DOC HARRIS":34793q6w said:
Frankie":34793q6w said:
Bob Long:
All cattle have exactly the same number of mucles, and those muscles are attached to the same places on the skeleton.
Not only do cattle have the same muscle pattern, the muscle weights are in the same proportion. Therefore, the phrase "more weight (or more meat) in the high priced cuts" becomes invalid.
http://www.angusjournal.com/articlepdf/ ... flogic.pdf
WOW! Here is a "Hand Grenade" comment by the revered "Bob" Long which infers factual and evidentiary deductive reasoning which (In MY Opinion) was/is not always the case with Bob Long! Some of you members of this Forum are cognizant of my often contentious sentiments regarding Long's usually "hubris" tenets. These two quotes are examples of those doctrinal ideas of his, which I shall comment on later, but A Christmas Dinner awaits at the moment, and I haven't the time to explain my dissent with him now.
Later.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you All!
DOC HARRIS
Well, back after a Traditional Christmas Dinner with Harris Family members from California, and Michigan, and ,of course, Colorado, I am prepared to respond to the remarks by "Bob" Long, the at-one-time known "Patroon of Ankony Farms" with the following caveat: Bob Long is one of the many guru's of the Beef Cattle Industry of years past who made a tremendous impact on the awareness factors of many beef cattle breeders, and I respect that fact, and freely admit that he had a great impact on the education of Beef breeders throughout the world. I would not presume to minimize the importance that his writings had on the furtherance of increased knowledge of beef cattle production.
HOWEVER - (there is usually a - "however") - some of his very frequently dogmatic and caustic utterances were 'couched' in arrogant platitudes which postulates absolute factuality, which upon re-evaluation, was found wanting in actuality. This comment "- - - more weight (or more meat) in the high price cuts" becomes invalid is, in fact - in itself, - invalid!
It is a physiological truism that the animal biological structure has specified muscles. In the partricular connotation of this thread we are referring to beef cattle skeletal muscles, or 'voluntary muscles', or - "Higher Priced Cuts", if you will. These muscles are comprised of 'fibers' bound together into 'bundles' (
fasciculi), which are separated by connective tissue collected into bundles of varying sizes. These muscles, bundles and cells are grouped together forming "muscles" with which we are concerned in this discussion.
The continual use of, or exercise of, muscle groups causes said muscles to
enlarge, NOT develop MORE FIBERS. It merely enlarges the SIZE of the pre-determined NUMBERS of fibers, which causes the desirable attributes contained by the "Higher Cuts", such as Ribeye, Sirloin, Filet Mignon, Shoulder, Round, and so on down the line. The "Muscle Weights" absolutely ARE NOT physiologically compelled or dictated to be "in the same proportion". Carcass EPD's is a predictor of the differences of the inconsistency between specific individuals.
An Olympic Weight Lifting Champion has the SAME NUMBER of muscle fibers that he had the day he was born, but they were not developed to their potential. By the same token, his Biceps Femoris and Quadratus Lumborum are NOT in the same proportion. Neither is a steers Round Muscles necessarily in the same proportion as his Longissimus Dorsi.
A descriptive analogy of this example would be the differences between a Jersy Bull, and a Belgian Blue Bull, both the same mature age.
Here is another: the definition of PHENOTYPE: "The manifest characteristics of an organism collectively, including anatomical and psychological traits, that result from both its
heredity and its
environment."
It is obvious to me from the replies on this thread that breeders are using their intelligence to a great extent!
DOC HARRIS