In addition to mid-west weather related issues and other things that have been mentioned, the docking is also because of the fact that Brahmans, and those with heavy Brahman influence, tend to be less tender and do not marble as well as British cattle, so generally speaking they are not going to grade as well as British calves, even if they are as fat as a butterball. The acceptable percentage with buyers & feeders seems to be no more than 25% Brahman influence, and that's based on the shear force/tenderness studies done years ago at the MARC. That being said, I understand that there are plenty of Gerts and Brangus that will grade Choice. In some of the recent bull test reports I've seen a lot of Brangus whose IMF percentage is surprisingly high compared to many of the similarly sized/aged straight Angus on test at the same time. Probably a fair percentage of Beefmasters will hit Choice too, under the right conditions and fed properly and long enough (especially L Bar 5502 calves). Anybody with a sizeable operation that raises real quality "earned" influence cattle and that feels the docking at the typical sale barn is significantly unjustified needs to get access to and use ultrasound equipment, and also needs to look into the possibility of retained ownership to capture the real monetary value of their calves. And it is also important to give proper attention to issues such as how long it takes to finish to Choice or any other target grade, feed conversion capabilities, etc. -- as well as knowing what your target customer wants and profitably feeding to meet that target. All of the above just IMHO.
