The effects of stress on Livestock and meat quality prior to and during slaughter.

 The effects of stress on Livestock and meat quality prior to and during slaughter.

Animal welfare hammers on 5 freedoms for animals among these are : 1) freedom from pain,injury and disease.

2) Freedom from hunger and thirst.

3)Freedom to express normal natural behavior.

4)Freedom from discomfort.

5)Freedom from fear and distress.

The aforementioned freedoms can be referred to holistically as freedom from stress. Stress impacts health, production, productivity as well as carcass quality in Livestock. 

The effects of stress on Livestock and meat quality prior to and during slaughter.

Animals presented for slaughtering in a stress free environment has natural conversion of muscle to meat, PH  will fall from 7 to about 5.4-5.7. The meat quality is excellent and has bright red color.

Animals that experience stress 24-48 hours prior slaughter have meat quality compromised.The PH does not fall to optimum level staying higher resulting in beef with darker color. The beef  is dark, firm to touch and has high fluid holding  capacity. This is referred to as dark, firm and dry.(DFD). Beef that are DFD have poor storing capacity and prone to bacterial spoilage.

Animals that are stressed  45 minutes prior to slaughter also give beef of low quality.The short period of stress prior to slaughter will cause a rapid drop of PH..This drop will result in beef of lighter color, softer texture which feels wet with reduced capacity to hold water. This type of beef is referred to as soft, pale and exudative.(PSE)

Is the cow hide (Ponmo) safe to eat?

Ponmo – cow hide meat – is a popular food in parts of Nigeria and across West Africa. But nutritionists and scientists in the region warn about the safety and nutritional value of this local delicacy. 

 In this episode of Africa Science Focus, our reporter Royal Uche speaks with Abiodun Wahab, program operations officer at the One Health and Development Initiative, about the toxic bacteria found in the meat even after cooking. Sherifah Wakil, associate professor of microbiology at the University of Ibadan, shares findings from her latest research on the contamination of the meat. 

 Obaisi Alaanuloluwa, environmental and social development consultant for the World Bank, explains how ponmo affects the environment. 

Source....SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk

 The Ponmo story. read

 

 more ponmo news: Ponmo and leather industry.

 All you need to know about Ponmo.

ECHBEE FOODS : GARRI KITCHEN TV.

Echbee Foods changing the garri narrative.

 

BEEF: What does your beef customer want?

 

What does your beef customer want? Understanding your beef customer starts with knowing your true buyer, then doing what it takes to meet their needs. 

 Do you know who your customer is? When I ask that question most people get this vision of the end consumer in mind, and possibly the thought of a foreign trade deal tries to slide into their mind as well. 

 The definition of the word customer is: a person or organization that buys goods and/or services from a business. To be direct the person who writes you a check for the cattle you sold is your customer. Unless you direct market the end consumer is not your customer. 

 The way to offer better service to your customer is know your market. What do the buyers willing to spend the most money there want? Figure that out and give it to them. In doing this you cannot cut corners, or pull up short.

 Understanding ‘reputation’ 

 This week I saw a few big strings of reputation cattle sell. The first bunch in this example were weaned thirty plus days. They were all black, vaccinated and on a feed program. These cattle were not the market toppers that day, as one might expect. Two buyers that could have bid them up chose not to. 

 The problem with this bunch is the feed program they are on. It is a good program, to a point. The cattle will eat the stuff, and they will gain. If you start them on it and leave them on it the feed program is awesome. 

The problem is when a customer buys them, and is trying to make money with them, that person will feed them more economically. To be direct, the two times I bought these cattle it was like my back grounding yard became rehab. Not all of them make it out of rehab.

#beef

Future Beef: Global Smart Commodity Group adds live cattle trading to platform

 

Global Smart Commodity Group adds live cattle trading to platform. 

I recently completed an MBA in International Agribusiness and Food Chain Management program where i presented a term paper on technological disruptions in the cattle business in Nigeria. It was an amazing surprise when i came across this article with similar lines of thought as my project. We are set to change the narrative in the cattle trading system in Nigeria, we are changing the paradigm from the farm to the store. 

Lets get into the article without giving out too much information about our project.

 Global Smart Commodity Group adds live cattle trading to platform.

 Global Smart Commodity Group, a multi-asset class commodities exchange, has announced that Salus, the commodities trading platform built on blockchain technology, will begin providing live cattle as a traded commodity. 

 Intended to speed up the commodity trading process, there will be two available types of live cattle offered on the platform: live cattle and feeder cattle. Salus will also provide producers the ability to list identifiers such as weight, sex classification, country of origin, age, breed, genetics and other environmental factors.

 Global Smart Commodity Group, a multi-asset class commodities exchange, has announced that Salus, the commodities trading platform built on blockchain technology, will begin providing live cattle as a traded commodity. Intended to speed up the commodity trading process, there will be two available types of live cattle offered on the platform: live cattle and feeder cattle. Salus will also provide producers the ability to list identifiers such as weight, sex classification, country of origin, age, breed, genetics and other environmental factors. 

"The addition of offering live cattle on Salus is a necessary transition of technology," said Bryce Everett, GSCG's Cattle SME. "People have been searching for this type of option for a while, and they have been looking for a more fair and efficient way to trade cattle. We're very excited about how the outcome will play out." 

 The goal of offering live cattle on the platform will benefit smaller processors, those beyond the big names, giving a global platform to a farmer and rancher, helping to increase profits. 

Each contract of live cattle will be equivalent to 40,000 pounds, or 40 head. Salus was created using blockchain technology. Its Growth Cycle Tracking technology provides users a real time seed-to-delivery monitoring feature which authenticates the commodities' origins and watches over the transaction in each stage of the supply chain.

#blockchain #agribusiness #farming #trading.

Purina fermentation product supports feed efficiency in feedlot cattle.

 

Purina fermentation product supports feed efficiency in feedlot cattle.Feed costs are a constant consideration for cattle feeders. Improving feed efficiency, even by a small margin, can pay big dividends in the long run. “If cattle eat less and gain the same, it’s a nice advantage because you save on the amount you’re feeding. 

5The cattle industry has continually focused on improving feed efficiency through nutrition and genetics,” said Ron Scott, Ph.D., director of beef technical innovation with Purina Animal Nutrition. “Purina EfficienZ fermentation product is designed to help take things a step further.” 

The use of fermented feed is an age-long method to achieve feed efficiency and promote animal health.read 

 The new EfficienZ fermentation product is a non-nutritive feed additive available in select Purina supplements to support feed efficiency and help improve feed conversion in finishing cattle rations by optimizing rumen function.

Read Beef magazine.on side bar.

Rancher sentenced for running $244m ‘ghost cattle’ scam.

 

Rancher sentenced for running $244m ‘ghost cattle’ scam. A cattle rancher in Washington has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding Tyson Foods and another company out of more than $244 million by charging the victim companies for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not exist. 

 According to court documents, Cody Allen Easterday used his company, Easterday Ranches Inc., to enter into a series of agreements with the companies under which Easterday Ranches agreed to purchase and feed cattle for them. Per the agreements, Tyson and the other company would advance Easterday Ranches the costs of buying and raising the cattle. Once the cattle were slaughtered and sold at market price, Easterday Ranches would repay the costs advanced – plus interest and certain other costs – retaining the difference as profit.( READ BEEF MAGAZINE ON SIDE BAR.)