Finishing beef cattle for slaughter is essential to produce high-quality meat. Poor finishes can be easily remedied. While you can rear the cattle to a better finish, you’ll end up with a steer that lacks marbling. This is bad news for consumers because a poorly finished beef steer has poor tenderness and juiciness. If you’re concerned about the quality of your beef, you can always adjust the feeding program for it.
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Fat cells in muscle tissue matter to beef tenderness and flavor
The flavor and tenderness of beef depend on the amount of fat within muscle tissue. When beef is younger, it lacks fat cells inside muscle fibers. Fat cells in early adolescence are empty and are designed to store fat later. When a calf reaches early adulthood, these cells start filling with fat. Fat cells in beef reach their full size during the finishing stage.
Bovine fat and muscle are formed during complex developmental and physiological processes, and they play an important role in beef quality. Circulating RNA molecules called circRNAs are known to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of bovine adipocytes. These molecules have important functions in muscle development and fat deposition in cattle. However, most studies on circRNAs are limited to functional annotation and expression verification.
Weather conditions affect liveweight gain
While the temperature is a crucial determinant of meat quality, weather conditions can also affect the growth and performance of cattle. Livestock under poor weather conditions are unable to reach their full potential in terms of feed intake and conversion, resulting in slower growth and lower slaughter weight. Future climate changes may further weaken the performance of livestock and compromise production conditions. For this reason, it is important to assess the effect of weather conditions on meat quality.
A study by Texas A&M Kingsville meat scientist Jason Apple compared a conventional finishing system with a hybrid system. The study included fall and spring-calving herds whose liveweights were supplemented daily with 1% of their body weight. The results showed that steers finished conventionally in confinement gained 4.4 pounds per day while cattle finished on pasture were only able to gain 2.5 pounds per day.
Keeping cattle clean during finishing
Keeping cattle clean during finishing for slaughter is crucial. The animals need to be handled with care, preferably in a well-drained grassy area, and the slaughter room must be free from dust and vermin. Equipment, hands, and clothing should all be clean. Even if the animals have been thoroughly washed before leaving the farm, they should be kept clean until they are transported to the slaughterhouse. Ideally, blood should be contained in sealed containers and hooves, skins, and trimmings should be kept separate from each other.
Beef cattle require abundant vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B and vitamin K. Vitamin B is produced in the rumen, but supplemental vitamin B is beneficial for cattle under stress. Beef cattle are fed a diet of ground grain for finishing, which is cheap but adds fat to the meat. If there is any blemishes, these should be cut off. Keeping cattle clean during finishing for slaughter is essential to ensuring a healthy cattle product.
Grass-finished beef has higher yields of boneless retail cuts
The percentage of carcass product in the form of retail cuts depends largely on external fat content. The more external fat on the carcass, the lower the retail yield. A lower percentage of retail product is associated with a higher percentage of boneless cuts. A beef carcass with superior muscling tends to have higher retail yields. Other factors affecting carcass yields include trimming and percentage of fat content in ground beef.
The proportion of retail beef that is available as boneless chuck roasts is generally higher than for other primal cuts. Boneless chuck roasts account for approximately ten percent of the total carcass weight, while boneless round roasts comprise less than five percent. Round roasts and eye of round are also higher than boneless retail cuts. Bone-in meat represents about 20 percent of the carcass weight.
