Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to avoid pre-slaughter stress by gentle, efficient handling,
keeping social groups intact and providing for immedi-
ate slaughter. Some of the other meat trade criticisms
can be ascribed to pure conservatism. In the United
Kingdom, full use is made of grassland and grass prod-
ucts in cattle-rearing systems, unlike in certain EU coun-
tries, for example, Germany, where bulls are housed for
beef production. In the United Kingdom, prime stock
is 49.3% steers, 13.3% young bulls and 37.4% heifers.
In Europe, over 50% of prime stock is young bulls.
'leanstock' or 'meatstock' is more suitable. Changes in
the grades of fatness of livestock will probably be
promoted by the production of intact males; use of bulls
for larger, leaner, late-maturing breeds on the dairy
herd; and genetic selection of types with efficient feed
conversion rates, rapid growth rates and less fat.
Most male cattle in Britain today are reared as cas-
trates (steers or bullocks) (80% of male cattle are reared
as castrates), with the remaining 20% finished as young
bulls, and these percentages have remained constant
over the period 1998-2008 (DEFRA, 2008). The practice
of castration was adopted to prevent indiscriminate
breeding, to make animals more docile and less danger-
ous to man and to facilitate fattening. Only the latter fac-
tor can be regarded as significant today, since modern
husbandry methods for the most part eliminate the
breeding problem and present consumer demand is for
lean meat. While bulls are more dangerous to handle
than steers, experience has shown that the problem has
been over-emphasised. It has also been well demon-
strated under experimental and practical farm condi-
tions that bulls grow faster (by 12%), convert food more
efficiently (by 8%) and produce heavier (by 10%) and
leaner carcases than steers. Bull beef production is much
more important in Europe, especially in Italy, Germany
and eastern Europe, than it is currently in Britain.
In Europe, bulls are reared in intensive feedlot sys-
tems largely based on maize silage and also in grass-
finishing systems with slaughter ages of 24-30 months.
The main breeds are Simmentals and Friesians. In New
Zealand, grass-finishing systems have been used over
the last 25 years.
In the period from 1985 to 2005, the production of bull
beef in the United Kingdom increased by 66%. However,
between 2005 and 2008, production has decreased by
almost 40% (DEFRA, 2008). Some sections of the meat
trade have considered bull beef to be of inferior confor-
mation and tenderness as well as being subject to dark,
firm and dry (DFD) meat. However, trials have shown
most of these objections to be ill judged. In fact, young
bull carcases are heavier and leaner than steers of the same
age. Careful handling of young bulls will obviate the DFD
problem (which is not confined to bulls), and chilling effi-
ciency will offset any tendency to meat toughness, bull
beef being inclined to cool more rapidly than steer beef.
Young bull beef must be distinguished from the infe-
rior product supplied by old cull bulls, which is much
darker in colour. Investigations by the UK Meat and
Livestock Commission on groups of young bulls and
steers transported and slaughtered under comparable
commercial conditions have shown that bull flesh is only
marginally darker than that of the steers, and there are
only a few dark cutters among the bulls. The solution is
Growth promoters
Probiotics are benign bacteria which are administered by
mouth to animals (calves, lambs and piglets) sometimes at
birth and/or after disease. The introduction of a probiotic
into the digestive tract is claimed to ensure more efficient
feed conversion, earlier slaughter and a healthier animal.
Unlike antibiotics, which often kill useful intestinal micro-
organisms and create undesirable residues, probiotics are
said to be natural products without any side effects.
Prebiotics are ingredients that stimulate the growth
and/or function of beneficial intestinal micro-organisms.
Definitions
Bull
An uncastrated bovine.
Heifer
A female up to its first calf.
Cow
A female which has had one or more calves.
Steer or bullock
A castrated male (usually castrated at 6-12 weeks old).
Stag
A male bovine castrated late in life, therefore presenting
a more masculine conformation than the bullock.
Sheep
Figures produced by FAO (2011) indicate that there are
1.04 billion sheep on a global scale. The principal sheep-
producing countries in the world are the following (in
millions): China, 138.8; India, 74.5; Australia, 73; Sudan,
52; Iran, 49; the United Kingdom, 31.6; New Zealand,
31.1; Pakistan, 28; Ethiopia, 25.5; South Africa, 24.3;
Turkey, 23; and Spain, 17.
Sheep were probably among the first animals to be
domesticated by man. They can be found under a wide
range of environments throughout the world, and, just
like goats, their system of husbandry has changed very
