Practical implications of anatomical research in beef cattle

R.M. Butterfield

Veterinary School, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland

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Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1965, 25: 152-163

Anatomical research in beef cattle in Australia has been directed towards three main objectives : ( 1) Determining the comparative muscle weight distribution of Brahman and British cattle. (2) Studying relative growth of the musculature. (3) Developing methods of estimating body composition.

Maximum changes of relative weights of individual muscles occur in the first eight months of post-natal life. Age, breed and a period of semi-starvation from which the animals have recovered have been shown to have no important effects on the proportion of "expensive" to "cheap" muscles. Levels of fatness above 20% of dissectible fat cause a depression of the proportion of expensive muscles.

The results presented indicate that no progress has been made in the improvement of muscle weight distribution by selection for beef characteristics.

Knowledge of fat distribution and of muscle/bone ratio are inadequate and these fields are suggested for future work.

Keywords: NZSAPAB;

Last Updated 24-08-2000