Heifer fattening on continuous grazing or in barn - Impact on fattening performance, carcass and meat quality

In the present study, heifers (Simmental x Charolais) were fattened in two feeding regime: (1) indoor fattening with grass silage, maize silage and concentrates (2) continuous pasture and indoor finishing period (same diet as indoor heifers). Aim of the trial was to examine differences in daily gain, carcass and meat quality. Heifers were bought in spring at an average live weight of 300 kg and slaughtered at 550 kg live weight. Daily gains were high at 1.050 g in both feeding regime. Daily gains of pasture heifers had a higher variability compared with indoor heifers. In general, feeding regime had no effect on carcass performance (on average 57% killing out proportion, conformation score U, fatness score 3, 46% valuable sections). Water holding capacity (drip, cooking and grilling loss), meat colour and beef tenderness (shear force) were not affected by feeding regime. Fat colour of pasture heifers was significantly yellower compared to indoor heifers. Meat ageing (7, 14 and 21 days, respectively) had a significant effect on meat colour and beef tenderness. No differences between feeding regime were observed in meat composition (water content, protein, intramuscular fat). Contents of MUFA and Omega-3 fatty acids were tendentially higher in the pasture group