The Other 50%?

[MikeC]

So, What Exactly Are We Raising?
Eric McPhail
Colorado State University Extension - Gunnison
County Director / Agricultural Agent
Phone: (970) 641-1260
Email: [email protected] email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

When cattlemen are asked what they are raising, the typical response is "quality beef and as many pounds of it as they can". The truth is most of the time the average producer or consumer hasn't a clue as to what a beef animal is to us. Yes we're producing a rib-eye; our animals get priced by that rib-eye, so that's what we seem to focus on. But what other things come from cattle, because we know that a 1300 lb steer is not all rib-eyes?

When the truth is told, on average, only half of an animal goes into retail beef. So everything else is a by-product. To break down the by-products, let's classify them as edible, inedible, and medical by-products. Although most ranchers only care about how much retail beef is in a carcass and if it will grade, there are many other industries foaming at the mouth to capture that other 50% of the animal.

Here is a list of a few of the by-products and their uses. Many of them might surprise you!

Cattle By-Products
OSU Cooperative Extension bulletin 642.3

Edible:

Variety Meats
Liver, brains, tongue, heart, oxtail, kidney, tripe, sweetbreads.
Fats
Oleo stock (margarine, bakers' shortening)
Oleo oil (margarine, bakers' shortening)
Oleo stearine (chewing gum, candy)
Gelatin
Marshmallows, ice cream, canned meats, candy
Intestines
Natural sausage casings

Inedible:

Hide
Leather (sports equipment, shoes, purses, car seats, etc.)
Binders (plaster, asphalt)
Hair (insulation, "camel hair" brushes)
Fats
Industrial oils, lubricants, soap
Glycerin (explosives, cosmetics)
Fatty acids (shaving cream, candles, detergents)
Bones, Horns, Hooves
Buttons, bone china, piano keys, glues, adhesives, animal feeds, photographic film, sandpaper.

Medical:

Pancreas
Insulin (treats diabetes)
Pancreatin (aids digestion)
Glucagons (treats hypoglycemia)
Trypsin and Chymotrypsin (promotes healing of wounds)
Blood
Thrombin (blood coagulant)
Bone
Bone marrow (treats blood disorders)
Soft cartilage (plastic surgery)
Pituitary gland
Corticotropin (ACTH) (treats arthritis and allergies)
Thyrotropin (TSH) (stimulates thyroid gland)
Liver
Heparin (anticoagulant)
Liver extract (treats anemia)
Stomach
Rennet (aids in milk digestion)
Adrenal gland
Epinephrine (relief from asthma and allergies)

While this table only suggests a few of the uses for cattle, I hope you realize that we're not just producing a "mouth-watering" steak. More than 100 pharmaceutical drugs are made from our product. It takes the pancreases from 26 beef animals to keep one person, of the 1.25 million daily insulin dependent people, alive for a year. So let's be proud of what we're raising, because our product is everywhere. Not only is it in our bellies, but it's at the fireworks stand, on the sports field, in purses, kitchens, hospitals, cars, trucks, medicine cabinets, and in our showers. Face it, people like beef, even if they won't eat it.



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Colorado State University Beef Extension - Fort Collins, CO 80523-1171 - Tel: 970.491.8373 - Fax: 970.491.8419

 

[VanC]

Good information. Something that can be used to refute the anti-beef crowd. Thanks, Mike.

 

[MikeC]

Wonder if there is a product called "Certified Angus Insulin"? ;-)

 

[TexasBred]

Very good article....and I can attest to the fact that "hides" are inedible. I think one was served up to me at a local restaurant awhile back even tho I was charged for a steak.

 

[Frankie]

Good article. I used to have a link to an article from Kansas State University that detailed the uses of beef byproducts. It was an eye opener for vegans who liked to claim they didn't use anything from animals. That link no longer works, but here are a couple that are pretty good if you get into such a discussion:

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/jross/beefprod.htm

http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/a ... 15167.html

And here's a link to the blog of a young lady who spends some time debunking animal rights' false claims about agriculture and ranching. If you have time, send her an email or post a comment on her blog, thanking her for standing up for our industry.

http://www.chewingthecud.org/

 

[Frankie]

Wonder if there is a product called "Certified Angus Insulin"? ;-)

Hmm. If there's not such a product, maybe there should be. ;-)

 

[I luv herfrds]

Good post Mike.
Read about a boy who wrote a story about what would happen if there were no more cattle in the world. It pretty much followed what you posted. Need to read this list at least once a year.

 

[rkm]

I remember being on a tour of a large feed lot north of Denver several years ago and the one thing that stayed in my mind, was the guide holding a thimble and saying all that wasn't used from a 1400 lb steer would fit in that thimble. :shock:

 

[Herefords.US]

Here's a company that's apparently doing OK with a byproduct of cattle BEFORE they are slaughtered.

http://biopact.com/2008/01/first-for-us-company-feeds-biomethane.html

George

 

[popsjp]

Great post. I am sure we all know someone that clames not to use animal products in todays world.
This list will sure get their attention whether or not they will admitt it is another story!

 

[sedrick_hall]

You would think with all the by-products that cattle produce they would be bring more than $1.00/lb

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

Good post, Mike.

A butcher I used to use once included the "sweetbread" in my package. It was surprisingly good.

The Hereford promotional literature a few years ago made the claim that herfs had a heavier hide weight than other breeds, I guess inferring that the buyers of this by-product valued it highly.

 

[hrbelgians]

A butcher I used to use once included the "sweetbread" in my package. It was surprisingly good.


We used to eat the sweat bread also when I was a kid, and loved it!! Now my wife doesn't care for it so don't get it anymore.

 

[knabe]

i wonder if one could sell byproducts separately to make more money as this is mostly forgotten about in the name of selling a filet mignon.

it's essentially given away and one should charge more for highquality products instead of getting raked for it.

anyone do that? contract for by products? what do the large producers do and not pass onthe profit to the cattleman as usual cause he's not allowed to set his price?

 

[MikeC]

i wonder if one could sell byproducts separately to make more money as this is mostly forgotten about in the name of selling a filet mignon.

it's essentially given away and one should charge more for highquality products instead of getting raked for it.

anyone do that? contract for by products? what do the large producers do and not pass onthe profit to the cattleman as usual cause he's not allowed to set his price?

The price paid for the by-products are built in with the price paid. ;-)

Seriously, small abbattoirs have to pay to remove these leftover items, whereas the large packers sell enough volume to justify the increase in revenues.

It's part of the "Big Is Efficient" processing mentality. :roll:

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

A butcher I used to use once included the "sweetbread" in my package. It was surprisingly good.


We used to eat the sweat bread also when I was a kid, and loved it!! Now my wife doesn't care for it so don't get it anymore.

It's almost a white meat, and very rich in flavor....the closest thing to chicken in a beef animal, but better. Of course, the favorite four or five steaks are also better......

 

[Jogeephus]

i wonder if one could sell byproducts separately to make more money as this is mostly forgotten about in the name of selling a filet mignon.

it's essentially given away and one should charge more for highquality products instead of getting raked for it.

anyone do that? contract for by products? what do the large producers do and not pass onthe profit to the cattleman as usual cause he's not allowed to set his price?

Wife's cousin is a retired butcher. He called this the 5th quarter which he sold. At one time, he said he got $100 for each hide but I think that was in the 70's when the leather jackets were booming. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Tammy Faye Baker is buying all my calves for her makeup kit. ;-) :lol:

 

[dun]

i wonder if one could sell byproducts separately to make more money as this is mostly forgotten about in the name of selling a filet mignon.

it's essentially given away and one should charge more for highquality products instead of getting raked for it.

anyone do that? contract for by products? what do the large producers do and not pass onthe profit to the cattleman as usual cause he's not allowed to set his price?

Wife's cousin is a retired butcher. He called this the 5th quarter which he sold. At one time, he said he got $100 for each hide but I think that was in the 70's when the leather jackets were booming. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Tammy Faye Baker is buying all my calves for her makeup kit. ;-) :lol:

Unless they;re digging her up to redo her makeup I think TF is beyond using makeup

 

[VanC]

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Tammy Faye Baker is buying all my calves for her makeup kit. ;-) :lol:

Sorry for the hijack, but didn't she die a few months ago?

 

[Jogeephus]

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure Tammy Faye Baker is buying all my calves for her makeup kit. ;-) :lol:

Sorry for the hijack, but didn't she die a few months ago?

OOPS, I think she did. I was channel surfing the other day and caught a glimpse of her on one of those reality shows. Gawd she had a bunch of makeup on. Didn't mean to speak ill of dead though... Might explain why my cattle prices have seemed to drop.. OOPs I guess I did it again. I guess I just never thought much of her or her first husband Jim.