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Finishing diets used in beef and lamb production in Northern Ireland: results of a questionnaire survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

A J McAfee*
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
E Duffy
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
G Cuskelly
Affiliation:
Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMCNI), Lisburn, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
A Fearon
Affiliation:
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Beflast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
J Wallace
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
M Bonham
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
B W Moss
Affiliation:
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Beflast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
S Strain
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
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Extract

Ruminant feeding regimes that include grass finishing are known to increase the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) content of beef and lamb. By contrast, concentrate finishing produces meat with increased n-6 PUFA concentrations. There is strong evidence that increasing the ratio of n-3: n-6 PUFA in the diet has beneficial effects for human health. In Northern Ireland, it is likely that feeding regimes are predominantly grass-based; therefore beef and lamb could contain appreciable amounts of n-3 PUFA. However, an analysis of types of finishing diets used by farms in Northern Ireland has not been done. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of grass and concentrate finishing in farms in Northern Ireland.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2009

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References

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