Lotfeeders at the industry's major conference, BeefEx on the Gold Coast this week, will be pleased with new Beef CRC research about the effects of lairage prior to slaughter on meat quality.
The study found that reducing the time cattle spent in lairage before slaughter was unlikely to have a negative impact on tenderness and eating quality.
Standard lairage times for slaughter cattle ranged from 12 to 24 hours and this study compared 18 hours and just three hours lairage, and eating quality from each variable.
CSIRO Livestock Industries principal research scientist, Dr Drewe Ferguson, Armidale, said the results were good news for the processing sector.
"Reducing the amount of time animals spend in lairage not only means they can increase the amount of animals they process, but they can be confident knowing they won't affect carcass and meat quality," he said.
He said no major differences in the pH, shear force and muscle glycogen measurements were found between the lairage treatment groups.
Similar results have been observed in a subsequent Beef CRC study.
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