lazy ace":1wqk4mae said:
In the 2005 National Beef Quality Audit reports that restaurants and consumers are concerned that our beef cuts are too big, especially rib eye. What are some of your thoughts about what size is industry acceptable?
have a cold one
lazy ace
lazy ace - Obviously, you have read the report that was presented during the opening general session of the NBQA, noting that the results are preliminary, as Phase II is still under way.
In my opionion, this is the type of study that is pragmatic and practical insofar as what a breeder and producer REALLY needs to know before he can be comfortable in planning a LONG term production plan - either breeding or terminal production. The more one reads and/or listens to verbal opinions about what should be done to improve the 'product' we are providing the public, the more confused one may get. For years after the 'pony' type animal fad went belly-up, we knew that we had to increase the size of our seedstock and in the process of accomplishing that deed the Beef Industry, in total, went (if you'll excuse the expression) "HOG WILD" in Growth trait Expected Progeny Differences - and, at the time, that was necessary. NOW - I think that the Growth Trait numbers have just about reached the optimal level for efficiency and expediency. In my opinion, we don't need to continue seeking
miniscule Birth Weights, and, at the same time,
MASSIVE Weaning weights and eye-BUGGING Yearling weights - in the same animal! The principle is desirable up to a point, however moderation in all things is also desirable along with a common sense approach being made to the Maternal and Carcass traits, and including the cut weights and yield grades that the restaurateur/supermarket sectors are seeking. As usual, the first-level producer is caught in the middle, and it takes YEARS to make a noticable transition in satisfying the demand.
Many experienced breeders and Consultants have been touting the advisability of establishing the national cow herd weight at about 1300 pounds - any amount over that figure is not cost effective insofar as feed efficiency is concerned. Naturally, a lot depends on the breed of the cow(s) in question, but overall on average, 1300 lbs. seems to be the balance point between optimal cost efficiency and excessive overhead expenses over a period of a fiscal 'cow/year', raising a calf in the meantime.
If the above thesis is appropriate in order to achieve the desired results of acquiring lean/mean profitable seedstock, what factors MUST be stressed in order for a Producer to be successful in reaching those goals? At this point, we can repeat the same old rhetoric as has been voiced by most students of Beef Production topics: concentrating on testing results, Genetic progress, EPD and Accuracy studies, production records, Value Indexes and on and on with percentages of ancestry etc, etc. But to cut right to the chase, in my opinion, the breeder/producer must concentrate on selection of breeding stock on Reproduction (Fertility) and Feed Efficiency.
If our Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations REALLY wish to be Prime Movers in improving the Profit margin and increasing the Breeder's bottom line, I suggest that they establish solid and dependable EPD's, verified by DNA testing, for Reproduction and Feed Efficiency Traits! Then we would have something that we could "sink our teeth into!"
As the NBQA mentioned, the top 10 quality challenges are:
1- Lack of traceability
2- Low overall uniformity of cattle, carcasses and cuts
3- Need for implementation of instrument grading
4- Inappropriate market signals :?:
5- Segmentation of groups within the beef industry
6- Carcass and cut weights that are too heavy :shock:
7- Yield grades that are too high (low cutability) :roll:
8- Inappropriate ribeye size (too small AND too large)
9- Reduced quality grade and tenderness due to the use of implants
10-Insufficient marbling :nod: :clap:
The answer to the original question posed on this thread, that is - the acceptable rib-eye size, is something that has puzzled all phases of the production chain - and I feel that the answer lies in this post. The beef producer has frantically chased 'rainbows and butterflies' since the end of the Civil War, hoping to get his hands on the "Golden Fleece" of what Mrs. Housewife really wants to put on her dinner table, and it seems to me that Mrs. Working-Very-Hard-in-the-Home-and-Outside-the-Home Meal-Preparer doesn't REALLY
KNOW what size rib-eye steak she wants to put on the table. If a so-called 'standard' can be set throughout the industry that is moderate in all aspects of size, tenderness, and taste, and consistency can be achieved in meeting that standard - let the beef-consuming public accept that standard - - and if they don't like it - - - "Let 'Em Eat Cake!" :lol:
DOC HARRIS