Cattle Management Practices for Enhancing Beef Tenderness

[dcara]

I thought this Drovers article was interesting enough to post a link to.

http://www.beefresearch.org/PDF/Pre-Har ... erness.pdf

 

[hayray]

Great article. I went to it and printed the entire document. Since I direct market as much of my beef as I can that is real important to . Find any more like that then let me know.

Thanks, Ray

 

[OK Jeanne]

Regarding genetic propensity for tenderness:

Here's the same chart expressed in a bar-graph fashion:

Too bad the writers did not research a little deeper----
and too bad that Bovigen now refuses to publish
breed comparison charts.....the Angus folks get really
upset if that breed doesn't come out on top.....
at least that is what I was told.

 

[boone]

That chart does provide some compelling evidence in favor of your MGs doesn't it Jeanne? Could you objectively tell me what some percieved weaknesses of the MG might be? For instance, what would non mg breeders say about MGs if I asked them the same question. I figure if I ask you, I won't have to winnow through all the BS. Thanks. Boone

 

[OK Jeanne]

Some people might think that, as a breed, they are just
too docile. You don't want a 2100 lb bull trying to snuggle
with you in the pasture. I can't think of a shortcoming
in terms of location.....they are raised everywhere from
Canada to Paraguay & all points in-between. Not all
bloodlines are tender; we have some semen in the tank that
will not be used because it is less than a perfect score on
DNA tenderness test. As a breed standard, I don't think they
would suit people that want 1500 lb cows and 2500 lb
bulls as a mature size. Some people raising Murrays have,
in my opinion, made a mistake in increasing frame size to
that point with their Murrays---but as a rule they are more
moderate in size. I guess the main shortcoming is that
they are not black....however some breeders have(mistakenly
IMO) breed black Murrays. The standard silver, or
khaki-dun color will stand the heat better than a black
animal. They do get a thick hair coat in the winter but
shed out slick in the summer. We just had a ice/snow
storm here & don't have cover for the animals other than
trees/brush & everyone did fine. As a rule they don't have
calving problems---this past spring we did pull our first
calf that was arriving backwards however. The beef is
fine-grained. Our area Bovigen representative, Kevin
Milliner, bought beef from us last year from a pure bred
murray steer that had a "6 star" rating for tenderness.
Grass-finished---and he now believes that tender
beef can be produced on forage & is on our customer
waiting list. So I guess the main shortcoming is that
the usual Murray Grey animal is not black. So it is my
opinion that the tender bloodlines of Murray Greys are
ideal for people wanting to sell beef direct to the public
or sell seedstock to those direct-marketing producers.
There is a management difference of significance between
those producers and those that just haul their calves to
the sale barn at weaning---so it's not for everyone for
sure. Marketing and developing a customer list takes time
and a lot of effort; but if your product is good, you only
have to capture that customer once.

 

[boone]

Jeanne, thank you for providing such a thorough answer. No everyone else can chime in. Why not Murray Grey?? Boone

 

[J&T Farm]

Their awful small framed if you ask me.

 

[OK Jeanne]

Our cow herd is anywhere from a 3.5 frame to 4 and
we will not use a bull over a 5 frame---that's because
it takes too long to finish out a tall framed steer on
forage. It seems all their calories go to height instead
of beef (like a teen-age boy!).

 

[somn]

Our cow herd is anywhere from a 3.5 frame to 4 and
we will not use a bull over a 5 frame---that's because
it takes too long to finish out a tall framed steer on
forage. It seems all their calories go to height instead
of beef (like a teen-age boy!).

So at what weight would these cattle kill at to obtain a 62% yield as steers.

 

[boone]

Although you prefer the smaller frames Jeanne, larger framed MGs are available aren't they? Boone

 

[OK Jeanne]

We foolishly used a frame 8 bull for a couple of years---and
it took us several more years to recover from that mistake.
Yes, larger framed Murrays are available.

We normally take our steers in to the butcher when they
are around 1200 lbs live weight and the hanging weights
would be between 325 to 360 lbs or so per half.

 

[somn]

We foolishly used a frame 8 bull for a couple of years---and
it took us several more years to recover from that mistake.
Yes, larger framed Murrays are available.

We normally take our steers in to the butcher when they
are around 1200 lbs live weight and the hanging weights
would be between 325 to 360 lbs or so per half.

Thanks for the answer on the slaughter weights. I've never had a Murray Grey in the feedlot before. After hearing this I will remind myself not to buy any for the feedlot in the future. Regardless of how tender they may be they seem to be a low profit animal right out of the starting gate. A feedlot operator can't afford to lose 250 pounds per head on every animal the day I buy them.

 

[OK Jeanne]

I've been told that feedlots sell time and corn---and that's
why they prefer large framed animals that take longer
to finish. Last year we did have a steer larger than our
normal ones, and his half weights into the cooler was
402 and 404 lbs. We had to sell that one by quarters
instead of halves....and he was about a month behind all
the others in time to finish.

 

[gberry]

Boone, here's another weakness for the MG's. I have been compiling a list of sires I can obtain semen on to use for AI. I have thoroughly searched the internet and come up with exactly 40 sires. While I can certainly come up with some suitable sires from this group, the number is awful low.

 

[somn]

I've been told that feedlots sell time and corn---and that's
why they prefer large framed animals that take longer
to finish. Last year we did have a steer larger than our
normal ones, and his half weights into the cooler was
402 and 404 lbs. We had to sell that one by quarters
instead of halves....and he was about a month behind all
the others in time to finish.

Feedlots are not selling time and corn they are selling pounds of meat.

I pay $750 dollars per head for your Murray Greys and I pay $750 dollars per head for someone elses breed with a bigger frame.

I sell your Murray Greys at 1200# @ 80 cwt for $ 960.00.

I sell the other larger breeds at 1475# @ 80 cwt for $1180


50 head of the larger breeds gross me $59,000

50 head of your Murrey Greys gross me $48,000

I need to buy 61 Murrey Grey calves to sell the same pounds of meat. 11 extra calves cost me $8250.00. With more head on feed comes a higher death loss. If I need to purchase 11 extra just to sell the same number of pounds I've decreased my revenue because that takes away animal unit space. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency only permits me for a certain number of animal units. By not buying the extra calves the loss of meat costed me $11,000. Either way I look at it I've lost income. Corn and Time are not income at the feedlot they are expenses.

 

[OK Jeanne]

Do many producers retain ownership and get paid by the
packer on a grade/yield basis? In that case, I thought
that the feedlot people are paid by the animals owner?
I guess there are all sorts of arrangements available
through different feedlot owners. I am not familar with
the system because we have never been part of the
commodity beef production system. We decided to go
a different route in 1995 when we saw no relationship
between the price of cattle at the sale and the price of
beef in the grocery store.

 

[somn]

We foolishly used a frame 8 bull for a couple of years---and
it took us several more years to recover from that mistake.
Yes, larger framed Murrays are available.

We normally take our steers in to the butcher when they
are around 1200 lbs live weight and the hanging weights
would be between 325 to 360 lbs or so per half.

Thanks for the answer on the slaughter weights. I've never had a Murray Grey in the feedlot before. After hearing this I will remind myself not to buy any for the feedlot in the future. Regardless of how tender they may be they seem to be a low profit animal right out of the starting gate. A feedlot operator can't afford to lose 250 pounds per head on every animal the day I buy them.

you buy a lot of cattle that kill at 1200 pounds and have hanging weights over 900 pounds? I would think that's a little high.

Boone, here's another weakness for the MG's. I have been compiling a list of sires I can obtain semen on to use for AI. I have thoroughly searched the internet and come up with exactly 40 sires. While I can certainly come up with some suitable sires from this group, the number is awful low.

What breed of cattle do you raise minitures? I wouldn't even think of selling a steer for kill under 1300 pounds unless it was a repeat pull I sell those light because it is better than a rendering truck pickup fee. If they are overly fat at 1200# I did a real poor job of buying them as calves.

 

[gberry]

I see. I think the answer to that problem would be to not buy 3.5 to 4 frame Murray Greys.

 

[gberry]

sorry, my comments are out of order and I seem to have overlooked a few posts before my first reply. I tried to edit it, but it was too late.

 

[somn]

Do many producers retain ownership and get paid by the
packer on a grade/yield basis? In that case, I thought
that the feedlot people are paid by the animals owner?
I guess there are all sorts of arrangements available
through different feedlot owners. I am not familar with
the system because we have never been part of the
commodity beef production system. We decided to go
a different route in 1995 when we saw no relationship
between the price of cattle at the sale and the price of
beef in the grocery store.

It makes no difference if I'm feeding them for myself or if I'm feeding them for someone else the amount of loss remains the same.

There is a loss even if you raised these calves out of your own herd of cows. The cows cost you the same amount to feed regardless. The only difference is instead of 50 cows to sell a certain amount of pounds of meat you need 61 cows. The loss in that case is buying and feeding 11 extra cows. Whatever way you figure it you have lost income.