By Dr Clive Dalton Which breed to farm? There is a wide choice of breeds available in New Zealand. Some of these are the ancestors of a wide range of breeds that came from Britain and Australia in the 1860s and early 1900s, and some have been developed in New Zealand from merging (crossing) other … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Early arrivals in NZ On 22 May 1773, Captain James Cook dropped off a couple of Merino sheep in Sheep’s Cove in the Marlborough Sounds. He had picked them up during his stopover at the Cape of Good Hope, and had great hopes for them in their new home. But they … Read more
Cattle, farming, husbandry, meat, the law, slaughter, marketing, meat schedules, selling options, dressing (killing out percentage), transport, hormone growth promoters. By Dr Clive Dalton Meat cattle need careful handling as bruises don’t show on the outside! Meat and the lawAfter over 100 years in the meat exporting business, a mass of legislation has grown up … Read more
Accelerated conditioining (AC): Electrical stimulation of a carcass after dressing to stimulate rigor mortis which reduces toughness when frozen.Ageing: Same as conditioning.Blast freezing: Rapid freezing of meat in a strong current of air.Boner: Animal slaughtered for manufacturing meat.Cannon bone: Long bone in foot of animal (metacarpals and metatarsals).Carcass weight (CW): These vary according to definition: Casings: Material stripped from intestines used for … Read more