Secret to Improving Hanwoo Quality?… Ulsan City Promotes Premiumization Using Agricultural and Food Byproducts

Expecting Hanwoo Beef Quality Improvement and Feed Cost Reduction

"You must improve quality to survive!"

The Ulsan Agricultural Technology Center is launching a quality enhancement project targeting Hanwoo cattle farms.

The project promoted by the center is called the "Pilot Project for Quality Enhancement of Hanwoo Cull Cow Fattening Using Agricultural and Food By-products."

Hanwoo farmers are facing many difficulties due to rising feed prices and price declines caused by an increase in Hanwoo cattle numbers.

With the increase in the number of Hanwoo slaughtered, wholesale prices are gradually declining. For the medium- to long-term stabilization of Hanwoo farmers' management, autonomous supply and demand control, such as the proactive culling of low-performance cows, is required.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of Hanwoo cattle raised was 3.23 million in 2020, 3.41 million in 2021, 3.56 million in 2022, and 3.48 million in 2023. The number of slaughtered cattle was 760,000 in 2020, 790,000 in 2021, 870,000 in 2022, and 930,000 in 2023.

It is also a challenge to increase the rate of grade 1 or higher among Hanwoo cows, which is lower compared to Hanwoo steers.

For this reason, the Agricultural Technology Center has embarked on a project to enhance the quality of Hanwoo cull cows by applying Total Mixed Ration (TMR) fattening technology.

TMR fattening technology involves mixing all feed at once and providing it, combining roughage and concentrate feed in appropriate ratios according to nutrient requirements to maximize digestion efficiency and reduce digestive diseases in cattle, which is expected to improve meat quality and reduce feed costs.

An official from the Agricultural Technology Center said, "We will focus on stabilizing Hanwoo farmers' management by promoting appropriate fattening periods (8 to 10 months) for proactive culling of low-performance cows and the technology for manufacturing fiber-based mixed feed using agricultural and food by-products."