Aberdeen American News
March 7, 2006 Tuesday
South Dakota: FF; Pg. 80
Beef management that makes the grade
By Miranda Reiman
Special to the Farm Forum
Adding value to beef carcasses can be as easy as smaller pens or earlier weaning.
"We have to manage cattle to minimize discounts and capture any premiums," says
Robbi Pritchard, professor of ruminant nutrition at South Dakota State University.
Producers can cash in on minor changes in their management, he explains.
Improved health programs, more precise implanting strategies and solid nutrition top the
list of management tweaks that could yield more Prime and Choice carcasses.
Smaller pen sizes might help, too, says Pritchard. That reduces the need for sorting,
which can cause stress.
Darrell Busby, Iowa State University Extension beef specialist, also rates health as a
high priority. "You have to have your health program in line," he says, suggesting two
rounds of modified-live vaccine for bovine respiratory disease.
Busby is one of a 10-member board that runs the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity
(TCSCF) in Iowa, through which he has collected more than 20 years of data on tens of
thousands of feedlot calves from several states. He notices fewer health problems with
calves that are weaned more than 30 days.
"Weaning early and putting them on a grain ration will improve marbling," he says. How
early? Busby says producers may want to consider weaning at 120 to 150 days of age,
depending on cow body condition and forage availability.
The key to high-grading carcasses may start months before that, however.
"It probably starts in late gestation," says Pritchard, because cow health can have a
significant impact on that of the calf. Studies show that better nutrition prior to calving will
produce a better carcass on a calf a year later, he says. The same correlation is found
between poor nutrition and poor quality carcasses.
Producers can adjust a number of other management factors.
"Implants don't have to have a detrimental effect on grade," Pritchard says. "Match the
potency of the implant with the amount of energy in the calves' recent diet."
For example, if cattle have been on a forage diet and have a great potential for
compensatory growth in the feedlot, it is best to wait to implant. Fleshy cattle, however,
can be given a higher potency implant.
Busby says, "We think timing is important." TCSCF cattle usually get an estrogen
implant on delivery, followed by a combination implant. That produces the same gain as
higher potency implants, without an effect on grade.
"High-growing cattle and high-quality cattle are not antagonistic," says Busby.
Pritchard says some cattlemen have this figured out.
"There are some who try to apply a pretty steady growth curve." It's more important for
body weight to increase steadily, rather than quickly to a spike and then drop off. "We
learned marbling seems to accumulate at a very steady rate with growth," he says.
"Just slow down a little bit," he says. "At the end, you get to sell a heavier hot carcass
weight with a higher marbling score, at the same yield grade."
"To me, the biggest management factor is making good genetic decisions," says Busby.
Looking at closeouts on more than 3,000 TCSCF steers, he found a $271 value
difference between the cattle in the highest-profit 25% and the lowest profit quartile
group. In addition to selecting for traditional growth and marbling traits, Busby says
cattlemen should take note of disposition.
Futurity data shows aggressive cattle rack up more than $60/head in added cost, poorer
performance and grade.
"We were all surprised to see disposition had that much of an impact on our pocket
books," Busby says. "The aggressive calves gain less, have fewer Choice and more
Standard grade carcasses," he says, admitting only part of this is due to genetics. He
advises producers to "develop good working facilities that reduce stress on cattle."
When making management changes, Pritchard says it's important to have a target
market in mind.
"If you start wrong you can't get to the right spot," he says. "Find the cattle that will fit
your plan."