Post-weaning management significantly influences beef quality, particularly through compensatory gain. Compensatory gains is the accelerated growth following a period of nutrient restriction. This growth response varies, with the greatest gains occurring when feed restriction is moderate and short.
Studies show that restricted growth during the stocker phase can impact carcass quality long-term, reducing marbling, hot carcass weight and USDA quality grades when cattle are finished on a high-energy diet. However, some compensatory gain during unrestricted finishing can offset earlier growth restrictions, although this is usually transient and does not enhance carcass quality.
Creep feeding, or supplementing pre-weaned calves with additional feed, has been suggested to improve carcass traits by promoting early muscle and fat development. However, studies on its long-term impact have shown mixed results. Some suggest that it might increase fatness and carcass weight at weaning but does not consistently enhance marbling or USDA quality grade. Research by Gadberry and others also highlighted that pre-weaning supplements and starch content in the growing diet during preconditioning do not have a lasting effect on marbling or other measures of carcass quality following standard finishing.
The stocker phase itself, where calves are grown post-weaning, plays a crucial role in determining beef quality. Factors such as forage type, supplementation, rate of gain, and the use of growth promoting implants influence finishing performance and carcass traits. Intensive yearling finishing systems tend to be more profitable in terms of weight gain but may result in lower carcass quality compared to calf-fed systems. Additionally, while pre-finishing implants can improve growth rates, they may reduce marbling at slaughter after finishing especially in cattle with high marbling potential.
In conclusion, management during the post-weaning period, particularly stocker-phase nutrition and growth rate, has a lasting effect on beef quality, with trade-offs between growth performance and marbling, tenderness and overall carcass grade.
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