Fifty eight Hereford steers, raised under native pasture conditions, slaughtered with an average age of thirty months, were used to study the feasibility of the use of live wheight (PV) as an estimator of the hot carcass weight (PCQ) and of cuts such as fore quarter (PD), ribs (PC) and hind pistol (PS), as well as to quantify the relationship of live weight with hot carcass weight and the main carcass cuts (PD, PC and PS). The regression equations obtained were: PCQ =-3.7 + 0.474 (PV); PS = 4.32 + 0.50 (PV); PC = -5.6 + 0.92 (PV) and PD =-0.4 + 0.43 (PV), all of them highly significant (P<0.001), showing, respectively, the following determination coefficients: 90.6%, 86.6%, 72.6% and 87.0%. According to these values one might conclude that live weight is a good estimator of hot carcass weight and of its cuts, and may be utilized to sort animals for slaughter and when to sell them.
carcass; steers; Hereford; live weight; cuts
