Effect of cattle breed on finishing performance, carcass characteristics and economic benefits under typical beef production system in China

This study compared the finishing performance carcass characteristics and economic benefits of two imported (Limousin and Simmental) and three local (Luxi, Jinnan and Qinchuan) cattle breeds slaughtered at 18.5 months of age under thetypical Chinese beef production system. All cattle (n=71) were reared under the same production system and fed the same finishing diet for 105 days. Eight bulls from each breed were randomly selected for slaughtering. Compared with the three local breeds, the two imported breeds had higher average daily gain, dry matter intake and gain efficiency. Regarding carcass characteristics, the two imported breeds had higher carcass weight, bone weight, net meat weight, and ribeye area (P<0.001). However, the local breeds had higher (P<0.01) marbling scores than the imported breeds. The imported breeds showed higher economic benefits (P<0.001) than the local breeds. In conclusion, the imported cattle breeds had better growth performance, carcass traits and economic benefits compared with the local cattle breeds at 18.5 months old under the typical Chinese feeding conditions whereas, in this study, the local breeds may have some advantage in terms of meat quality.