Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Berkshire Crossbreds Sired By Heritage Breeds

The objective of this study was to investigate the carcass traits and meat quality of Berkshire crossbreds sired by heritage breeds. The experiments were conducted at the North Carolina A&T State University farm located in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the climate features subtropical summer temperatures and mild winters with an average annual precipitation of approximately 110 cm. Berkshire sows were artificially inseminated with semen from Berkshire (BB), Hereford (HB) and Tamworth (TB) boars in each of three trials after feeding Matrix® for estrus synchronization. The sows used for breeding are raised in an outdoor hoop structure, free of antibiotics, until the last month of pregnancy. During the last month of pregnancy, the sows are moved to a pasture-based unit of 0.8 hectares and then moved to individual lots (14 x 24 m²) with access to a farrowing hut, shade, and water ad libitum for farrowing. Piglets were farrowed outdoors and were housed in a deep-bedded hoop structure after weaning at 4 weeks of age. The boars were not castrated. Piglets were given standard NRC feed and water ad libitum. Total of 112 randomly selected animals were harvested at an USDA inspected abattoir at approximately 200 d of age. For the first two trials, the sows farrowed in the fall and the pigs were harvested in the spring, whereas for the third trials, the sows farrowed in the spring and the pigs were harvested in the fall. Live weights before harvest were recorded at the university farm. At harvest, hot carcass weight was collected prior to refrigeration. After 24-h refrigeration, carcass traits were collected following the NPPC guidelines. Boneless loins were packed in ice and transported to the NCSU Processed Meat Laboratory for further analyses, including marbling score, and objective and subjective color scores. All analyses were analyzed with PROC GLM in SAS 9.3. Breed and sex were included as fixed effects, and day of age was included as a covariate in the statistical model. Interaction between breed and sex was not included because it wasn’t statistically significant. Overall, the males consistently had lower backfat at last lumbar throughout all trials (p<0.05). In the first trial, BB had a significantly higher marbling score and a lower a* score than HB, and in the second trial, TB had a significantly larger longissimus muscle area than HB (p<0.05); however, when three breeds were compared in the third trial, no significant difference was found.