Effects of eleven dam breed-types and six terminal sire breeds on beef carcass characteristics

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Abstract
Growth and carcass data were obtained over five years from 17 – 20 month heifers and steers by six terminal sire breeds and out of 11 breed-types of dam comprising purebred Angus controls and 10 first-crosses (all half Angus). The slaughter cattle were sired by 38 separate bulls and the dams were sired by 99 sires from the Ruakura Beef Breed Evaluation scheme. Overall, 569 carcasses were analysed, with the left side being quartered and then dissected into meat, bone, and fat components. The terminal sire breeds were Charolais, Murray Grey, Red Devon, Simmental, and two others with small numbers. For live and carcass weights, calves sired by Charolais and Simmental bulls were 9 – 10% heavier than those by the Murray Greys, with those by Red Devons intermediate (5 – 7% above the Murray Greys, except at 12 months of age when they were 9.7% heavier). Calves sired by Charolais and Simmental bulls were leaner and their carcasses carried a greater proportional weight of meat than those by Murray Greys. However, calves sired by Murray Greys and Red Devons were similar in lean or fat levels. Three first-cross dam types of local origin were compared with purebred Angus, i.e., dams sired by Friesian, Hereford, or Jersey breeds. The remaining seven types were sired by the newer breeds, Blond d'Aquitaine, Charolais, Chianina, Limousin, Maine Anjou, Simmental, and South Devon. The dam types usually favoured for milk production (Friesian-, Jersey-, and Simmental-crosses) had offspring with carcasses 19, 2, and 10 kg heavier respectively than offspring of Hereford x Angus dams. Relative to the same base, calves out of the seven “newer” dam breed types had 11.2 kg heavier carcasses (adjusted to fixed slaughter age), they were 0.6% higher in dressing percentage, and 1.7% higher in the percentage of meat in the half-carcass. Together, these constituted a 9.1% advantage in saleable meat weight. The heaviest carcasses out of all eleven dam breed types, were those out of Blond d'Aquitaine-cross (234 kg), Friesian-cross (235 kg), and Maine Anjou-cross dams (235 kg), and the lightest were out of Hereford-cross (215 kg), Jersey-cross (217 kg), and Limousin-cross dams (214 kg). The Limousin effect on carcass weight however, was partly counteracted by a high meat percentage in the carcass.