![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gado-juliana-sussai-embrapa-bezerro_-003.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cWith the selection, we\u2019ve evolved in a remarkable way. The EMBRAPA\u2019s office here in Campo Grande was created in 1977. At that time, a bull used to be slaughtered at the age of five or six. The grass and the soil have been developed since, and the quality of food has improved. With the evolution provided, slaughter went down do 24 to 26 months, the meat is better, more quality. This is reflected in the environment, too, as now we produce more using the same area unit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Several traits are involved in improving the cattle. For example, the number of dark pigments in the fur allows the animal to be more resistant to the Brazilian sun and weather. The Nelore breed (pictured above<\/em>) are naturally more resistant to the heat and parasites, but their meat isn\u2019t historically as tender as the Hereford and Angus breeds. This is changing, however.<\/p>\n Professor of the muscle and flesh tissue class of the department of Animal Science of the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (ESALQ\/USP) Eduardo Francisquine Delgado points out that Brazil only has herds composed entirely of Angus animals in the South region. It is a small herd compared to the national population of 213 million head of cattle. That\u2019s because these animals don\u2019t survive in the hotter regions of the country.<\/p>\n However, technology and the selection processes have recently allowed to obtain good results from the Nelore-Angus cross, which generates a more resistant animal with a softer meat. \u201cWe see farmers seek not only to improve the animal but the breeding as well. The genetic basis is still Nelore but there\u2019s a breed mix. The Nelore plus Angs deliverus the (Angus\u2019) tenderness and the Nelore\u2019s rusticity,\u201d Delgado says.<\/p>\n Francisquine says the industry has also contributed for the meat softening process, which can be done through maturation but also physical-chemical processes. Ferreira says that now we can have a wide knowledge of the animal carcass (the part use for food) when it\u2019s still alive through tests. The result? A higher productivity.<\/p>\n Brazilian Angus Association president and breeder Nivaldo Dzyekanski says that Angus is an \u201cimprover\u201d of the quality of the meat. \u201cIt has the ability to pass on its quality, it\u2019s a natural improver,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s true it struggles with heat.\u201d<\/p>\n Dzyekanski explains the association and EMBRAPA in Bag\u00e9, Rio Grande do Sul, will develop a work to identify animals that are able to better withstand heat, have a smoother fur and are more resistant to ticks. In addition to being an improver of the Zebu herd, which includes the Nelore breed, Angus has its captive customers. There\u2019s a niche that seeks for the meat of this animal, which has more intramuscular fat. In the foreign market, the mentions China and the United States as countries that seek softer meats.<\/p>\n ESALQ\u2019s Delgado adds that Brazil is an example of the animal\u2019s health quality and traceability processes. But there\u2019s a very specific trait to determine what quality is. \u201cThere are intrinsic sensorial aspects that vary according to each country\u2019s consumer culture. Even here in Brazil, what a group sees as good may not have the same value for other,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Still, the consumers\u2019 taste makes the farmers seek the best meat. One can go to a bull\u2019s DNA and see if there\u2019s markers indicating of it could produce a calf with a specific trait, such as a tender meat. From then on, it can pass this trait on to its calves, which could have a softer meat.<\/p>\n The selection and artificial insemination, which is done in around 16% of the reproductive processes in Brazil, are the main methods in pursuing the best animal. There\u2019s also cloning. But a cloned animal gets not only the qualities but the defects of the original animal as well, such as a predisposition to certain diseases. \u201cGene editing is a reality in some countries, such as the US. That\u2019s the future but there\u2019s a long way to go,\u201d Ferreira says.<\/p>\n Special report from Marcos Carrieri for ANBA.<\/em><\/p>\n Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>