Effects of Rearing Management Applied throughout the Charolais Young Bulls’ Life on Carcass and Meat Quality

The aim of this work was to study, for the first time, the effects of the rearing management (from birth to slaughter) applied throughout the life of young bulls on carcass and meat quality. Five rearing managements were defined statistically, from a combination of 30 rearing factors, using a hierarchical clustering on principal components. This study considered the individual data of 179 Charolais young bulls from commercial farms. The carcass traits were more sensitive to rearing management than the meat traits. Rearing management had an effect mainly on fat and overall meat grain for the carcass, and on color and tenderness for the longissimus meat. However, it was possible to produce carcass and/or meat with similar properties from different rearing managements. Among the five rearing managements defined in this study, two were identified as allowing the best trade-off to produce simultaneously high carcass and meat quality. The first management was characterized by absence of growth period and a short fattening duration, with a wrapped haylage or corn silage-based diet. The second management was characterized by short pre-weaning and growth periods, and a long fattening period.