Table 7.
Productivity gains conferred by implant use within Brazilian beef production at low, medium or high levels of performance enhancement compared to a control (no implants) scenario
| Finishing system | Cattle group | Productivity metric | Level of implant performance enhancement | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No implants (NI) | Low (LI) | Medium (MI) | High (HI) | |||
| Finishing farm | Nelore heifers | Slaughter age, mo | 36.0 | 32.0 | 30.6 | 29.4 |
| Slaughter weight, kg | 515 | 524 | 528 | 532 | ||
| Carcass weight, kg | 273 | 283 | 287 | 291 | ||
| Nelore bulls | Slaughter age, mo | 36.0 | 32.2 | 30.8 | 29.6 | |
| Slaughter weight, kg | 568 | 578 | 582 | 586 | ||
| Carcass weight, kg | 301 | 312 | 316 | 321 | ||
| Feedlot | Nelore heifers | Slaughter age, mo | 28.0 | 26.9 | 26.5 | 26.1 |
| Slaughter weight, kg | 456 | 464 | 468 | 471 | ||
| Carcass weight, kg | 242 | 250 | 254 | 258 | ||
| Crossbred heifers | Slaughter age, mo | 24.0 | 22.9 | 22.5 | 22.2 | |
| Slaughter weight, kg | 519 | 528 | 532 | 535 | ||
| Carcass weight, kg | 275 | 285 | 289 | 293 | ||
| Nelore bulls | Slaughter age, mo | 27.3 | 26.3 | 26.0 | 25.7 | |
| Slaughter weight, kg | 526 | 535 | 539 | 543 | ||
| Carcass weight, kg | 279 | 288 | 293 | 297 |