High Quality Beef from High Nature Value Grasslands

High Quality Beef from High Nature Value Grasslands

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AnnaJamieson Coordinator WWF Pasture Beef Hiiumaa 20/4 2012

Semi natural pastures – conservaton and agriculture working as one

Today's subjects:

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Beef quality – what is it for us – and our customers?

Feeding and management for quality Winter management – for the animal, for ourselves and the Baltic Sea

Beef Quality •

Juiciness

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Local identity

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Tenderness

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Animal welfare

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Flavour

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Climate and nature

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Health issues

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Hygienic aspects

What is the customer willing to pay for?

Estonian/Hiiumaa Quality Beef

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What is important to the Estonian consumer?

What are you going to produce?

Choose a few quality aspects and concentrate your production, and marketing, on them

Age influences beef quality

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Younger animals

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Older animals

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Lighter color

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Darker color

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More tender

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Less tender

Age influences beef quality

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Younger animals

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Older animals

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Less flavor

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More flavor

Sex influences beef quality

Heifers ●

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Steers

Most tender Smallest variation

Young bulls ●

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Most tough Biggest variation

A short cut to quality – intra muscular fat a.k.a Marbling Gives flavor and juiciness and makes the meat seem more tender

How do we achieve this?

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It takes time It takes food/nutrition It comes easier to bullocks and heifers Some breeds do it more readily than others

Marbling is visible to the eye at 2 % fat

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But are the consumers ready to pay for this?

Hanging method influences beef quality

Aich bone hanging instead of Achilles tendon hanging improves the back part cuts dramatically in young bulls

Maturing influences beef quality

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A minimum of 7 days

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After 14 days is the improvement not so big

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For tenderness, time is more important than type of maturing

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For flavor – maturing in air makes a difference

All farms don´t look the same... �

...therefore it is important to choose the right production system

Grass lays on arable land

Grazing land as feed stuff ●

Good grazing is comparable to grain feed

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11 MJ in young grass

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8 MJ in older grass

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Let the cattle out when there is 9-14 cm long grass On natural grasslands let them out on shorter grass and earlier

100% 90%

Protein

80%

Lipid

70% Cellinneh책ll 60%

Sockerarter

50%

Mineraler

40%

Hemicellulosa

30% 20%

Cellulosa

Cellv채ggar 10% Lignin

0% Trebladsstadie

Full axg책ng

How many animals per ha on different type of grazing Type of animal

Age

Grazing pressure, no of animals/ha Grazing on arable land Natural grassland Early summer

Late summer

Early summer

Late summer

Heifer

Less than 1 year

8

4

4

2

Heifer

More than 1 year

4

2

2

1

Bull

1 year

6

3

3

1,5

Steer

Less than 1 year

8

4

4

2

Steer

More than 1 year

4

2

2

1

3

1,5

1,5

0,75

Cow+calf

Under or overgrazing...

Numb er of plant specie s/m2

Degree of disturbance

Grazing systems ●

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Continuous grazing of a large area Managed large grazing area

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Rotational grazing

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Strip grazing

Management of different grazing systems Semi natural grazing ●

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Arable field grazing ●

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Top off the grazing after moving the animals Do not graze in September/Oct Harrow out the piles of manure

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Let the animals out early Don't overgraze in the autumn/winter Sensitive areas no grazing at all during winter

Possible growth rates on grazing

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Dairy bulls 1100 gr/day

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Beef bulls 1300 gr/day

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Heifer/steers 5-900 gr/day

But beware of the parasites...

Parasite life cycle

Development of parasite infection over time

The fight against parasites ●

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Let young animals out on parasite free grazing = land where no cattle grazed all last season for instance new lay or sheep/horse paddock Let out late on infected grazing land = overwintered parasites have died

Let adult animals “hoover” the grazing early in the spring Treat the calves with anthelmintics when putting them in for the winter

Production for quality

Planning the production

Feeding for growth Keeping the animals clean

Birth

Slaughter

When do you want the slaughter to be? ` How old should the animal be?

How heavy should the animal be?

Feed the animals to plan ●

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A beef bull can grow 121300 gr/day on good silage Good silage or hay smells nice, looks good and has no moldy patches With less good silage the growth is no more than 5600 gr/day That bull is ready for slaughter after 30 months...

That makes him ready for slaughter in 15 months

Heavy beef breed bulls on ad.lib. good silage and 2-6 kg of hard feed

EU law says animals must be clean when slaughtered

40 – 200 euro/animal in charges from Swedish slaughterhouses

Winter housing

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Protects the animals

Protects yourself/your workers and the feed ●

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Protects the land

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And protects the Baltic Sea

Protecting the land...

Trampled land lets more nutrients run to the water and streams and ending up ....here.....

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Trampled land lets the weeds in

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Produces bad grazing

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Can spread disease

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Is unpleasant for the cattle to live on

...and the Baltic Sea.

Plastic net for reinforcing sensitive ground

Plastic web for reinforcing land

...you and your workers...

How do you – in a SAFE way: • • • • • • •

Catch animals Treat sick animals Help a cow that is calving Separate animals Weigh animals Send animals to slaughter

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...without a building?

Using bark/wood chips for cow traffi c

Calculated average cost/m2 with different life span

Gravel/macadam on geo textile

Installation cost of varying reinforcement materials Reinforcement

Cost/100 m2 in euro

Grass web

1000

+ fiber weave

1300

Gravel + fiber weave

2300

Wood chips

780

+ fiber weave

2300

Inventive way of winter housing camping cattle!