Everyone who has ever seen “Old Yeller” gets a little teary when they have to put the faithful dog down. Everyone roots for Wilbur to win at the fair in E.B. White’s classic, “Charlotte’s Web.” Animals are all around us, in our favorite books, movies and our day-to-day lives. The lives of animals are intertwined with our own, from the family dog to the family herd of cattle. Farmers have long known best that animals that have been handled with good husbandry practices are the best producers and the least trouble.
Reports of animal cruelty seem to be all around these days, mostly at large production facilities. You need only turn on your television or open your papers to see the news. Last year, beef producer Westland/Hallmark Meat was forced to recall 143 million pounds of beef after an undercover video released by the Humane Society of the United States showed employees abusing “downer” cattle at the plant’s facility in California. The affects of public opinion and the recall quickly brought the beef producer to its knees. Westland/Hallmark was forced to close its doors and some employees on the video were charged with multiple felony offenses.
Even more recently, three former employees of Aviagen Turkeys, Inc, one of the largest parent stock breeders of turkeys in the country, were indicted on animal abuse charges. The three were accused of torturing and abusing turkeys at Aviagen’s Greenbrier processing plant. The acts were caught on undercover video. No one who viewed those videos could condone the acts of cruelty that were inflicted upon the animals or would want to consume the meat from those downer cattle that were put into the food system.
The American population is becoming more demanding and savvy in regards to what they are consuming. They look for organic labels and grass fed cattle. Even though most of the population is becoming more urbanized, and thus further removed from the way their food is actually produced, they do want to be reassured that it was handled in a humane fashion. Science is now offering even further proof that good animal husbandry benefits not only the consumer but also the producer.
Dr. Temple Grandin, a famed author and animal science professor at Colorado State University, has led the swell of research in stress and conditions on meat quality. Dr. Grandin has designed curved chute and race systems for cattle to help reduce stress during handling at meat plants around the world. Dr. Grandin’s research into meat quality and safety have found that stress caused by such stressors as excitement, fatigue, pain, hunger and thirst can cause adverse affects to meat quality. Meat from stressed animals sometimes results in pale, soft, exudative meat, or dark, firm dry meat. Her research indicates that when under stress, an animal will release many stress hormones, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine. Glycogen is broken down by epinephrine into glucose. Glucose is used by the animal for energy. Byproducts of the use of glucose are carbon dioxide and water. However, when there is not enough oxygen present for the conversion, the byproducts are lactic acid and water.
Non-stressed animals have normal levels of glycogen. When animals are slaughtered and bled out, the process of metabolism continues, without oxygen present. Since oxygen is not present, lactic acid builds up and causes a drop in pH of the meat. The final meat quality is affected by that rate of pH decline in the meat.
If lactic acid was built up prior to slaughter due to stressors, the pH of the meat declines very rapidly and the result may be pale, soft, exudative meat. On the other end of the spectrum, if glycogen is depleted before slaughter, the pH may not drop enough because not enough lactic acid is produced. Meat from this situation will be very dry and dark in color. This type of meat is more susceptible to spoiling. The deficiency of glycogen may be caused by too much physical activity or inadequate feeding. Proper handling results in better prices for the market and a better product for the consumer. The consumer is changing and markets are tough, so any extra steps that could be taken to boost consumer confidence and prices are a plus to producers. Most major animal production companies are emphasizing animal welfare by making any animal cruelty an offense that results in immediate termination. In the end, it all comes back to “Farmers Know Best,” a well cared for animal results in good profits and good product.
Stephanie Burroughs is an Agriculture Analyst for Cargill Turkey Products, LLC, a division of Cargill, Inc.
