Improving market (cull) dairy cows' carcass traits and meat quality.

Despite a high volume of market (cull) dairy cows entering the food chain every year, beef from market dairy cows is largely considered insignificant when compared with beef from beef cattle in the market and is widely thought to be usable for ground beef only. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of feeding dairy market cows on a lactating TMR diet before slaughter on carcass and beef quality traits. Forty-three Holstein market cows were randomly assigned into 2 treatments: fed or direct.

Can 60 days of feeding lead to increased fitness for transport in cull dairy cows?

The welfare of cull cows during transport to slaughter is a current concern in the Canadian dairy industry. Cull cows sold through auction often have a high prevalence of lameness, low BCS, hock lesions, and udder engorgement. To evaluate whether drying off and feeding cull dairy cows before transport can mitigate these challenges, 45 cows designated for culling were randomly assigned to either be fed for 60 d after being dried off (fed group; n = 24) or to serve as controls by being sent directly to slaughter (direct group; n = 21).