24th Int. Symp. “Animal Science Days”, Ptuj, Slovenia, Sept. 21st−23rd, 2016. Acta argiculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5, 165–168, Ljubljana 2016 COBISS: 1.08 Agris category code: L01, Q04 CARCASS TRAITS OF ORGANICALLY AND CONVENTIONALLY FATTENED CATTLE IN SLOVENIA Mojca VOLJČ 1, Marko ČEPON 2, Silvester ŽGUR 3 Carcass traits of organically and conventionally fattened cattle in Slovenia 1 University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical faculty, Department of Animal Science, Jamnikarjeva 101, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, e-mail: mojca.voljc@bf.uni-lj.si 2 Same address as 1, e-mail: marko.cepon@bf.uni-lj.si 3 Same address as 1, e-mail: silvo.zgur@bf.uni-lj.si ABSTRACT In the present study, the carcass quality of organically and conventionally fattened cattle slaughtered between the years 2008 and 2015 were compared. Slaughtered animals were classified in different categories according to age and sex . The recorded data included hot carcass weight (HCW), slaughter age, net daily gain (NDG), EUROP conformation and fatness. Bulls and heifers older than 12 months from conventional fattening system had better HCW, NDG and conformation in comparison with organically fattened animals. Fatness was higher in bull and heifer carcasses from conventional fattening system compared to organic ones. On the contrary, calves from organic system younger than 12 months had better carcass quality compared to that from conventional system. Organically fattened calves had higher HCW, NDG and conformation, while no differences in fatness were found. Key words: carcass quality, cattle, organic, conventional, Slovenia 1 INTRODUCTION Organic production aims at creating a sustainable system based on the local resources (Lund and Algers, 2003). Animals in such a system should be reared ac- cording to the ethical and environmental standards that provide good animal health and welfare. The main pur- pose of the organic farming is to produce high quality food with high nutritional value and rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Since soluble fertilizers, pesti- cides, genetically modified organisms (GSO) and differ- ent growth promotors are prohibited in the organic farm- ing, there are no residues of them in the crops and food (Smith-Spangler et al., 2012). Smith-Spangler et al. (2012) reported that organi- cally produced food is richer in phosphorous, beneficial n-3 fatty acids, and vaccenic acid compared to conven- tional food. Superior fatty acid composition of organical- ly produced beef was described by Kamihiro et al. (2015). The reason could be the fact that organic livestock are fed with organically produced feed usually based on grazing and animals are provided with access to outdoors, fresh air, and more freedom in movement. There are not only the environmental factors that affect the carcass qual- ity. An important factor is also the breed (Brandt et al., 2010). In the recent time, the number of organic farms has been increased in Slovenia. From the year 2000 to 2015, it increased by more than 23 times. In the last four years, from 2012 to 2015, the number of organic farms increased by 28 %. In the same time, the number of cattle in organic farms increased by 33 %, whereas the quantity of organically produced veal and beef decreased by more than 50 % (Statistični urad RS, 2016). Consequently, the increased interest in organic farming among farmers was not accompanied with the consumers’ interests. The purpose of the study was to compare the carcass traits of organically and conventionally fattened cattle in Slovenia. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5 – 2016166 M. VOLJČ et al. Data were analysed using the GLM procedure in the statistical package SAS/STAT (SAS, 2001). The fixed ef- fects of the rearing/fattening system, breed and year of the slaughter were included in the model. 3 RESULTS AND DISCISSION Although the number of organic farms in Slovenia has been increasing, the percentage of organic reared cattle population is still rather low (about 6 %) in com- parison with some EU countries. For example, in the year 2014, Sweden had the highest percentage of organically reared cattle, with 19.6 % of the total cattle population, while seven EU Member States had over 10 % of organi- cally reared cattle (EUROSTAT, 2016). Young bulls from conventional fattening system had higher HCW and NDG. They were on average 60 days older than young bulls from organic system (Table 2). Conventional young bulls had higher conformation and fatness estimated according to the EUROP system. Like- wise, old bulls from conventional fattening system had higher HCW, NDG as well as higher conformation and fatness score. Conventionally fattened heifers had higher HCW and NDG, and they were better classified in the EUROP conformation system. The fatness was also much higher in heifers from conventional fattening system compared to the organically fattened ones. According to the standards of certifying organization of organic pro- duction, at least 50 % of feed have to originate from the farm and at least 60 % of feed dry matter for ruminants have to originate from the forage (ES, Uredba komisije št. 889/2008). As mentioned before, there are many restric- tions regarding the feed production in an organic system. These restrictions could potentially be the reason of lower 2 MATERIAL AND METHODS The data on cattle slaughtered from 2009 to 2015 that included hot carcass weight (HCW), slaughter age, EUROP conformation and fatness were provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. The net daily gain (NDG) was calculated from the hot carcass weight and the animal age. The HCW was recorded within 45 min after the slaughter. The conformation and fatness were estimated by independent classifiers according to the EUROP classification system with subclasses. Con- formation classes expressed with letters were trans- formed to the numbers (E+ = 15, E0 = 14,…, P− = 1) and fatness classes as follows 1− = 1, 10 = 2, 1+ = 3,…, 5+ = 15 (Rules …, 2005). Only data belonging to the animals that were all their lives reared and fattened on the same either organic (n = 16 037) or conventional (n = 240 960) farm were considered. All animals from the organic produc- tion system were fattened according to the standards of organic farming, while only some of them were slaugh- tered and sold as organically produced meat. Slaughtered animals were classified according to the animal sex and age into five categories as follows: A – young bulls, uncastrated male animals aged from 12 to 24 months, B – old bulls, uncastrated male animals aged more than 24 months, E – heifers, female animals aged from 12 months with no calving recorded, V – calves, animals (male or female) aged less than 8 months, Z – older calves, animals (male or female) aged from 8 to 12 months. Regarding the breed, animals were divided into five breed groups (genotypes) as follows: Cika, Simmental, Limousine/Charolaise, Holstein Friesian/Brown and crossbreeds, which included other purebred animals that were in a very small number per breed. Rearing system Charolais/ Limousin Cika Simmental Holstein Friesian/Brown Crossbreeds Total A Organic 118 113 1801 104 1975 4111 Conv. 1135 370 57590 9341 29297 97733 B Organic 55 28 824 104 1975 1787 Conv. 726 117 21239 3592 12437 38111 E Organic 122 43 846 74 1316 2401 Conv. 628 156 21508 5721 15400 43413 V Organic 381 283 1893 234 2185 4976 Conv. 567 531 19053 18908 15874 54933 Z Organic 204 127 772 33 1626 2762 Conv. 135 199 2913 1070 2453 6770 A – young bulls; B – old bulls; E – heifers; V – calves; Z – old calves; Organic – organic fattening system, Conv. – conventional fattening system Table 1: The number of animals of different categories, breeds and fattening systems slaughtered between the years 2008 and 2015 Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5 – 2016 167 CARCASS TRAITS OF ORGANICALLY AND CONVENTIONALLY FATTENED CATTLE IN SLOVENIA nutritive value or an insufficient yield of forage provided considered that soluble fertilizers are not permitted. Rus- so and Preziuso (2005) found poor carcass conformation and fatness of slaughtered cattle from organic production system and concluded that the feeding program of cat- tle had probably been inadequate. They suggested an ap- propriate finishing period, respecting organic guidelines, which should be able to produce animals appropriate for the slaughter, resulting in better carcass quality. A similar conclusion was drawn by Therkildsen and Vestergaard (2014), based on the very poor fatness of organic fattened bulls. Woodward and Fernández (1999) reported about lower carcass weight and ribeye area in the organically produced steers as well. Likewise, the routinely treat- ment with antiparasitic drugs or for preventive purposes is not allowed in the certified organic system. Thereby the animals from the organic rearing system are commonly more infected with parasites (Hansson et al., 2000). The HCW of calves was higher in organic rear- ing system where calves were on average older. There- fore, there was no difference found in NDG. Carcasses of organically fattened calves had higher conformation compared to the conventionally fattened ones. There was no difference in fatness within the calves (Table 2). Organically fattened old calves had better carcass traits in comparison to conventional fattened old calves. They had higher HCW, NDG and better carcass conformation, but there was no difference in fatness (Table 2). The most of organically fattened calves are probably from suckler herds and this could be the reason of better NDG and consequently better carcass traits. Higher weight gain of calves from suckler herds in comparison with the calves from artificial suckling system was reported in many studies (Roth et al., 2009; Passille et al., 2008). 4 CONCLUSIONS Conventionally fattened cattle in Slovenia, older than 12 months, have better growth and carcass char- acteristics than cattle reared according to the organic standards. This is probably due to inferior quality of feed 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Organic Conv. Organic Conv. Organic Conv. Organic Conv. Organic Conv. A B E V Z Charolais/Limousine Cika Simmental Holstein Friesian/Brown Crossbreeds A – young bulls; B – old bulls; E – heifers; V – calves; Z – old calves; Organic – organic fattening system, Conv. – conventional fattening system Figure 1: Percentage (%) of animals of different breeds in different categories, and fattening systems slaughtered between the years 2008 and 2015 Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5 – 2016168 M. VOLJČ et al. Passillé A. M. de, Marnet P. –G., Lapierre H., Rushen J. (2008). Effects of twice-daily nursing on milk ejection and milk- ing in dairy cows. American Dairy Science Association, 91, 1416–1422. Roth B. A., Barth K., Gygax L., Hillmann E. (2009). Influence of artificial vs. mother-bonded rearing on suckling behaviour, health and weight gain in calves. 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Retrieved from doi: 10.1016/ S0301-6226(02)00321-4 Rearing system Hot carcass weight (kg) Slaughter age (d) Net daily gain (g/d) EUROP conformation (1–15) EUROP fatness (1–15) A Organic 252.8 ± 2.3 a 552.8 ± 2.8 a 462.9 ± 3.5 a 6.92 ± 0.09 a 4.57 ± 0.08 a Conv. 323.4 ± 0.9 b 613.4 ± 1.1 b 528.9 ± 1.4 b 7.68 ± 0.03 b 6.11 ± 0.03 b B Organic 306.8 ± 3.7 a 865.2 ± 5.8 a 360.2 ± 5.1 a 7.35 ± 0.13 a 4.44 ± 0.11 a Conv. 353.4 ± 1.4 b 833.0 ± 2.2 b 429.8 ± 2.0 b 7.81 ± 0.04 b 5.92 ± 0.04 b E Organic 202.7 ± 2.8 a 606.9 ± 8.9 a 354.5 ± 4.1 a 6.42 ± 0.10 a 5.75 ± 0.14 a Conv. 238.5 ± 1.2 b 677.8 ± 4.0 b 365.2 ± 1.9 b 6.70 ± 0.04 b 7.22 ± 0.06 b V Organic 109.1 ± 0.5 a 161.6 ± 1.0 a 716.0 ± 4.4 a 7.46 ± 0.05 a 4.42 ± 0.04 a Conv. 97.0 ± 0.3 b 144.1 ± 0.5 b 717.1 ± 2.5 a 7.25 ± 0.02 b 4.34 ± 0.02 a Z Organic 160.5 ± 2.2 a 298.5 ± 1.6 a 539.4 ± 6.8 a 7.12 ± 0.11 a 4.69 ± 0.11 a Conv. 150.9 ± 1.2 b 301.4 ± 0.9 a 501.3 ± 3.8 b 6.48 ± 0.06 b 4.54 ± 0.06 a LSM – Least square means; SE – standard error; ab LSM without the same superscript differ significantly, p < 0.05; A – young bulls; B – old bulls; E – heifers; V – calves; Z – old calves; Organic – organic fattening system, Conv. – conventional fattening system Table 2: Carcass traits (LSM ± SE) of cattle from different fattening systems and different categories