Production and carcass traits of purebred Nordic Red and Nordic Red×beef breed crossbred bulls

Abstract

SUMMARYThe objective of the current study is to determine the beef production traits of purebred Nordic Red (NR) and NR×beef breed crossbred bulls. The data collected from slaughterhouses included observations of 164 812 purebred NR, 2329 NR×Aberdeen Angus, 1466 NR×Blonde d'Aquitaine, 1044 NR×Charolais, 782 NR×Hereford, 5293 NR×Limousin and 1270 NR×Simmental bulls. For estimating valuable cuttings, a separate dataset including a total of 16 827 observations was collected. Crossbreeding NR cows with late-maturing breeds (Blonde d'Aquitaine, Charolais, Limousin or Simmental) had favourable effects on carcass gain, conformation and proportion of high-value joints of the progeny when compared with purebred NR bulls. No advantages in proportion of valuable cuttings seemed to be obtained by crossbreeding with Aberdeen Angus or Hereford breeds, while the improvements in gain and conformation were intermediate compared with the late-maturing crossbreds. A feeding experiment comprised 36 bulls: nine purebred NR, nine NR×Aberdeen Angus (NR×Ab), nine NR×Limousin (NR×Li) and nine NR×Blonde d'Aquitaine (NR×Ba). The animals were offered total mixed ration (TMR) ad libitum. The dry matter (DM) of the TMR consisted of grass silage (500 g/kg DM), rolled barley (425 g/kg DM) and rapeseed meal (75 g/kg DM). There were no differences in DM, energy or nutrient intakes between NR and crossbred bulls during the feeding experiment. Instead, the carcass gain of the NR×Ba bulls was 13% higher than that of the pure NR bulls. In addition, the carcass gain of the NR×Li bulls tended to be 8% higher than that of the NR bulls. The feed (kg DM/kg carcass gain) and energy (MJ/kg carcass gain) conversion rates of the NR×Ba bulls tended to be better compared with purebred NR bulls. There were no differences in feed or energy conversion between NR, NR×Ab and NR×Li bulls. In conclusion, crossbreeding, especially with late-maturing bulls, largely improved carcass production compared with purebred NR bulls. The feeding experiment indicates that there is no difference in DM intake between pure NR and crossbred bulls when animals are fed with high-energy rations. Therefore, differences in growth and carcass traits describe well the economic superiority of crossbreds compared with pure dairy bulls from beef producers’ point of view.