PSV-34 Carcass characteristics of Criollo and Criollo crossbred steers raised on Chihuahuan Desert rangeland

Abstract We compared carcass characteristics of 11 Raramuri Criollo (RC) and 8 Criollo x Brangus crossbred (XC) steers raised together on Chihuahuan Desert rangeland. Steers entered the trial (completely randomized design) at approximately 5 months of age (December, 2015). Initial weights of RC and XC steers were 233.7 ± 7.8 and 231.4 ± 9.2 kg, respectively. Steers weighed 423.1 ± 7.8 (RC) and 483.0 ± 9.2 (XC) kg at 29 months of age (February 1, 2018), before being shipped to South Dakota where they were fed hay for approximately one month until slaughter (February 28, 2018). Carcass characteristics, such as hot (HCW) and cold carcass weights (CCW), preliminary yield grade (PYG), ribeye area (REA), marbling score (MS), and quality grade (QG) were assessed. Breed effects for all variables (excluding QG) were analyzed using SAS Proc Mixed; SAS Proc Npar1way was used to evaluate QG. Compared to XC, RC steers had lighter (P < 0.01) HCW (220 ± 5 vs. 265 ± 6 kg) and CCW (210 ± 5 vs. 254 ± 6 kg), and smaller (P < 0.01) REA (56 ± 1.4 vs. 61.7 ± 1.6 cm2). No differences (P > 0.05) were observed between RC and XC steers in PYG (2.3 ± 0 vs. 2.4 ± 0.2) or MS (452 ± 31 vs. 456 ± 36). Average QG for all carcasses was between high standard and low choice and was not different (P > 0.05) for RC versus XC carcasses. Our preliminary results show no major difference in carcass quality parameters of RC and XC steers developed on Chihuahuan Desert rangeland.