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Mwangi FW, Savage D, Gardiner CP, Charmley E, Malau-Aduli BS, Kinobe RT, Malau-Aduli AEO. Feedlot growth performance and carcass characteristics of steers backgrounded on buffel grass or buffel-Desmanthus mixed pastures. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:898325. [PMID: 36268043 PMCID: PMC9577290 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.898325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Feedlot performance and carcass characteristics of tropical beef steers backgrounded on buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) only or buffel grass oversown with desmanthus (Desmanthus spp. ; 11.5% initial sward botanical composition) were evaluated. It was hypothesized that tropical beef cattle steers backgrounded on buffel grass only or buffel grass oversown with desmanthus with similar backgrounding growth performance will not differ in feedlot growth performance and carcass quality. Three hundred and twelve Bos indicus × Bos taurus tropical composite steers, 20-23 months old and weighing 413 ± 24 kg, previously backgrounded on buffel grass only or buffel-desmanthus mixed pastures for 147 days were finished on a concentrate diet in the feedlot for 110 days before slaughter. Buffel-desmanthus backgrounded steers had a slightly higher average daily gain (ADG; 1.8 kg/day) than the buffel grass backgrounded steers that had 1.7 kg/day ADG (p < 0.01). However, the final live weight and dry matter intake were not different (p ≥ 0.59). All the carcass traits measured were not different (p ≥ 0.18). Only 4% buffel grass and 8% buffel-desmanthus backgrounded steers fell short of the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) index, a level that is within the 4-9% reported for cattle produced in Queensland and slaughtered between July 2019 and June 2020. These findings indicate that desmanthus can be used to background beef cattle in northern Australia vertosol soil regions, where there is a paucity of adapted pasture legumes, with no negative impact on feedlot performance and carcass quality. The hypothesis that tropical beef cattle steers backgrounded on buffel grass only pastures or buffel grass oversown with desmanthus with similar backgrounding growth performance will have similar feedlot growth performance and carcass quality was accepted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felista Waithira Mwangi
- Animal Genetics and Nutrition, Veterinary Sciences Discipline, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Darryl Savage
- North Australian Pastoral Company, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Christopher Peter Gardiner
- Animal Genetics and Nutrition, Veterinary Sciences Discipline, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Edward Charmley
- CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Mail Bag Aitkenvale, Australian Tropical Sciences and Innovation Precinct, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Bunmi Sherifat Malau-Aduli
- College of Medicine and Dentistry, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Robert Tumwesigye Kinobe
- Animal Genetics and Nutrition, Veterinary Sciences Discipline, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Aduli Enoch Othniel Malau-Aduli
- Animal Genetics and Nutrition, Veterinary Sciences Discipline, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
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