Shear Test Table

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norriscathy

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Does anyone have a copy the MARC shear test results for all breeds that they could post? Can't find anything on the MARC web site. Just about ready to put a Jersey bull on my "right kind" of Gelbvieh cattle! Maybe then I can get something these old teeth can chew!
 
Don't do anything that drastic Cathy. I don't have info on the marc data but I know for certain there is alot of difference with in each breed. Just because you pick a "tender" breed doesn't mean it'll be tender. Are you seriously just raising beef for your personal use?
 
ollie'":3izcci32 said:
Don't do anything that drastic Cathy. I don't have info on the marc data but I know for certain there is alot of difference with in each breed. Just because you pick a "tender" breed doesn't mean it'll be tender. Are you seriously just raising beef for your personal use?

We have 175 straight bred Gelbvieh's that TOP OK City everytime. They are just too tough to eat!!!!!!!
 
norriscathy":3qg8cen6 said:
Does anyone have a copy the MARC shear test results for all breeds that they could post? Can't find anything on the MARC web site. Just about ready to put a Jersey bull on my "right kind" of Gelbvieh cattle! Maybe then I can get something these old teeth can chew!

I really don't know how much good an "Across Breeds" "Shear" test would do unless there were a significant and a cross sectional number of cattle were measured and an "Average" was calculated.

Feeding methods could vary tests, environmental factors, feed components could vary tests, and length of cattle on feed could vary tests. Among others, including individual genetics.

I will agree that some breeds might have more tender meat than others, but was the testing done with a large enough number of animals and raised in the same environmental conditions?

In the old Charolais Carcass Evaluation Tests that were administered by the Association with due oversight, the shear tests ranged from Very Tender to Very Tough. If one breed had that much variation how in the world could you analyze one breed against the other?

By the way, in the tests I had done on a pen of calves......the Shear Test results had no relation whatsoever to marbling or "Quality Grade". The "Select" meat was just as tender or tough as the variation in the "Choice" meat.

The variation within a Sire Group was as varied as the group as a whole on the "Shear Test" but was highly various in quality grades and yield grades between Sire Groups. These calves were also kept in the same contemporary group for life!

I am not fully convinced that the Shear Test is the way we are going to determine "Tenderness" in the U.S. cattle herd. I am certainly not convinced that visual examination (USDA grading) is going to cut it either.
 
norriscathy":2hdkoo14 said:
ollie'":2hdkoo14 said:
Don't do anything that drastic Cathy. I don't have info on the marc data but I know for certain there is alot of difference with in each breed. Just because you pick a "tender" breed doesn't mean it'll be tender. Are you seriously just raising beef for your personal use?

We have 175 straight bred Gelbvieh's that TOP OK City everytime. They are just too tough to eat!!!!!!!

I sure wouldn;t use a Jersey to try to help the tenderness issue. Kind of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Get an Angus (preferably red) or a Herford and breed to to the opposite breed, i.e. Hereford to ANgus and vice versa. Eat those calves and market the Gelbviehs

dun
 
Strange that you have this toughness. We eat LimixGelbviehs and Angus Gelbs and sometimes they may even have a little ear. You can cut it with a fork....Is this beef being aged
 
Cathy, no need to go to Jersey. In fact no need to go to Angus if you don't want to. Find a breeder, in what ever breed you decide on, that is testing his cattle genetically for tenderness genes. There are quite a few in quite a few breeds doing this. Normally they refer to the program as GeneStar. Find a bull that has the confimation you are looking for, and happens to carry some of the tenderness genes to boot, and breed it in. Just as important, find out what you can do from a management stand point to improve tenderness. If your cattle "top the sale," don't go messing with that to chase tenderness. No one is currently getting paid for it. Why hurt the 175 just to improve the tenderness of one steer you butcher?
 
Buy yourself a Jersey steer and feed it out each year or however often you butcher for your freezer. There's really no need to change the breed that you are raising if they are performing well for you. Either a straight Jersey or Jersey cross will make excellent beef. Very flavorful and tender.
 
norriscathy":1jpl048y said:
ollie'":1jpl048y said:
Don't do anything that drastic Cathy. I don't have info on the marc data but I know for certain there is alot of difference with in each breed. Just because you pick a "tender" breed doesn't mean it'll be tender. Are you seriously just raising beef for your personal use?

We have 175 straight bred Gelbvieh's that TOP OK City everytime. They are just too tough to eat!!!!!!!
Are you posting tongue in cheek?
 
dun":vkd6w36r said:
norriscathy":vkd6w36r said:
ollie'":vkd6w36r said:
Don't do anything that drastic Cathy. I don't have info on the marc data but I know for certain there is alot of difference with in each breed. Just because you pick a "tender" breed doesn't mean it'll be tender. Are you seriously just raising beef for your personal use?

We have 175 straight bred Gelbvieh's that TOP OK City everytime. They are just too tough to eat!!!!!!!

I sure wouldn;t use a Jersey to try to help the tenderness issue. Kind of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Get an Angus (preferably red) or a Herford and breed to to the opposite breed, i.e. Hereford to ANgus and vice versa. Eat those calves and market the Gelbviehs

dun
Don't pay any attention to dun. Get a Black Angus to breed to the opposite breed. Just get rid of the Gelbveihs.
 
If you have 175 Gelbviehs that are making you money, keep them. Assembling a good set of cows that work for you is too risky and too time consuming to just blow up willy nilly. While you work on the tenderness issue within the Gelbvieh breed, buy a couple of small frame dinky healthy black baldie calves at the sale. Take them to the house and feed them out for your own use. Your big Gelbvieh calves are bringing too much money to hold one back anyway. If your teeth are really getting bad, you might want to try feeding out some Southdown sheep. I love beef; but good lamb has the flavor of beef with twice the tenderness.
 
la4angus":3exsm4kr said:
dun":3exsm4kr said:
norriscathy":3exsm4kr said:
ollie'":3exsm4kr said:
Don't do anything that drastic Cathy. I don't have info on the marc data but I know for certain there is alot of difference with in each breed. Just because you pick a "tender" breed doesn't mean it'll be tender. Are you seriously just raising beef for your personal use?

We have 175 straight bred Gelbvieh's that TOP OK City everytime. They are just too tough to eat!!!!!!!

I sure wouldn;t use a Jersey to try to help the tenderness issue. Kind of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Get an Angus (preferably red) or a Herford and breed to to the opposite breed, i.e. Hereford to ANgus and vice versa. Eat those calves and market the Gelbviehs

dun
Don't pay any attention to dun. Get a Black Angus to breed to the opposite breed. Just get rid of the Gelbveihs.
How can you justify getting rid of the Gelbviehs if they top OK City everytime? Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face.

I agree with Brandonm2, except for the lamb maybe ;-) my teeth are still in pretty good shape. ;-)
 
Brandonm2":1s77yfep said:
If you have 175 Gelbviehs that are making you money, keep them. Assembling a good set of cows that work for you is too risky and too time consuming to just blow up willy nilly. While you work on the tenderness issue within the Gelbvieh breed, buy a couple of small frame dinky healthy black baldie calves at the sale. Take them to the house and feed them out for your own use. Your big Gelbvieh calves are bringing too much money to hold one back anyway. If your teeth are really getting bad, you might want to try feeding out some Southdown sheep. I love beef; but good lamb has the flavor of beef with twice the tenderness.

I really hate to agree with you. This is the soundest advice to date (except for the lamb!!!!). You are 110% right. But what does this say for our industry?

Thanks for your excellent insight!
 
norriscathy":bn48pgdb said:
what does this say for our industry?

That we are an industry that likes to chase extremes. We got all those short little belt buckle cows chasing tenderness, eating quality, and easy fleshing with out any reguard for efficiency of gain, yield, growth, and we even got to that point that some of those top little show cattle could not move well enough to get around in a range environment. When we realized we made a mistake, the industry chased growth and frame to the point that those top BIG show cattle could not possibly find enough food to eat to survive in a range environment. We have had people chase extremes in muscling and yield and some people chase milk production like a dairyman. Now we have a tenderness and eating quality problem. What we NEED are easy keeping cows that can wean a 600+ lb calf on modest range conditions and have that calf go to a feedlot, have rapid, efficient gains, and then finish out at Med choice Yield Grade 2 and have those steaks be flavorful and cut with a fork tender. HOW we select for all that with the limited information available to us is the challenge this industry faces.
 
It says it is an industry evolving, filled with producers thinking down the road. Obviously there have been more than a few fads that have gone through and obviously there will be many more. But the fact that you are looking at your cattle from a consumer's point of view is a good thing, it's how this industry will keep consumers. The fact that you are thinking of a quality issue that you aren't even currently being paid for is a good thing, it is what will keep us competitive. Just keep in mind you are not being paid for it and you don't want to let one issue, tenderness, derail everything else you've accomplished.

The one line of thought I wouldn't suggest, is not paying any attention to dun. Nothing against La4 and no offense meant, I am not sure how he meant it, but if you are looking for advice on this board, often it will be dun that will say the "mostest" with the fewest words. Unless the topic of black angus comes up :D lol.
 

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