Effect of ovarian ligation on carcass traits and meat quality in female Hanwoo cattle using propensity score matching

Approaches including hormonal treatments and surgical interventions have been established to suppress estrus and thus improve the average daily gain and meat quality in female Hanwoo cattle. Ovarian ligation is one such approach which suppresses estrus without removal of the ovaries, thereby reducing complications such as hemorrhage and ovarian remnant syndrome. Ovariectomy and ovarian ligation have been increasingly applied in commercial farms to improve feed efficiency and meat quality; however, objective validation using large-scale data remains limited. To address this gap, sensitivity analysis was conducted by estimating odds ratios for superior carcass traits and grading through logistic regression models, including unadjusted models, models adjusted for covariates (season, age at slaughter, and parity), and models based on propensity score matching (PSM). Ovarian ligation significantly increased the carcass, weight, and marbling scores in both heifers and cows. Compared with their non-ligated counterparts, ligated female Hanwoo cattle had higher odds of receiving Quality Grade 1++ and ≥1+ in PSM-adjusted models. However, yield grade A was not improved in heifers and even decreased in cows. These findings suggest that ovarian ligation exerts a more pronounced effect on meat quality than on yield grade A, particularly given the lack of improvement or decline in yield grade A across parity groups. Restricted spline curve analysis showed that ligated female Hanwoo cattle consistently had higher probabilities of achieving superior quality grades (QG 1++ or ≥1+) than the non-ligated heifers and cows, with the largest differences at lower parity levels. In contrast, the probability of achieving a grade A yield was higher in non-ligated cows than in ligated cows. Ovarian ligation is an effective and minimally invasive strategy for enhancing meat quality in Hanwoo cattle, particularly heifers. However, its effect on the yield grade may be limited or negative in cows. These findings provide practical evidence for producers to consider ovarian ligation as a strategy to improve carcass traits and meat quality.