Farming
Quality of English beef rises again
THE quality of English beef carcases
has risen for the second
year in a row.
Meat and Livestock Commission
(MLC) classification reports
on more than 200,000 prime cattle
slaughtered in England last
year show 48 per cent met the preferred
R4L or better specification,
compared to 46 per cent in
2006 and 41 per cent in 2005.
They also revealed improvements
in the leanness and conformation
of steers and heifers,
with steers showing a particularly
encouraging degree of improved
conformation.
Only young bulls suffered a decline.
More than 50 per cent of all carcase
classes met the R or better
target for conformation last year,
while more than 90 per cent of
steers and 80 per cent of heifers
met the 4L or leaner target for finish.
Kim Matthews, MLC meat scientist,
said: "Encouragingly,
these quality improvements
were achieved at the same time
as a noticeable increase in average
carcase weights for all classes
of stock.
"At 343kg in 2007, steer carcases
were 4kg heavier than 2006
while bulls were 3kg heavier at
330kg and heifers 2 kg heavier at
299kg."
The improvements were also
achieved during the movement
and marketing restrictions of
foot and mouth disease.
However, with more than 50
per cent failing to meet both the
preferred conformation and leanness
targets she, said there was
room for improvement.
11:09am Tuesday 15th April 2008
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