SUMMER
Superb and Marketable Meat from Efficient and Robust Animals (SUMMER)
With the aim to increase the production and market share of organic meat (pork, poultry and young beef), an integrated research and development effort will take place along the food chain (primary production, product development and marketing). The hypothesis is that this product segment is presently underdeveloped due to incompatibility between production costs/consumer prices and the experienced quality of the products, and that this incompatibility primarily should be overcome by adding quality in a broad sense to the organic meat products. Among the immaterial qualities are that the animals are healthy as well as robust, are free-ranged, and is more integrated in the land use (relying to a large extent on on-farm resources) than actually present. In the project these qualities are investigated, while at the same time focusing on appearance, new cuts, taste and technological quality of the final product, including consumer perceptions and preferences. Specifically we will investigate:
This is expected to stimulate to more diversified meat products, a higher total organic meat production and consequently a higher organic share of total meat consumption. 2013: Progress and activities: A number of experiments with cattle, chickens and pigs on pasture have been performed, and interviews with key players in the marketing of high value meat products were carried out. The project has shown that male calves in relation to product quality may well finish on the grass, and that use of a herbal mixture instead of clover-grass improves vitamin content and fatty acid composition. Rearing of crossbreed bulls (dairy breed x beef breed) finished on grass is also an alternative to obtain high growth rate based on a high proportion of grass in the diet. Nevertheless, the temperament of the bulls is a challenge when needed to be handled at slaughter and this may impair meat quality severely. Regarding poultry the project pays much attention to studying the interaction between genotypes (growth rate), type of feed and slaughter age in relation to resource use, health and product quality. It was shown that the broiler type typically used in Denmark when fed an optimized diet ad libitum, showed impaired leg health even under the relatively extensive conditions as the experiment was conducted under. More slow-growing chickens did not show this trend. When using Danish-produced protein sources in the concentrate, feed intake was reduced while foraging behaviour in the range was increased. Under these conditions the leg health problem was diminished with the typical used broiler type. The slow growing broilers showed an improved immune-competence compared to the typical used broiler type and in particular when the typical strain was fed an optimized diet that resulted in a high growth rate. For slaughter pigs with access to range area it was shown that a reduced level of supplementary feed meant that pigs could procure 10-50% of their energy needs by foraging in the open area, mostly if the crop was Jerusalem artichokes and least in clover-grass. At the same time lean meat percentage was very high, and the consumption of concentrate feed per kg gain was reduced when the level of supplementary feed was reduced. A huge effect of genotype was observed on the production results achieved since a modern crossbreed (Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire) seems to perform better than a traditional crossbreed (Tamworth x Landrace x Yorkshire) also in systems based on foraging. The tenderness of the meat when restricting concentrates was however reduced, and this reduced tenderness could not entirely be compensated for in the meat maturing period. The free range production offering Jerusalem artichokes is no doubt associated with some intangible qualities demonstrated by the sale of the meat produced through the company ‘Friland A/S’. In relation to marked strategies, focus-group interviews with consumers and interviews with chefs and meat buyers show that availability, animal welfare and information are important quality cues together with the sensory quality (taste, tenderness and juiciness). In relation to the production strategies tested in this work, there were positive perceptions from the consumers and professional buyers of organic meat, but it seems unlikely that it allows a higher premium that already paid for organic meat. There seem to be differences between pork, beef and chicken meat in relation to quality cues. This has to be taken into consideration when developing production- and marketing strategies of meat from the three livestock species. 2012: Progress and activities: So far, a number of experiments with cattle, chickens and pigs on pasture have been performed, and interviews with key players in the marketing of high value meat products were carried out. The project has shown that male calves in relation to product quality may well finish on the grass, and that use of a herbal mixture instead of clover-grass improves vitamin content and fatty acid composition.
Regarding feed, focus is put on Danish-produced protein sources and to examine how much nutritional value chickens can gain by foraging in the outdoor area under different conditions. Furthermore, the importance of feeding in the finishing stage is addressed. There are no finished results yet, but preliminary it appears that there is a need to be aware of the risk of movement problems for the typically used broiler when fed an optimized diet ad libitum, even in the relatively extensive conditions as the experiment was conducted under. More slow-growing chickens did not show this trend. The slow-growing chickens are characterized by a small proportion of breast and a higher proportion of leg meat. In the project we will examine how the exploitability of leg meat can be improved. For slaughter pigs with access to range area it was shown that a reduced level of supplementary feed meant that pigs could 'get' 10-50% of their energy needs by foraging in the open area, mostly if the crop was Jerusalem artichokes and least in clover-grass. At the same time lean meat percentage was very high, and the consumption of concentrate feed per kg gain was reduced when the level of supplementary feed was reduced. A huge effect of genotype was observed on the production results achieved since a modern crossbreed (Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire) seems to perform better than a traditional crossbreed (Tamworth x Landrace x Yorkshire) also in systems based on foraging. There are not yet available measurements on meat quality, but there is no doubt that this production is associated with some intangible qualities demonstrated by the interest shown by the sale of the meat produced through the company „Friland A/S‟. In addition to the traditional parameters such as gain, feed utilization and product quality, it is also examined how the animal‟s immune competence is affected by the tests treatments. In relation to marked strategies, the preliminary analyses of focus-group interviews with consumers and interviews with chefs and meat buyers show that availability, animal welfare and information are important quality cues together with the sensory quality (taste, tenderness and juiciness). There seem to be differences between pork, beef and chicken meat in relation to quality cues. This has to be taken into consideration when developing production- and marketing strategies of meat from the three livestock 2011: Progress and activities: The hypothesis is that this product segment is presently underdeveloped due to incompatibility between production costs/consumer prices and the experienced quality of the products, and that this incompatibility primarily should be overcome by adding quality in a broad sense to the organic meat products. Among the immaterial qualities are that the animals are healthy as well as robust, are free-ranged, and more integrated in the land use (relying to a large extent on on-farm resources) than actually present. In the project these qualities are investigated, while at the same time focusing on appearance, new cuts, taste and technological quality of the final product, including consumer perceptions and preferences. Specifically we will investigate how much foraging can contribute to the nutritional needs for pigs and poultry and its interaction with genotype, age at slaughter and product quality, how the quality of the sward and genotype affect product quality in young intact bulls, how the free range impact upon animal robustness, how marketing strategies can be formed complying with consumer perceptions, and how such production strategies support a profitable high-value production along with environmental benefits. Preliminary results indicate that growing-finishing pigs foraging Jerusalem Artichokes may consume considerable amounts of Artichokes tubers and results in very good effects on daily gain or lean meat percentage. Experiences from visiting French producers of high-quality chicken meat shows that important parameters in relation to high quality are 1) slow-growing genotypes with a higher slaughter age compared to the one we know in Denmark, 2) access to a large outdoor area with vegetation, 3) relative small Feeding trials have been conducted with DH bull calves. The calves were fed a mixture of grass and clover grass or a mixture of herbs the last two month before slaughtering to gain differences in the fatty acid composition and taste compared to calves fed the traditional ration. The results are currently analysed and the meat are ready for evaluation. In relation to marked strategies, the preliminary analyses of focus-group interviews with consumers and interviews with chefs and meat buyers show that availability, animal welfare and information are important quality cues together with the sensory quality (taste, tenderness and juiciness). There seem to be differences between pork, beef and chicken meat in relation to quality cues. This has to be taken into consideration when developing production- and marketing strategies of meat from the three livestock species. Project leader John E. Hermansen Tel: (+45) 87 15 80 17 |
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