Beef Cattle Recording: Commercial Slaughter Data

This recommendation applies where beef recording is undertaken routinely at commercial abattoirs.

Since only the finishing unit is likely to be identified and since changes in the ownership chain of the animal are usually unavailable, it is recommended that use is made only of animals who have been at least one year on the finishing farm. This test is particularly appropriate for dual purpose breeds using AI based breeding programs and where the calves enter the finishing unit at an age of 2 3 months and are kept there until slaughtered.

The link between slaughter records and basic animal data is provided by the animal’s ID number. It is important therefore that a link can be made between the national identification number and the carcass number if different. The ICAR symbol of this beef recording system is ‘SH’.

Organisation of the test

Ideally at birth the basic non-variant data on the animal such as farm ID, animal ID, birth date, birth location, sex, calving ease score will have been stored in the central database. When the animal is slaughtered, the hot carcass weight and the carcass grade are determined and stored in the database of the abattoir. The slaughter data should be sent to the animal recording organisation at regular intervals. The link between slaughter records and the standing or non-variant data of the animal is provided by the animal’s ID number.

Reference performance

The reference performance is net gain being defined as hot carcass weight divided by the age at slaughter.

Minimum requirements

Mandatory data to be recorded

For each of the animals at least the following data should be recorded:

1. ID of the finishing farm.
2. Animal ID number.
3. Hot carcass weight.
4. Slaughter date.
5. Carcass grade according to the national grading system.

Optional data to be recorded

Additional records that may be recorded include:

1. Shrunk weight.
2. Carcass cut details and trim specifications which allow the determination of meat yield.
3. Video imaging results which can allow for the determination of meat yield, lean meat percentage, conformation score and fat score.

Data editing, data verification

Prior to any data evaluation, records should be check and combined with the other data on the animal. Inconsistent or non-plausible data should be removed from the data file. Apart from these deletions no other data should be excluded.

Definition of contemporaries

The contemporary group comprises all animals from the same breed type, sex, slaughter date and finishing farm. Due to the unknown specific environments of contemporary groups low to moderate heritability's can be expected, thus requiring large progeny groups for accurate breeding values estimation.