The UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA) report has supported the use of new video imaging and infrared technology to estimate fat content and meat quality of carcasses in abattoirs.
The technology, launched in the country's abattoirs for the first time this year, will allow farmers to collect and share data about the volume and quality of meat on their cattle, which will in turn aid them in selectively breeding the best animals.
According to DEFRA spokesman was quoted by Daily Mail as saying: "Video Image Analysis (VIA) provides information on carcass shape and thereby the proportion of meat in high-value areas. The use of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is one of the measures currently being developed to measure meat quality - light is shone onto the surface of meat and the reflected light spectra can be related to quality aspects of the meat.
"Techniques like these used in the meat processing plant would allow the large scale recording of shape and meat quality across the offspring of many bulls.'From this data, breeding values for meat quality could be produced, thereby providing farmers with the tools to enable permanent, cumulative and cost-effective improvements of the underlying quality of carcasses.
"Additional new processing techniques in the abattoir such as hanging techniques can further improve on that."
According to the report, the UK beef sector witnesses sales exceeding £7bn annually, making it a vital part of the country economy; however, the industry is constantly facing pressure to stay competitive and the long-term sustainability is only possible through innovation.
Though genetic improvement of cattle is a strong tool, not even 15% of the beef farming industry keeps performance records on its animals. On the other hand, about 50% the dairy farming industry keeps such records, which in turn helped in dramatically increasing milk yields.
The data will help firms to know how much feed to be given to animals to produce a kilo of meat and their general health and resilience to diseases.
Following the fall in prices caused by cheap eastern European imports, farmers have been struggling through last year, although they have been able to marginally recover the beef prices.
According to the report, new techniques may help the UK farmers gain better export opportunities especially from the new and emerging markets such as China and Asia. China imported beef worth £840m in 2014 and its main suppliers were Australia, Uruguay, Canada and New Zealand.
