Beef CRC II features 14 DPI researchers
The Special Edition of the latest Beef CRC Special Edition published in Animal Production Science features NSW DPI scientists, economists and biometricians on 14 of the 17 papers, and on the Foreword.
From the Foreword:
"The Special Edition marks the culmination of two very large projects that were conducted across northern and southern Australia between 1997 and 2006, as part of Beef CRC’s second phase of research, known as the Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality.
"Beef CRC’s first 7-year phase (1993–2000) had answered the critical question: ‘Can we guarantee beef eating quality from Australia’s vastly differing and extreme beef production systems?’ Results from that first phase clearly demonstrated that, with careful attention to critical control points along the full length of the production and processing chain (literally from conception through to consumption), Australian beef producers could reliably and consistently deliver beef products that met consumer demands for beef palatability. Use of Beef CRC results to underpin development of Meat Standards Australia (MSA) delivered the world’s first meat grading scheme based on consumer-specified palatability preferences. MSA still remains a world-first of which Australia can justifiably be very proud.
"Having answered that first crucial question though, additional questions remained. Principally, we needed to further understand whether we could change carcass and beef quality attributes by genetic selection or through management processes without unduly compromising key fitness traits like reproductive performance and adaptation to environmental stressors. We also needed new scientific knowledge to confirm, or otherwise, the predictability of beef cattle growth and carcass compositional changes during that growth, to better predict and meet stringent market end points. We needed to understand the appropriate weightings given to genetics and management practices to most reliably improve the profitability and productivity of beef herds across northern and southern Australia. The research described in the papers in this Special Edition was specifically designed to answer these additional questions."
The latest Beef CRC Special Edition is now available on-line through Animal Production Science, comprising 17 papers reporting CRCII experimental results
In the meantime, the papers can be downloaded at http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/73/issue/5223.htm
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