Evolution of slaughter precocity in male beef cattle in the Carne Pampa programme

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Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyse precocity behaviour over nine years in Hereford steers and their crosses, slaughtered with from zero to six teeth. Approximately 144,000 certified carcases in the Carne Pampa programme were analysed between 2010 and 2018. The increase in cold carcase weight per year was evaluated for three periods of the year: the hot season was defined as 26 December to 25 May, the autumn void was defined as 26 May to 25 July, and the cold season from 26 July to 25 December. To assess the behaviour of cold carcase weight over the years per season, the data were submitted to simple linear regression analysis. The average weights per season were compared by the mean value comparison test. The cold season had the highest mean carcase weight, with 239.1 kg, showing an annual increase of 6.45 kg. Analysing the behaviour of mean carcase weight by dentition, animals with zero teeth showed a greater weight increase over the years during the cold season as well as during the autumn void; during the hot season, animals slaughtered with two teeth showed the greater increase in weight. The category that showed the least increase in weight for all three seasons were animals slaughtered with six teeth. It was concluded that over the nine years, there was an increase in slaughter precocity in male cattle certified in the Carne Pampa programme.

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