Table 3.
No shade vs. Shade performance and carcass traits (year 2)
| Treatments1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | No Shade | Shade | SEM | P-value |
| Performance | ||||
| Initial BW, kg | 379 | 378 | 1 | 0.65 |
| Adjusted Final BW2, kg | 664 | 671 | 3 | 0.11 |
| DMI, kg/d | 10.4 | 10.6 | 0.01 | <0.01 |
| ADG, kg | 1.77 | 1.83 | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| G:F | 0.170 | 0.172 | 0.001 | 0.47 |
| Carcass | ||||
| HCW3, kg | 418 | 423 | 2 | 0.11 |
| LM area4, cm2 | 91.0 | 94.8 | 1.3 | 0.06 |
| 12th rib fat, cm | 1.50 | 1.55 | 0.03 | 0.32 |
| Marbling5 | 460 | 459 | 4 | 0.87 |
| Calculated YG6 | 3.42 | 3.31 | 0.07 | 0.32 |
1Treatments consisted of five open pens (No Shade) and five shaded (Shade) pens to provide 30 to 45 ft2 per animal.
2Adjusted final body weight (BW) calculated from hot carcass weight (HCW) using a common 63% dressing percent.
3Hot carcass weight.
4LM area = longissimus muscle (ribeye) area.
5Marbling score: 300 = slight, 400 = small, 500 = modest, etc.
6Calculated Yield Grade (YG) = 2.50 + (6.35 × 12th rib fat depth, cm) − (2.06 × LM area, cm2) + (0.2 × KPH, %) + (0.0017 × HCW, kg) (Boggs and Merkel, 1993).