• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.951-960
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• 2018

Hanwoo cattle are an important food source in Korea and their supply can have a major impact on meat availability for Korean consumers. The Hanwoo population was 1.8 million head in 2005 and gradually increased to 2.6 million in 2015. Per capita beef consumption has also increased, to 11.6 kg per year in 2015, and is expected to continue to increase. Because intramuscular fat percentage is a critical contributor to meat quality, Hanwoo cattle are fed a high-energy corn-based diet for long fattening periods. Long fed diet causes significant alterations in fat percentage in the loin muscle and other areas of the carcass. However, these long feeding periods increase feeding costs and beef prices. Recently, there has been increased Korean consumer demand for lean beef which has less fat, but is tender and priced more reasonably. These consumer demands on the Korean beef industry are driving differing beef production systems and also changes to the beef grading methodology. Korean government has made a significant investment to select bulls with favorable production traits using progeny testing. Progeny tested bull semen has been disseminated to all Hanwoo farmers. A beef traceability system has been employed for all cattle breeds in Korea since 2009. Hanwoo cattle are ear-marked with a 12-digit identification number from birth to slaughter. This number allows traceability of the management history of individual cattle, and also provides information to consumers. Traceability including management information such as herd, farm, year of birth, and carcass data can determine estimated breeding values of Hanwoo. For a sustainable Hanwoo industry, research scientists in Korea have attempted to develop feeds for efficient fattening periods and precision feeding systems based on genetic information for Hanwoo cattle. These initiatives aim to Korean consumer demands for beef and provide more precision management in beef production in Korea.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.2_spc
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• pp.346-359
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• 2024

Advanced and innovative breeding and management of meat-producing animals are needed to address the global food security and sustainability challenges. Beef production is an important industry for securing animal protein resources in the world and meat quality significantly contributes to the economic values and human needs. Improvement of cattle feed efficiency has become an urgent task as it can lower the environmental burden of methane gas emissions and the reduce the consumption of human edible cereal grains. Cattle depend on their symbiotic microbiome and its activity in the rumen and gut to maintain growth and health. Recent developments in high-throughput omics analysis (metagenome, metatranscriptome, metabolome, metaproteome and so on) have made it possible to comprehensively analyze microbiome, hosts and their interactions and to define their roles in affecting cattle biology. In this review, we focus on the relationships among gut microbiome and beef meat quality, feed efficiency, methane emission as well as host genetics in beef cattle, aiming to determine the current knowledge gaps for the development of the strategies to improve the sustainability of beef production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.129-137
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• 2018

Objective: The objective of this research was to evaluate the physico-chemical, microbiological and sensorial qualities of restructured steaks processed from beef trimmings (grade I and II) and frozen beef (fresh beef as control and frozen beef). Methods: Beef trimmings from commercial butcher were collected, designated into 4 treatments differing in beef trimmings grade and freezing, processed into restructured steaks with 1% microbial transglutaminase and then analyzed for product quality. Results: The results showed that all meat from different groups could be tightly bound together via cross-linking of myosin heavy chain and actin as observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Microbial counts of psychrotrophic and mesophilic bacteria were not affected by treatments (p>0.05), and no detectable of thermophilic bacteria were found. Regarding effect of beef trimmings grade, steaks made from beef trimmings grade II (16.03% fat) showed some superior sensorial qualities including higher tenderness score (p<0.05) and tendency for higher scores of juiciness and overall acceptability (p<0.07) than those made from beef trimmings grade I (2.15% fat). Moreover, a hardness value from texture profile analysis was lower in steaks processed from beef trimmings grade II than those made from grade I (p<0.05). Although some inferior qualities in terms of cooking loss and discoloration after cooking were higher in steaks made from beef trimmings grade II than those made from beef trimmings grade I (p<0.05), these differences did not affect the sensory evaluation. Frozen beef improved the soft texture and resulted in effective meat binding as considered by higher cohesiveness and springiness of the raw restructured product as compared to fresh beef (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results indicated the most suitable raw beef for producing restructured steaks without detrimental effect on product quality was beef trimmings grade II containing up to 17% fat which positively affected the sensory quality and that frozen beef trimmings increased tenderness and meat binding of restructured beef steaks.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.296-320
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• 2014

Since the last decades, livestock ranching has been fast industrialized and the global trade of meat products is sheer increasing. And the Korean government opened its domestic beef market to meet increasing domestic demand for beef. In this context, domestic beef production took its way to specialization and scale economies, and subsequently the commodity chain of beef became different from the conventional one. Such institutions as beef quality grade, HACCP, and brand marketing have strong influence on current beef production systems. Furthermore, along with the macro-scale change, regional and local systems and actors also transform the beef commodity chain. Hampyong-gun, which had once been a declining rural and under-served region in the past, is now actively reviving its economy by producing industrialized, specialized, and localized beef. Such native beef production is both impacted by and associated with multi-scaled actors, their institutions and supporting discourses. These heterogeneous actors and institutions form a newer form of native beef system in the region.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1017-1035
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• 2018

The European Union (EU) is the world's third largest producer of beef. This contributes to the economy, rural development, social life, culture and gastronomy of Europe. The diversity of breeds, animal types (cows, bulls, steers, heifers) and farming systems (intensive, extensive on permanent or temporary pastures, mixed, breeders, feeders, etc) is a strength, and a weakness as the industry is often fragmented and poorly connected. There are also societal concerns regarding animal welfare and environmental issues, despite some positive environmental impacts of farming systems. The EU is amongst the most efficient for beef production as demonstrated by a relative low production of greenhouse gases. Due to regional differences in terms of climate, pasture availability, livestock practices and farms characteristics, productivity and incomes of beef producers vary widely across regions, being among the lowest of the agricultural systems. The beef industry is facing unprecedented challenges related to animal welfare, environmental impact, origin, authenticity, nutritional benefits and eating quality of beef. These may affect the whole industry, especially its farmers. It is therefore essential to bring the beef industry together to spread best practice and better exploit research to maintain and develop an economically viable and sustainable beef industry. Meeting consumers' expectations may be achieved by a better prediction of beef palatability using a modelling approach, such as in Australia. There is a need for accurate information and dissemination on the benefits and issues of beef for human health and for environmental impact. A better objective description of goods and services derived from livestock farming is also required. Putting into practice "agroecology" and organic farming principles are other potential avenues for the future. Different future scenarios can be written depending on the major driving forces, notably meat consumption, climate change, environmental policies and future organization of the supply chain.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.603-621
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• 2017

The current review focuses on characterization and conservation efforts vital for the development of breeding programmes for indigenous beef cattle genetic resources in Southern Africa. Indigenous African cattle breeds were identified and characterized using information from refereed journals, conference papers and research reports. Results of this current review reviewed that smallholder beef cattle production in Southern Africa is extensive and dominated by indigenous beef cattle strains adaptable to the local environment. The breeds include Nguni, Mashona, Tuli, Malawi Zebu, Bovino de Tete, Angoni, Landim, Barotse, Twsana and Ankole. These breeds have important functions ranging from provision of food and income to socio-economic, cultural and ecological roles. They also have adaptive traits ranging from drought tolerant, resistance to ticks and tick borne diseases, heat tolerance and resistance to trypanosomosis. Stakeholders in the conservation of beef cattle were also identified and they included farmers, national government, research institutes and universities as well as breeding companies and societies in Southern Africa. Research efforts made to evaluate threats and opportunities of indigenous beef cattle production systems, assess the contribution of indigenous cattle to household food security and income, genetically and phenotypically characterize and conserve indigenous breeds, and develop breeding programs for smallholder beef production are highlighted. Although smallholder beef cattle production in the smallholder farming systems contributes substantially to household food security and income, their productivity is hindered by several constraints that include high prevalence of diseases and parasites, limited feed availability and poor marketing. The majority of the African cattle populations remain largely uncharacterized although most of the indigenous cattle breeds have been identified.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.68-111
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• 1998

The structure of the Hanwoo (Korean Native Cattle) Industry remains very weak and vulnerable to the WTO/IMF system. Considering that the majority of cattle farmers are small sized, and that marketing systems are outdated and inefficient, rapid expansion of lower priced beef imports by WTO system and rapid increasing of production costs by IMF system would lead to the deprivation of a regular source of farm income and threaten the stability of rural life. Accordingly, the Hanwoo industry should be expanded in accordance with progress in the implementation of (1) programs for the structural adjustment and (2) measures to compensate for the loss. Efforts for lowering major production factor costs needs to continue, In order to increase the supply of calves at low cost, the programs of collective cow-calf farms should be expanded, thereby reducing the cost of calf purchase, which constitutes the largest share of Hanwoo production cost. Also, feedlot operations should be encouraged for small herd farms in order to achieve a substantial saving in beef production costs by integrated operations from calf production to cattle fattening. A substantial saving would also be made by collective purchase and distribution of various inputs through the cooperatives' channels. Extension services should be strengthened for cattle farm management, cattle care and feeding, prevention of cattle disease, etc. In order to minimize cash outlays for commercial mixed feeds, utilization of far by-products as feeds should be enhanced and production of forage crops productive of resources, such as land and rural labor, during the farm o(f-season, needs to be encouraged. Also, technological development for enhancing the nutritional value of farm by-products should be encouraged. Measures for successful segregation of the Hanwoo beef market should be implemented, thereby enhancing incentive for quality beef producers and protecting consumers willing to pay higher price for quality beef. For development of the Hanwoo industry, a considerable time frame would be required in order for (1) small livestock farmers to make a successful adjustment by staying in the enterprise and achieving increased price efficiency (2) livestock farmers to acquire know-how for producing quality Hanwoo beef, (3) the ongoing Government policy of enhancing price-quality competitiveness, and for improving the quality Hanwoo beef marketing to take root. (4) consumers to increase their ability to distinguish meat quality, and others.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.393-405
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• 1983

The demand for livestock and poultry products including beef, pork, chicken, egg and milk whose income elasticities are relatively higher than other staple foods, has been increased significantly during the past two decades in response to the remarkable increase in per capita GNP. This trend will be continued during the fifth and the sixth five year economic development plan period beginning with 1982. The annual GNP growth rate will be 7.5% on the average during the next 10 years. It is greatly needed to estimate the demand for beef, pork, chicken egg and milk and to study the feasibilities of domestic production of livestock products for the formulation of adequate policies in order to equate the consumption and the production during the 1980s. So this study reviewed the possible changes in the food consumption patterns during the 1980s, estimated the demand for beef, pork, chicken, egg and milk by using empirical demand functions and finally made suggestions for the formulation of long term price stabilization policies for each livestock, poultry and dairy products through the equilibrium of the quantity of demand for and supply of the products. There are many factors affecting the demand for meats, but this study considered own price, prices of supplements and substitutes and per capita income as the independent variables in the demand equations. It was found that it's own price and income were most significantly affecting factors among others and the degree of substitution effects were remarkably different among the products. According to the meat demand derived in this study, per capita consumption of beef, pork and chicken in the base year 1982 was 11.2kg for total meat, 2.5kg beef, 6.0kg pork and 2.5kg chicken, 106 pieces egg, 15.1kg milk respectively, while those in 1991 were 19.3kg for total meat, 4.8kg beef, 9.6kg pork, 4.9kg chicken, 133pieces egg and 44.1kg milk. It is also predicted through this study that, when the level of production costs be maintained, the domestic production of pork and chicken will meet the demand for them during the fifth and sixth five year economic plan period. However, there will be chronic shortage of beef supply during the coming years. The annual import requirement will be 30,000tons to 40,000tons during the period. In order to stabilize the domestic livestock and poultry and dairy products market, the government should introduce measures to curb the increase in beef consumption by encouraging the consumption of pork and chicken. For this, the livestock production policy measures should be concentrated on : 1) the improvement of infrastructures of beef production by introducing advanced feeding and management technology, subsidies for the establishment of facilities and price support programs for farmers : 2) the development of dairy beef : 3) the reinforcement of the forecast systems for pork and chicken production and consumption.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.673-677
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• 1996

Four low fat ground beef groups containing 10% fat plus 0, 5, 10 and 20% additional cooked old rice and a control ground beef containing 30% fat were prepared and their cholesterol contents, calories and production costs were investigated to find out the appropriateness of addition of cooked old rice. There were no differences in pHs with the variations in fat content and the content of cooked old rice. As the amount of added cooked old rice increased from 5 to 20%, cook yield of ground beef also increased. When the fat content of beef was reduced from 30 to 10%, the cholesterol content of beef was not reduced but with the fat content fixed to 10% and the content of added cooked old rice increased from 5 to 20%, the cholesterol content of ground beef decreased. Calories of ground beef were reduced by approximately 50% with the reduction of fat content from 30 to 10% and production costs decreased with the increase in the content of added cooked old rice.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.173-188
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• 2008

This study focused on production and distribution situations of Korean organic beef cattle at Hongseong Chungnam. Case Farmers have raised cattle organically based on interchange between a few Consumers' Life Cooperatives(CLC) and them. CLC furnished with funding to purchase calves and bought the cattle beef. However, they have many problems related to procuring organic feed in producing organic beef. Presently, they have used organic byproducts from sowing farming and prepared grass places. But they don't breed organic beef cattle in a large scale because of the limitation of organic feed output.