcass weight. In this context, this study was developed to evaluate the influence of the feeding regime on quantitative characteristics of carcass of Nellore, F1 Simmental × Nellore and F1 Angus × Nellore

Material and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusions