Effect of feeding barley based diets on animal performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of crossbred beef cattle with and without Wagyu genetics

Abstract

Growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of European and British crossbred (EBC; no Wagyu genetics; 28 heifers and 30 steers) cattle were compared with crossbred cattle with 75% Wagyu genetics (WC; seven heifers and 14 steers) to determine the influence of Wagyu genetics on marbling grade of beef cattle fed barley-based diets in a factorial design experiment. Weaned calves (250 d average age) were fed, one of two diets (diet 1, 35% barley grain; diet 2, 40% hay cubes on DM basis, with barley silage, protein and vitamin/mineral premix) for 84 d and then fed diet 1 until they weighed 394 to 432 kg. All cattle were finished on an 80% (DM basis) rolled barley diet and slaughtered. Carcasses were graded and samples procured for meat quality and Warner–Bratzler shear force determination. Number of days on backgrounding diets to arrive at target weight (380 kg) was greater (P < 0.05) for the WC cattle, owing to relatively lower ADG, but days on the finishing diet were fewer for these cattle, compared with EBC cattle. Warm carcass yield (dressing percent) was greater (P < 0.05), but backfat depth was lower (P < 0.05) for WC cattle relative to that of EBC cattle, yet proportion of lean meat yield was similar. Eighty three percent of WC cattle carcasses had Canada AAA (small or more) marbling grade compared with 13% for EBC cattle carcasses. Mean shear force of meat samples from EBC and WC cattle was 4.2 and 3.8 kg, respectively. Results indicated that the extent of carcass marbling can be increased by incorporating Wagyu genetics but age at slaughter of WC cattle was 19 d greater than that of EBC cattle and carcass size was reduced. Key words: Average daily gain, carcass characteristics, European and British crossbred, feed to gain ratio, meat quality, Wagyu crossbred cattle