Fattening practices and meat results of Simmental culled-cows : the value of a dual-purpose breed

Abstract

This study of relationships between meat results of Simmental culled-cows and fattening practices is based on slaughtering data and surveys on farms. We selected slaughtering data of culled-cows in the French Simmental breed centre area.

A first analysis allowed us to differentiate four farm groups on their meat performances (carcass weight and commercial conformation). In a second time, 25 surveys on farms enabled us to make out five groups according to farmer practices, and especially fattening practices. Maize-silage based-rations were associated with higher meat results, nevertheless pasture-based rations could be linked with interesting meat results, when associated with appropriate practices (drying up, attention paid to meat traits in animal breeding). The cros-sing of these two typologies (performances and practices) showed a large variability in dual-purpose situations, from zero fattening to all cows fattening with plenty of food (maize silage, concentrates). The difference between these extreme groups reached 70 kg of carcass weight and about one class of conformation. Among these groups, we can identify different degrees in meat character with this dual- purpose breed, according to assets or limits of livestock farming systems. These degrees showed a certain flexibility in production.