Performance and meat quality of native and continental cross steers grazing improved upland pasture or semi-natural rough grazing

There is growing interest in the environmental benefits of grazing by cattle, yet little information is available regarding the levels of production that might be achieved on semi-natural rough grazing (SNRG). The overall aim of this research was to assess the performance of native and ‘improved’ breeds of cattle when grazing grass/clover swards and SNRG in order to explore potential genotype x nutritional environment interactions. This paper reports the findings of three experiments conducted over three years. The first experiment assessed the performance of autumn-born Welsh Black (WB) and Charalois-cross (CX) cattle aged approximately 9 months when grazing ryegrass/white clover-dominated improved permanent pasture (PP) and Molinia caerulea-dominated SNRG. Both genotype and pasture type had significant effects on liveweight gain, with growth rates higher for WB steers than CX steers (P