What Factors make beef Choice or Prime?

[MissouriExile]

Serious question from a new person.

And what can I do to make my beef grade higher?

Is it strictly better genetics (let's try to "steer" clear of the whole Angus thing if possible)

Is it better forage, grain, minerals?

Is it general health? (a happy cow........)

Combinations of all?

Jon

 

[dun]

Combination. Proper genetics for marbling and ribeye size with out too much backfat or kph fat.
Proper feed and as little stress as possible plus no feed generated stress, i.e. insufficient protein, as they are growing.
This is pretty long but there are a coule of parts that may shed some light

 

[Frankie]

Serious question from a new person.

And what can I do to make my beef grade higher?

Is it strictly better genetics (let's try to "steer" clear of the whole Angus thing if possible)

Is it better forage, grain, minerals?

Is it general health? (a happy cow........)

Combinations of all?

Jon

Combination of all. Quality grade (Select, Choice, Prime) are all based on marbling. Cattle start to marble at a very early age, or don't start to marble at an early age. There's research showing that the younger a calf is put on feed, the more likely he is to grade well. If the cow is stressed, eating low quality forage, the calf's ability to marble will possibly be impaired. If the cow doesn't have antibodies to pass on to the calf, the more likely he is to get sick and not marble. Agressive implanting can affect marbling. Some feed rations seem to affect marbling. Management from birth has a real effect on quality grade.

That said, no matter what you do right, if the calf doesn't have the genetics for marbling, he won't.

 

[dcara]

Quality grade (Select, Choice, Prime) are all based on marbling.

That is how the USDA grades them. As others have said, feed programs and genetics play a large factor. I beleive that the way they are managed during the feeding program plays a large part. If you let them wonder around a large padock or pasture where they have to walk a long way between their feed and water then they are just buring their feed. I prefer to put them in pens with free choice hay, shade areas, wind breaks, and water within a couple hundred feet. Then they just lay around and get fat. I let them out one day a week so I can clean the pens. I plan on approximately 2500sq feet per animal in order to keep the pens from getting to messy during the week. There's more to this pen management stuff but I'll stop here.

 

[MissouriExile]

Combination. Proper genetics for marbling and ribeye size with out too much backfat or kph fat.
Proper feed and as little stress as possible plus no feed generated stress, i.e. insufficient protein, as they are growing.
This is pretty long but there are a coule of parts that may shed some light

Dun

Thanks for your reply. I may be mistaken but you seem to imply that you were going to provide a link. If so it didn't come through.

Jon

 

[MissouriExile]

Thanks to all who replied. I understand somewhat better now and have an idea of paddock raising beef. (would "intensive grazing" accomplish somewhat the same thing?)

Jon

 

[dun]

Combination. Proper genetics for marbling and ribeye size with out too much backfat or kph fat.
Proper feed and as little stress as possible plus no feed generated stress, i.e. insufficient protein, as they are growing.
This is pretty long but there are a coule of parts that may shed some light

Dun

Thanks for your reply. I may be mistaken but you seem to imply that you were going to provide a link. If so it didn't come through.

Jon

Here it is
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8130.pdf

 

[Frankie]

Thanks to all who replied. I understand somewhat better now and have an idea of paddock raising beef. (would "intensive grazing" accomplish somewhat the same thing?)

Jon

If the forage in the paddocks is high quality ALL THE TIME. We've got a ton of grass still standing in paddocks, but quality has gone down as it starting setting seed heads.

 

[Dusty Roads]

Combination. Proper genetics for marbling and ribeye size with out too much backfat or kph fat.
Proper feed and as little stress as possible plus no feed generated stress, i.e. insufficient protein, as they are growing.
This is pretty long but there are a coule of parts that may shed some light

Dun

Thanks for your reply. I may be mistaken but you seem to imply that you were going to provide a link. If so it didn't come through.

Jon

Jon,
if there is a reply frum Dun, you can bet that it is a link.
I have cows that are black, red, and spotted. The truth is, if they are black, or black whiteface they will bring a better price..... Seen it TOO many times,
D.R.

 

[MissouriExile]

Combination. Proper genetics for marbling and ribeye size with out too much backfat or kph fat.
Proper feed and as little stress as possible plus no feed generated stress, i.e. insufficient protein, as they are growing.
This is pretty long but there are a coule of parts that may shed some light

Dun

Thanks for your reply. I may be mistaken but you seem to imply that you were going to provide a link. If so it didn't come through.

Jon

Jon,
if there is a reply frum Dun, you can bet that it is a link.
I have cows that are black, red, and spotted. The truth is, if they are black, or black whiteface they will bring a better price..... Seen it TOO many times,
D.R.

Dusty;

I too think higher prices for black cattle are "a given" for the forseeable future. I am too high minded to ever give in to such base commercial impulses. My small herd has a couple of different colors. I am striving to have quality breeding stock. If most of my new calves come out with black coats (within the quality idea) you can assume it was just a fluke.......

Jon

 

[dun]

Combination. Proper genetics for marbling and ribeye size with out too much backfat or kph fat.
Proper feed and as little stress as possible plus no feed generated stress, i.e. insufficient protein, as they are growing.
This is pretty long but there are a coule of parts that may shed some light

Dun

Thanks for your reply. I may be mistaken but you seem to imply that you were going to provide a link. If so it didn't come through.

Jon

Jon,
if there is a reply frum Dun, you can bet that it is a link.
I have cows that are black, red, and spotted. The truth is, if they are black, or black whiteface they will bring a better price..... Seen it TOO many times,
D.R.

Dusty;

I too think higher prices for black cattle are "a given" for the forseeable future. I am too high minded to ever give in to such base commercial impulses. My small herd has a couple of different colors. I am striving to have quality breeding stock. If most of my new calves come out with black coats (within the quality idea) you can assume it was just a fluke.......

Jon

There are marketing options, at least for us, that color doesn;t matter. The Missouri Premier Beef Marketing groups around the state, value added sales for preconditioned animals, Joplin and I think Springfield have comingle sales where similar animals from different producers are comingled, at a price though.

 

[usernametaken]

Thanks to all who replied. I understand somewhat better now and have an idea of paddock raising beef. (would "intensive grazing" accomplish somewhat the same thing?)

Jon

Theoretically yes you can do it on grass. I have not done it myself. From what I have read you need pasture of high quality, which takes a while to achieve. The grass is recommended to have a brix level of 12+. You must have consistent gain from beginning to end. I think you can be temporarily static in gain, but if you go backwards at all you will reduce the quality of the meat. If you introduce any grain at all you reduce the amount of CLA permanently. Grass farming of this level is an art to keep pastures up to this level , and to reach this level to begin with, while taking into account moisture, seasons, stocking rates, weather, fertility now and and in the future etc. I don't know how it would be done in drought conditions.

The last months of finishing would need to be your best in pasture, which means you need to plan your pastures from birth to finishing. Meanwhile you also need to figure out what grasses might leave an off taste in the meat to avoid at the end. I believe Wheat is one.

Honestly I think it is probably much easier to produce organic meat than to produce truly grass-fed only meat. Grass fed sheep are easier.

Fact is I was wondering if you finished the lambs on Rosemary, garlic, parsley, lemon grass and little salt, if they would be " pre-seasoned " from the inside out. Wonder how that would market. :lol: :)

 

[OhioRiver]

what do i need to make sure i do to get the best chance for making the best grade i can with new

Serious question from a new person.

And what can I do to make my beef grade higher?

Is it strictly better genetics (let's try to "steer" clear of the whole Angus thing if possible)

Is it better forage, grain, minerals?

Is it general health? (a happy cow........)

Combinations of all?

Jon

Combination of all. Quality grade (Select, Choice, Prime) are all based on marbling. Cattle start to marble at a very early age, or don't start to marble at an early age. There's research showing that the younger a calf is put on feed, the more likely he is to grade well. If the cow is stressed, eating low quality forage, the calf's ability to marble will possibly be impaired. If the cow doesn't have antibodies to pass on to the calf, the more likely he is to get sick and not marble. Agressive implanting can affect marbling. Some feed rations seem to affect marbling. Management from birth has a real effect on quality grade.

That said, no matter what you do right, if the calf doesn't have the genetics for marbling, he won't.

 

[Frankie]

what do i need to make sure i do to get the best chance for making the best grade i can with new

Interesting you ask that question. :) The Angus Assn has a new publication available:

Best Practices Manual.

You can get a copy of it by emailing [email protected] or call Marilyn Conley at 1-800-225-2333.

An excerpt from the link below: "The Best Practices Manual is a follow-up to last year's special report, Supplying the Brand, which explained how the “pull-through” effect in the open market bids premiums for cattle that hit the CAB target.

“This new report gets down to the nuts and bolts of production decisions,” McCully said.

Presented in five main sections after an introduction, the manual provides insight into general management, genetic selection, health, nutrition and marketing.

“We think that the average producer could double their herd's CAB acceptance rate by following this guide,” McCully said. “That could double your premiums.”"

http://www.tristateneighbor.com/article ... live03.txt

 

[OhioRiver]

That is the appeal to me. Knowing genetics and seeing what you can create.

It all starts with the right genetics and then it's a management game from that point on.