A comparison of the growth and carcass traits between dairy and dairy × beef breed crossbred heifers reared for beef production

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine beef production traits of dairy and dairy × beef breed crossbred heifers. The data from Finnish slaughterhouses included observations of 14 221 Nordic Red (NR), 6 348 Holstein-Friesian (Hoi), 1 626 NR × Aberdeen Angus (NR × Ab), 1 136 NR × Blonde d'Aquitaine (NR × Ba), 802 NR × Charoláis (NR × Ch), 487 NR × Hereford (NR × Hf), 3 699 NR × Limousin (NR × Li), 827 NR × Simmental (NR × Si), 531 Hoi × Ab, 467 Hoi × Ba, 438 Hoi × Ch, 186 Hoi × Hf, 1 249 Hoi × Li and 393 Hoi × Si heifers. Crossbreeding with late maturing beef breeds (Ba, Ch, Li, Si) had favourable effects both on daily carcass gain and carcass quality traits (conformation, proportion of high value joints) of the progeny when compared to purebred dairy heifers. No advantages in proportion of high value joints seemed to be obtained by crossbreeding dairy cows with Ab or Hf breeds, while the improvements in daily carcass gain and carcass conformation score were intermediate compared to the late maturing crossbreds.