The Science of Animal Growth and Meat Technology

appreciated.

Chapter 1

Historical perspectives of the meat and animal industry and their relationship to animal growth, body composition, and meat technology

Abstract

As animals were domesticated over the years, their growth and body composition patterns were altered to meet the needs of individuals who were responsible for their domestication. That is why there is so much genetic diversity among domestic animals.

The meat industry started in the United States with farmers slaughtering and packing pork, beef, and lamb for the meat markets during the colonial years. The next phase was the establishment of the large industrial companies, such as Armor, Swift, and Morris, that were associated with the Stockyards for a source of animals. The meat companies then moved to the source of the animals in rural America.

The current structure of the meat industry has resulted in an added-value industry by mergers among food companies and the development of new, high technology produced meat products. Over the last 200 years, the meat industry has transformed from a low-technology industry to a high-technology supplier of quality protein foods for consumers around the world.

Keywords

Domestication of meat animals; Cattle; Pigs; Sheep; History of the meat industry

Introduction

There are significant relationships between the regulation of animal growth and body composition and meat quality traits of domestic animals. Animal growth traits and carcass characteristics have great influences on the value of the live animal for both breeding value and retail meat value. Therefore it is important to understand growth and development concepts when management decisions are made for livestock production systems.

This book will provide fundamental science-based concepts as well as applied and practical concepts from prenatal growth to postnatal growth of cattle, sheep, and pigs. This book is unique, as information is also presented that relates growth and development traits to the carcass value, meat retail characteristics, meat processing, and meat storage traits that are important at the wholesale and retail markets.

Historical Perspectives for the Origin of Meat-Producing Animals and Their Growth Traits

Domestication of Cattle

The origin of cattle is often traced to the Indian subcontinent, as skeletal remains have been recovered in this region of the world. The remains are representative of the Zebu cattle. The skeletons of the male cattle were large (6 ft. at the withers) and their horns measured 3 ft. Their forequarters were large and their hindquarters were less developed. Their growth potential was large. Domesticated cattle that dated back to 6500 BC were also unearthed in Turkey.

When cattle were domesticated, major growth and conformation changes took place depending on the use of the cattle by the people who did the domestication. Cattle used for draft purposes were selected for large size, and cattle selected for milk and meat production were smaller. Cattle became important to the culture of families and they were often drawn on the walls of tombs, reflecting the importance to the family lifestyle. An example is shown in Fig. 1.1. This figure is from an Egyptian tomb. During the domestication process, cattle were selected to meet the needs of the people in the different regions of the world, and this resulted in a large number of cattle with different conformation and growth rates. In more recent years (1725–95), Robert Bakewell from England used inbreeding techniques to develop breeds of cattle. He was best known for the development of the Durham breed. It became a very popular cattle breed in England and Europe in the 1800s. When the Durham cattle were exported to the United States, they became known as the Shorthorn Breed (Fig. 1.2). It was split into a Dairy Shorthorn and Beef Shorthorn for milk and meat production, respectively.

Fig. 1.1 An example of cattle from the walls of an Egyptian tomb.

Fig. 1.2 Examples of the Shorthorn Breed developed by Robert Bakewell from England.

The 19th century was a significant time period for cattle breed development. Many of our current breeds were developed in the 19th century. Some examples are the Angus, Hereford, Holstein, Guernsey, and Brown Swiss. The growth and development patterns of these breeds have changed extensively from the 19th century. These changes will be described in the growth and development chapters of the book.

Domestication of the Pig

Historical information on the domestication of the pig indicated that the pig was separately domesticated in several distinct areas of the world more than 8000 years ago. Some pigs were domesticated in the Alps region of Europe and the Baltic Sea area. There is also much evidence that the pig was domesticated in China. The conformation and growth patterns of the Chinese pigs were very different from the domesticated European pig (Fig. 1.3). The genetic divergence between the European and Chinese pigs is estimated to be 500,000 years ago. As the pig was domesticated, more swine breeds started to develop. Darwin, in 1871, reported two species of domestic pigs that obtained their origin from the wild boar in Europe and Asia. Recent information from molecular genetic research indicates that Asian pigs were introduced to the European population in the 18th and 19th centuries. Large differences in litter size and growth rate existed in these pigs. The Chinese pigs had very large litters compared to the European pigs, and the European pigs had much faster growth rates. Both the European and Asian pigs had a high percentage of fat compared to muscle. The people in this time period preferred fatter meat and meat products and therefore selected for fatter pigs.

Fig. 1.3 An example of the Chinese pig selected to meet the needs for the Chinese population during domestication, and an example of the pigs that resulted from the domestication process in Europe.

The majority of the US pig population obtained their origin from Europe, and most of the current US swine breeds were imported from Europe. In the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century in the United States, swine breeds were also selected for more fat than muscle, as pork fat was a stable part of the human diet in the United States. Also, the fat provided a lot of good flavor to the meat and processed meat products, and this was preferred by the consumer. Fig. 1.4 gives an example of the pigs in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. In the last half of the 20th century, major changes in selection occurred in the body composition of the pig population. Fat was greatly reduced and muscle was increased by intensive genetic selection. The rapid change in body composition of the pig population in the 1960s to the 1990s resulted in adjustment problems for most of the very muscular pigs. They became very susceptible to stress conditions. This stress impact, often associated with a very rapid increase in muscle deposition during the growth process, caused significant financial losses to the swine industry, as the stress-susceptible pigs often died when transported to market. This is a very important topic in the historical development of the modern pig population and will be presented in more detail in several chapters.

Fig. 1.4 An example of a pig from the first half of the 20th century.

In the 1990s, genetic tests were developed to eliminate the stress condition (porcine stress syndrome) from the pig population. The pig industry made great changes in the composition and production traits of the domesticated pig from the 1960s to present. More changes in body composition and growth rate were made during this period than in the previous 150 years. These changes will be presented in the growth and development section of this book.

Domestication of Sheep

It is thought that sheep were first domesticated in 9000 BC in what is now known as Iraq. Syria, Iran, and Turkey were also recognized as some of the first regions of the world to domesticate sheep. Sheep were popular for trading activities, and domesticated sheep rapidly moved from Iraq to Europe, Africa, and Asia. Sheep were genetically altered for growth and development traits to improve meat, milk, and wool production. Some sheep were developed into breeds with special traits for wool, milk, and meat production. There are many sheep breeds around the world. The most popular sheep breed in the United States is the Suffolk (Fig. 1.5). The Suffolk was genetically selected for great growth traits, resulting in the largest mature weight of the US breeds. It is also a very muscular breed. Growth and development patterns for sheep will be presented in the growth sections of the book and will be related to body composition.

Fig. 1.5 An example of an excellent and modern Suffolk. Courtesy of Fisher Suffolks, West Des Moines, Iowa.

It is evident that animal growth and its relationship to carcass composition was an important topic for sheep producers to consider when sheep were domesticated. These same growth and development traits are altered today to design the seedstock sheep population to meet the economic characteristics required for a profitable industry. The Suffolks shown in Fig. 1.5 are examples of genetic selection programs of sheep for profitable traits in the sheep industry. The genetic controls for animal growth will continue to be altered to reduce production costs and improve carcass composition and meat quality. Therefore a historical knowledge of the most important factors that regulate growth and development and body composition of domestic animals can be helpful when best management practices are used for production systems in the livestock industry.

Historical Relationship Between Man and Domestic Animals

The drawings (Fig. 1.1) on the walls of caves and tombs dating back 4–5 thousand years ago indicate an important and positive relationship between man and domestic animals. This positive relationship still exists today for many people. The domestication of the dog probably took place in Eastern Asia about 15,000 or more years ago. This is based on recent DNA evidence. They were domesticated for companionship and often were part of the family thousands of years ago.

Religion and Animals

In Asian countries, oxen and water buffalo were used for transportation and field work and often they became part of the family. Many families would not eat meat from the water buffalo or oxen. Some domesticated animals became part of man’s religion and also became part of their social culture. The Buddhist religion is an example of this. Many Buddhists are vegetarians and some are against the slaughter of animals for meat consumption. The Hindu religion considers cattle sacred and they are protected in India.

Medical Science and Animals

The foundation of medical science was greatly influenced through the use of domesticated animals for medical experiments, and the longer life expectancy of man continues today because of the medical science database that was obtained from using domestic animals as experimental models. It is of interest that the physiological functions of pigs are very similar to humans. Therefore the pig is a very good model for human medical research. Fig. 1.6 shows the influence of vitamin B12 on the growth rate of pigs used as an experimental model for the impact of vitamin requirements. The pig on the left received no supplemental B12 and the pig on the right received B12 in the ration. Note the difference in size. Early studies used the pig as an experimental animal to determine B12 requirements for humans. Our society was built with the use of domesticated animals as a source of critical medicines. An example would be the hormone insulin, which can be extracted from the pancreas of the pig. When this procedure is used, the pancreas is harvested during the slaughter process. The extracted insulin was a life saver for people who had diabetes. Insulin obtained from animals was the major source until molecular genetic techniques were developed and bacteria were modified to produce insulin. Without domesticated animals, our society would not be as advanced socially, scientifically, or technically.