Beef Cattle and Industry
Beef Cattle and Industry
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I CAN …..
Identify the main beef breeds
Explain how important the industry is and how
it works.
Describe the characteristics of each breed
List the leading states and countries in the beef
industry.
Figure 16–4: Historic cattle inventory in the United States. (Source: USDA.)
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Historical Evolution
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“Breeds Revolution” –
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period of great expansion
in numbers of breeds of
beef cattle.
Demand for grain-fed beef
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Meat from cattle which
have undergone a
significant grain
feeding.
Increase Carcass
weight
Role of Beef Cattle
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Beef industry – single
largest money makinggenerating commodity in
all of agriculture.
Beef accounts for 40-45%
of cash receipts from
animal agriculture.
 $35 billion
Beef Cattle Breeds
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Breed – animals of common origin with characteristics that
distinguish them from other group of same species
- > 300 world-wide
See web site: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/index.htm
Beef Cattle Breeds
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Purebred –
purity of ancestry; pedigrees recorded in their
breed registry
Commercial –
livestock not registered or pedigreed; crossbred
Most US cattle are commercial/crossbred
Beef Cattle Breeds (identify & know purpose)
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3 general categories:
1.
British breeds (Bos taurus)– Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn
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2.
maternal – fertility, longevity, milk production
earlier maturity (puberty); less muscular
Exotic or Continental breeds (Bos taurus) – Simmental,
Limousin, Charolais, etc.
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Paternal (terminal) - growth rate, muscular, lean; large mature
size
Dual – purpose (maternal and paternal traits)
Beef Cattle Breeds (identify & know
purpose)
3.
Brahman (Bos indicus) – Zebu is main strain
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greatest genetic influence world-wide
heat and insect tolerant; adaptable to warm environments
later puberty, low growth rate, less muscling
Important Terms
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Polled –
the animal has no horns. When the animal
starts to grow them the farmer will dehorn
them.
Marbling –
the intermix of fat and muscle together
Terminal Sire –
A paternal-breed sire used in a terminal sire
crossbreeding system.
Angus
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British breed
1st in US registrations
black & polled
moderate size
MARBLING
Hereford x Angus =
black baldy (white face)
- good mothers
Red Angus – 5th
Hereford
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British breed
red body & white face; polled
& horned
2nd in registrations
moderate size
major breed influence in
commercial cows (esp.
western range)
cancer eye
Simmental
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Continental (Europe)
Switzerland
red, yellow, black/white
dual-purpose
 growth, carcass
 milk production
large mature size
Dual purpose – 6th most
popular
Others – Gelbvieh (8th)
Limousin
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Continental
France
red, gold, black
lean, muscular
excel in yield grades
terminal sire
3rd most popular
Shorthorn
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British
Prominent US breed in
1800s, early 1900s
red, white, roan
horned/polled
excellent milk production
10th most popular today
Charolais
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Continental
France
white with pink nose
large size
lean & muscular
terminal sire
4th most popular
Others=Chianina
Brahman
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Bos indicus
hump; loose hide; long ears
heat/insect tolerant
southern US – 11th popular
late maturity, less muscling
tenderness problems
Beefmaster is most common
breed = 7th most popular
 Developed in USA,
combination of Brahman,
Hereford and Shorthorn
 Others are Brangus – 9th
 Simbrah, Santa Gertrudis
 Braford, Charbray, etc..
Beef Products
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Primary Product of Beef Production
 Finished or Fat Cattle
 Fed to desired fatness endpoint
 .2 to 1 inch of backfat
 Intramuscular fat or marbling – Quality Grade
 Prime, choice, select, standard = eating quality
 Utility = Dog food
 “corn – fed” 60 – 300 days – white fat
 1-2.5 years of age at harvest
 Maximum quality at high yield of meat
 Yield Grade = scale of 1-5, 1 is highest % lean
 Steers or heifers not used for breeding
Top States: Beef cows & feedlot
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Beef cow inventory
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Texas 5.53 mil
Missouri 2.06 mil
Nebraska 1.94 mil
Oklahoma 1.86 mil
S. Dakota 1.66 mil
Ohio 270 thousand
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Fed cattle marketed
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Texas 6.06 mil
Kansas 5.03 mil
Nebraska 4.44 mil
Colorado 2.51 mil
Oklahoma 928 thous
Top Countries: Beef Cattle
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# of Cattle (mil.)
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5.
India
Brazil
China
USA
Argentina
215
159
107
98
55
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Production
(bil. lb. carcass wt.)
1.
USA
26
2.
Brazil
13
3.
China
10
4.
Argentina
6
5.
Russian Fed. 5