New technology for beef production gains DEFRA support

THE new video imaging and infrared technology for estimating fat content and meat quality of carcasses in abattoirs has received backing from the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA).

Launched in the UK's abattoirs this year, the new technology will allow farmers to collect and share data about the volume and quality of meat on their cattle. This will, in turn, help in the selective breeding of the best animals.

Daily Mail has quoted a DEFRA spokesman as saying: "Video Image Analysis (VIA) provides information on carcass shape and thereby the proportion of meat in high-value areas. The use of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is one of the measures currently being developed to measure meat quality. Light is shone onto the surface of meat and the reflected light spectra can be related to quality aspects of the meat"

The DEFRA  spokesman noted techniques such as these used in meat processing plants would enable large-scale recording of shape and meat quality across the offspring of many bulls. The data can be used to produce breeding values for meat quality, which can then be utilized by farmers to achieve permanent, cumulative, and cost-effective improvements of carcass underlying quality.

"Additional new processing techniques in the abattoir such as hanging techniques can further improve on that," the DEFRA spokesman added.