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Cattle evaluation yields higher quality, more profit |
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By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas |
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January 10, 2002 -- In earlier days, cattle were evaluated through the eyes and experience of the individual producer. Sometimes, their educated guess proved right, and sometimes they didn't get what they paid for ... or did they? Dr. Larry Boleman, Texas A&M Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, gave a presentation on cattle evaluation at a recent feedyard field day in Gonzales, held at Graham Land and Cattle Company. "If you can find out how much your cattle are really valued at; if you know because you've used the right kind of sires to make them gain better; if you know they'll grade 80 percent Choice or better; if you know they'll all be yield Grade II and come out weighing exactly 1200 pounds ... If you know these things, you need to get into some kind of direct market program. "It will allow you to get into those co-mingled sales because you know what's been done to the cattle and how they will perform," said Boleman to a standing room only audience. Using prepared grids and handouts, Boleman explained the factors used in determining slaughter cattle yield and quality grading. "A grid sheet, basically, gives you an example of what the average carcass is selling for at a Yield Grade three, Choice grade. You have Premiums when you get better than that, and then you have discounts when you get worse than that," he said. While it is easy for a meat scientist to give an accurate weight for a carcass and measure the rib eye area for exact size, they have no idea about the weight of the live animal, he added. According to Boleman, "grades of slaughter cattle are intended to be directly related to the grade of the carcasses they produce." This is based on two factors: quality, which reflects on the leanness and quantity or cutability referred to as "yield grade." "The reason that you would even care about the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades in terms of quality and yield is that they have a lot of affirmation to do with the quality and value of your animal," said Boleman. Because of the Certified Angus Beef and other quality beef programs, Boleman said we now have a Top Choice available. He said that the merchandising and marketing programs want these high quality animals. "People who can raise Certified Angus Beef or Nolen's Quality Premium Beef and all these sorts of things have a little bit of opportunity for improvement there," said Boleman. While most have heard of the price of Select and Choice spread, what they're really talking about is the difference in Select when compared to Choice. "A lot of times, when there's not a lot of demand for Choice, Select gets right up against it. Other times, when there's a big demand for Choice and there's not many of them, Select pulls way away. "I maintain that a lot of times, in the auction barn when these calves go through there, that the price that you get for those calves is going to drop about $150 ... because they (buyers) think they might rate Standard," said Boleman. He said that various indications to some buyers show that the cattle may be too big or have a really bad disposition and could be a dark cutter and not marble up, causes the cattle to sell for less. "Any of those ideas that start reflecting in giving you (buyer) an opportunity to discount them because you think these things are going to happen, you actually do that," said Boleman. "If you can start reading those things into that, then in fact, you can give those premiums discounts right at the auction barn." Boleman said that successful producers will know how and where the animals develop, and what areas of the cattle produce the different cuts of meat. Also, too much fat in areas can discount the cattle up to $150. "One of the determining factors is how fat they are in the brisket," said Boleman. He said that a "round curve" about the size of a quarter of a basketball is sufficient for a good brisket without too much fat. In discussion of yield grading, Boleman said there are four factors to be considered: fat thickness at the 12th rib, carcass weight, ribeye area (estimated in square inches at the 12th rib) and a percent for the kidney, pelvic and heart (KPH) fat. From top to bottom, these grades include Prime, Choice, Select and Standard. "Generally speaking, for normally finished cattle with an opportune type growth period and growth term, not to big or too fat, we are going to have around a half inch of fat," said Boleman. "Normally, most of our cattle have around 2.0 KPH. The average cattle for the whole United States have 1.1 square inch of ribeye for every 100 pounds. It doesn't say the most muscular, and it doesn't say the least muscular," he said in closing. |
