CALGARY (Staff) – Boasts that barley-fed beef is a superior product may carry more weight following scientific data pulled from a preliminary feed study.
Research funded partly by the Alberta Cattle Commission showed barley-fed animals produce whiter fat, a trait highly desired by Pacific Rim beef buyers.
Color of muscle and fat tissue is one of the major specifications demanded by these buyers who look for cherry red beef carrying white fat rather than yellow.
Lacombe meat scientist Steve Morgan Jones said about 50 cattle were involved in the study.
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Half received a barley ration and the rest ate corn, which is a common livestock feed in the United States.
A taste panel run at Agriculture Canada’s Lacombe Research Centre gave a thumbs up to the barley-fed product saying it was juicier and more tender.
But when it came to flavor, they couldn’t determine a difference.
For Alberta, these findings could be used as a selling tool in the highly competitive beef export market, said Marjorie Mann, research co-ordinator at the cattle commission.
“We have something that makes our product more attractive to buyers in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and possibly in the future to China,” she said.
The feed trial ended this summer. A more in-depth study will be carried out over the next 18 months.
