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<blockquote data-quote="Anonymous" data-source="post: 3828"><p>Excellent information, I really enjoy thoughful discussions like this. A couple of the points you brought up bear some furthur discussion. Some of the differences in our viewpoints may be as a result of management styles for a beef herd. For our herd we have not retained any heifers for breeding. We do this because, after putting a pencil to paper, we have found that it is more economical to purchase replacements than to raise our own. As a result we are able to maintain a more consistant genetic base in our herd because we do not try to maintain static numbers of cows over the whole cattle cycle but rather have the maximize number of cows producing calves when calf prices are good and cull heavily when prices start to slide. Stockers are used to fill in for "empty" grazing positions. This style allows us to use AI and purchase bulls that "fit" with our fairly consistant genetic base. Trying to fit any one bull to a whole group of cows that have a varied genetic mix is very difficult and results in a rainbow of product. You are right, one of the biggest problems currently with producing crosbred calves is having access to a high quality supply of crossbred seedstock that will allow a breeder to maintain a consistant genetic mix. One approach that does work well if you cannot get good crossbred bulls is to to purchase quality 50/50 heifers and breed them terminally to either a saler bull or an angus bull depending on the desired market. This 75/25 calf maintains most of the desirable traits of both parents but it allows the breeder to utilize purebred parents with EPD's. In discussion of tenderness, unfortunately marbling is our best guide at this time. Probably very soon we will have other genetic tools but we have to work with what we have. It has been proven that marbling does in fact have a good correlation with tenderness. I do not have the exact figures readily available but as I recall the USDA did a study and concluded that a prime steak is 80% more likely to be tender than a select steak and a choice steak is 50% more like to be tender than a select steak. My percents may be off but that was the jist of the study. That is why prime is worth more than choice and so forth. As far as wanting a 1/2" outer covering, I suppose that this is one way to attempt to pick out higher quality animals but it in itself does not guarantee anything except lower grading animals and adds to the amount of time that the animals are on feed. External fat and marbling are loosely related but not directly. I will have to pick this discussion up later as I cannot seen to keep my thoughts flowing clearly. Some more fat to chew....</p><p></p><p> <a href="mailto:snefstea@conagrabeef.com">snefstea@conagrabeef.com</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anonymous, post: 3828"] Excellent information, I really enjoy thoughful discussions like this. A couple of the points you brought up bear some furthur discussion. Some of the differences in our viewpoints may be as a result of management styles for a beef herd. For our herd we have not retained any heifers for breeding. We do this because, after putting a pencil to paper, we have found that it is more economical to purchase replacements than to raise our own. As a result we are able to maintain a more consistant genetic base in our herd because we do not try to maintain static numbers of cows over the whole cattle cycle but rather have the maximize number of cows producing calves when calf prices are good and cull heavily when prices start to slide. Stockers are used to fill in for "empty" grazing positions. This style allows us to use AI and purchase bulls that "fit" with our fairly consistant genetic base. Trying to fit any one bull to a whole group of cows that have a varied genetic mix is very difficult and results in a rainbow of product. You are right, one of the biggest problems currently with producing crosbred calves is having access to a high quality supply of crossbred seedstock that will allow a breeder to maintain a consistant genetic mix. One approach that does work well if you cannot get good crossbred bulls is to to purchase quality 50/50 heifers and breed them terminally to either a saler bull or an angus bull depending on the desired market. This 75/25 calf maintains most of the desirable traits of both parents but it allows the breeder to utilize purebred parents with EPD's. In discussion of tenderness, unfortunately marbling is our best guide at this time. Probably very soon we will have other genetic tools but we have to work with what we have. It has been proven that marbling does in fact have a good correlation with tenderness. I do not have the exact figures readily available but as I recall the USDA did a study and concluded that a prime steak is 80% more likely to be tender than a select steak and a choice steak is 50% more like to be tender than a select steak. My percents may be off but that was the jist of the study. That is why prime is worth more than choice and so forth. As far as wanting a 1/2" outer covering, I suppose that this is one way to attempt to pick out higher quality animals but it in itself does not guarantee anything except lower grading animals and adds to the amount of time that the animals are on feed. External fat and marbling are loosely related but not directly. I will have to pick this discussion up later as I cannot seen to keep my thoughts flowing clearly. Some more fat to chew.... [email=snefstea@conagrabeef.com]snefstea@conagrabeef.com[/email] [/QUOTE]
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