Benchmarking to drive improvements in extensive beef cattle welfare: a perspective on developing an Australian producer-driven system

There are increasing calls by stakeholders to raise the standards of animal welfare across the livestock sector. The beef industry needs a way to demonstrate improvements in animal welfare over time. The enforcement of minimum standards can be effective in preventing poor welfare, but the ability to recognise, exemplify and reward those at the top end of the welfare continuum is currently lacking. Our perspective article outlines the benefits and challenges of taking a voluntary, producer-driven benchmarking approach to recording and improving animal welfare in Australian pasture-based beef cattle. We discuss considerations when selecting measures for use in this benchmarking approach, including their validity, reliability, feasibility and value. The assessment of the human–animal relationship is discussed as a worked example of balancing these considerations in a way that suits the extensive Australian beef cattle production environment. We propose that careful consideration at the development stage is required to produce a benchmarking system that is robust and fit for purpose. This will also facilitate the collection of clear, meaningful data to allow for transparency and accountability throughout the industry. Demonstration of successful welfare benchmarking of extensive beef cattle may enable the approach to be expanded across the supply chain and to other sectors of livestock production

Sheep Updates 2007 - part 5

This session covers six papers from different authors: GENETIC IMPROVEMENT 1. Breech Strike Resistance: Selecting for resistance traits reduces breech strike, Bindi Murray, John Karlsson, Johan Greeff, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia 2. Breeding Merino Sheep for Worm Resistance increases profit in a Mediterranean Environment, John Karlsson and Johan Greeff Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia FEEDING 3. Embryo lasses were not increased when Merino ewes that had lost weight were supplemented with lupins, C. Viñoles Gil, B.L. Paganoni, K.M.M. Glover, J.T.B. Milton & G.B. Martin, School of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 4. Mineral nutrition of sheep grazing dual-purpose wheats, Hugh Dove, CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, ACT BEEF PRODUCTIVITY 5. The effect of genetic potential and pre feedlot growth path on beef eating quality, Bill McKiernan and John WilkinsNSW Department of Primary Industries 6. Long-term consequences of growth and nutrition of cattle early in life for beef production, Paul Greenwood and Linda Cafe, Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies, and NSW Department of Primary Industries Beef Industry Centre of Excellence, University of New England, Armidale NS

The Economic Effects of Early-Life Nutritional Constraints in Crossbred Cattle Bred on the NSW North Coast

Different patterns of nutrition during pregnancy and lactation can influence cow productivity and the performance of their offspring. An experiment was conducted on the North Coast of NSW whereby “low” and “high” pasture nutritional systems were imposed on a herd of Hereford cows during pregnancy, and then again from birth to weaning, with a crossover design also imposed to select offspring with extremes of growth to birth and/or weaning. Thus, four growth groups resulted – low-low, low-high, high-low, and high-high. Piedmontese and Wagyu bulls were used. After weaning, these offspring were grown out on the NSW Northern Tablelands and then finished to heavy market weights in a feedlot. The results of the experiment indicated that restricted early-life growth resulting in differences in weight of calves at weaning persisted until slaughter at 30 months of age. Animals that were smaller at weaning remained smaller at slaughter. Some compensation occurred following restriction of growth during lactation, but not following restriction of growth during pregnancy. However, neither carcass quality nor eating quality of the beef was adversely affected by growth restriction during early-life. An economic analysis of these data was done using the Beef-N-Omics decision support package. Two methods were used. The main results showed that for the representative cattle enterprise modelled, total gross margins ranged from $45,500 for the low-low system to$52,600 for the high-low system. Gross margin per hectare ranged from $114 for the low-low system to$132 for the high-low system, while gross margin per breeding cow ranged from $303 for the low-low system to$387 for the high-high system. In all cases, the gross margin for those groups with foetal growth based on a higher level of nutrition exceeded their peers on a lower level of nutrition. Therefore, it is more profitable for cows and calves to have access to a high standard of nutrition during pregnancy and up to weaning than for them to have access only to a poor standard of nutrition during this time period

Welfare of beef cattle in Australian feedlots: a review of the risks and measures

The rising global demand for animal protein is leading to intensification of livestock production systems. At the same time, societal concerns about sustainability and animal welfare in intensive systems is increasing. This review examines the risks to welfare for beef cattle within commercial feedlots in Australia. Several aspects of the feedlot environment have the potential to compromise the physical and psychological welfare of cattle if not properly monitored and managed. These include, but are not limited to, animal factors such as the influence of genetics, temperament and prior health, as well as management factors such as diet, pen design, resource provision, pregnancy management, and stock-person attitudes and skills. While current industry and producer initiatives exist to address some of these issues, continuous improvements in welfare requires accurate, reliable and repeatable measures to allow quantification of current and future welfare states. Existing measures of welfare are explored as well as proxy indicators that may signal the presence of improved or reduced welfare. Finally, potential future measures of welfare that are currently under development are discussed and recommendations for future research are made

Long-term consequences of birth weight and growth to weaning on carcass, yield and beef quality characteristics of Piedmontese- and Wagyu-sired cattle

Cattle sired by Piedmontese or Wagyu bulls were bred and grown within pasture-based nutritional systems followed by feedlot finishing. Effects of low (mean 28.6 kg, n = 120) and high (38.8 kg, n = 120) birth weight followed by slow (mean 554 g/day, n = 119) or rapid (875 g/day, n = 121) growth to weaning on carcass, yield and beef quality characteristics at about 30 months of age were examined. Low birth weight calves weighed 56 kg less at 30 months of age, had 32 kg lighter carcasses, and yielded 18 kg less retail beef compared with high birth weight calves. Composition of carcasses differed little due to birth weight when adjusted to an equivalent carcass weight (380 kg). Calves grown slowly to weaning were 40 kg lighter at 30 months of age compared with those grown rapidly to weaning. They had 25 kg smaller carcasses which yielded 12 kg less retail beef than their counterparts at 30 months of age, although at an equivalent carcass weight yielded 5 kg more retail beef and had 5 kg less fat trim. Neither low birth weight nor slow growth to weaning had adverse effects on beef quality measurements. No interactions between sire-genotype and birth weight, or growth to weaning, were evident for carcass, yield and beef quality traits. Although restricted growth during fetal life or from birth to weaning resulted in smaller animals that yield less meat at about 30 months of age, adverse effects on composition due to increased fatness, or on indices of beef quality, were not evident at this age or when data were adjusted to an equivalent carcass weight

Production and processing studies on calpain-system gene markers in cattle

Gene markers for tenderness have been shown to be related to shear force of meat from cattle (Barendse et al., 2008; Page et al., 2002; White et al., 2005). Four tenderness markers currently available commercially are based on polymorphisms in genes controlling components of the post-mortem tenderisation process, specifically the calpain proteolytic system. The objectives of this study were to quantify the magnitude of effects of tenderness gene markers on growth, feed efficiency, carcass characteristics and beef quality in Brahman cattle, and to quantify interactions within and between tenderness gene markers, gender, hormonal growth promotant, method of carcass hang, and major muscles

Release of 19 Waxy Winter Wheat Germplasm, with Observations on Their Grain Yield Stability

“Waxy” wheats (Triticum aestivum L.) produce endosperm starch devoid, or nearly so, of amylose. Waxy starch consists only of amylopectin, imparts unique cooking properties, and serves as an eicient substrate for the production of modiied food starches. To expand the genetic variation of waxy wheats useful to Great Plains breeding programs, the USDA-ARS, in cooperation with the University of Nebraska, developed and released 19 waxy winter wheats (Reg. No. GP-1003, PI 677864 to Reg. No. GO-1021, PI 677882) . Three of the waxy germplasm lines have soft endosperm texture; the remaining 16 lines have hard-textured grain. The grain yields of six of the waxy winter wheat germplasm lines were not signiicantly diferent from the highest yielding nonwaxy cultivar (‘Freeman’). All but four waxy germplasm lines had grain yields statistically equal to that of the waxy winter wheat cultivar Mattern. Grain yield stability (or response to changing environments) of the waxy germplasm lines demonstrated similar trends to those of the nonwaxy controls. Grain yield observations and responses to changing production potentials argue against any yield drag associated with waxy starch and indicate potential for the development of additional and competitive cultivars

The Economic Effects of Using Heterozygotes for a Non-functional Myostatin Mutation within a Commercial Beef Production System

The application of molecular genetics to improve meat yield in beef carcases has generated global interest in recent years. Myostatin has been identified as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass. Muscular hypertrophy or “double muscling” in cattle has been attributed to naturally occurring mutations in the bovine myostatin gene that result in “inactive” or “non-functional” myostatin. The objective of this study is to take the findings of some recent Beef CRC experimental results relating to selection for the non-functional myostatin mutation, and examine the profitability implications of possible commercial application in the Australian beef industry. A herd-level economic analysis was undertaken using Beef-N-Omics. Inputs included herd costs and returns for a representative selfreplacing beef herd turning off young cattle, as published by the Industry & Investment NSW. Other inputs included pasture growth data for a representative good quality pasture system in the North-west of NSW, and herd production data based on the experimental results. Four scenarios were examined based on different combinations of herd structure and premiums available for muscle score. In a self-replacing system (with a $50 per female cost for the genetic screening test), the increase in gross margin over the base herd was 0.5 per cent ($3 per breeding cow or $2 per ha) when there was a 1 muscle score increase in the average muscle score of the heterozygous progeny. For an increase of 2 muscle scores in the progeny, the improvement in the gross margin was 4.9 per cent ($27 per breeding cow or $13 per ha). In the scenarios where a terminal sire system was applied to utilise the myostatin mutation, the economic benefits are potentially greater. In the case of a 1 unit increase in muscle score over the base herd, a 6.1 per cent increase in the gross margin was achieved ($34 per breeding cow or $17 per ha). If a 2 unit increase in muscle score was obtained a potential 17.7 per cent increase in the gross margin over the based herd was obtained ($96 per breeding cow or $48 per ha)