The objective of this study was to estimate genetic correlations between calving difficulty score and carcass traits in Charolais and Hereford cattle, treating first and later parity calvings as different traits. Genetic correlations between birth weight and carcass traits were also estimated. Field data on 59,182 Charolais and 27,051 Hereford calvings, and carcass traits of 5,260 Charolais and...

A new carcass EPD has been developed for the American Angus Association’s National Carcass Evaluation Program. A percentage of retail product EPD combines the traditional carcass traits (hot carcass weight, fat thickness, ribeye area and KPH) into a composite EPD. Although the heritabilitty for this trait (.25) is not the highest for the carcass traits, it is high enough for breeders to make si...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires beef abattoir operators to periodically analyze beef carcass sponge samples for levels of Escherichia coli. Additional beef carcass sponge sampling is commonly used by processors to evaluate the efficacy of beef abattoir antimicrobial intervention systems. The USDA sample preparation procedure requires that beef carcass sponge samples be mechan...

We compared fat distribution and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity in steers differing in adaptability to the subtropics. Steers were fed a grain diet (3.13 Mcal ME/kg DM) at limited (150 kcal ME x kg[-.75] x d[-1]; .23 kg ADG) or ad libitum levels for 140 d, then slaughtered. Sixteen British- (8 Angus, 8 Hereford; S), 16 Boran- (R), 16 Brahman- (B), and 16 Tuli- (T) cross steers from MARC III ...

An experiment was conducted to enable quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping for carcass traits. The population consisted of 10 full-sib families originating from a cross between male and female founders chosen from two different outcross broiler lines. Founder animals, parents, offspring, and grandoffspring are denoted as generation (G) 0, 1, 2, and 3 animals, respectively. Microsatellite marke...

The objective of this study was to cross-calibrate measurements of body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) with chemical analysis of carcasses of pigs in the pediatric range of body weight. Eighteen pigs (25.5 +/- 7.0 kg; 9.9-32.8% body fat) were scanned in duplicate by using DXA with a Lunar DPX-L densitometer in the pediatric medium and adult fast-detail scan modes. Pigs we...

In order to identify genes controlling meat quality and carcass traits we are aiming to combine two approaches: (1) the QTL analysis (2) and expression profiling. Here results of QTL analyses in different porcine resource populations and current attempts to identify functional candidate genes for meat quality traits are reviewed and own efforts are presented: A QTL scan for meat quality and car...

Carcass data were collected from market barrows and gilts (n = 325) slaughtered at a commercial slaughter facility in Canada to estimate carcass composition from longitudinal average fat depth and muscle depth measured automatically by a computerized real-time ultrasonic system. Similar and other ultrasonic measurements were also made manually from the same carcasses for comparison purposes. Re...

The USMARC beef carcass image analysis system objectively evaluates beef carcass grade factors including marbling score, adjusted preliminary yield grade, and ribeye area (Figure 1). This image analysis system can assess USDA yield grade more precisely and accurately than can be achieved by USDA graders. Furthermore, use of this image analysis system will allow for creation of additional yield ...

Live animal and carcass data were collected from market barrows and gilts (n = 120) slaughtered at a regional commercial slaughter facility to develop and test prediction equations to estimate carcass composition from live animal and carcass ultrasonic measurements. Data from 60 animals were used to develop these equations. Best results were obtained in predicting weight and percentage of bonel...