Beef Production

1. Beef Production

2. Terms to Know • Polled • born naturally without horns • Horned • Born naturally with the ability to grow horns….may never grow though • Marbling • desirable presence of fat in the muscle; makes flavor of beef

3. Terms to Know • Cutability • amount of available retail cuts from the carcass • Dual-purpose breed • traditionally used for both milk and beef production • Calving • Process of a cow giving birth

4. What are the external parts of a beef animal?

5. External Parts of a Beef Animal

6. How are cows different than other animals? • They are….RUMINANTS…. • any hoofed mammals that chews the cud. Means they have a FOUR compartment-stomach … • Rumen • Reticulum • Omasum • Abomasum

7. Types of Beef Cattle Operations • Cow-calf operation • keeping mature cattle to produce calves • cows bred every year • calves sold 2 ways • Feeder cattle operation • Keep weaned animals under a year old until sold to feedlot and raised to slaughter weight

8. Types of Beef Cattle Operations • Feeder Calf/Yearling Feeders • producers that feed beef animals to slaughter weight • buy yearling or calves and finish them quickly • Purebred Breeders • producers that keep herds for breeding stock and replacement bulls or semen for cow-calf operations

9. Cow-Calf Operations Advantages • utilizes pastures • less labor intense • low investment costs • require little equipment & facilities • easy to increase herd size Disadvantages • Large initial land investment • long time in between paychecks • budget feed, minerals, vet bills, and other expenses • Price may be low when time to sell calves

10. Feeder Cattle Advantages • production lag is only 4 – 6 months • Quick turn-over time for money Disadvantages • initial investment is high • higher feed • housing & equipment • more labor & trucking • fluctuating markets

11. Purebred Breeders Advantages • provides genetic improvements to herds • Receive higher values for animals sold Disadvantages • initial start-up cost higher for genetically superior animals • time consuming • record-keeping

12. How do I know what beef animals are better than others? • Conformation • the shape, form, and type of an animal • Performance • the ability of an animals to reproduce, wean, gain weight and stay strong • Frame Score • measurement based on animals being observed and evaluated at 205 days

13. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Use: • Gives you the relative fatness or body composition of an animal • helps to determine the breeding quality of an animal • Best to do before breeding system to determine culls

14. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Areas to Look @: • Shoulder, Ribs, Hooks, Pins, Tailhead, Back Bone, Brisket.

15. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Score 2:

16. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Score 3:

17. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Score 4:

18. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Score 5:

19. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Score 6:

20. BCS: Body Condition Scores • Score 7:

21. Why is Body Condition So Important?

22. Why is Body Condition So Important?

23. Feeder Cattle Grading

24. Purpose of the System A) Used as a communication tool to project the optimal slaughter weight of cattle B) Two factors- 1) Frame 2) Muscle

25. Small, medium, and large frame steers. To yield high and grade choice, each size must be fed to a different weight.

26. Frame A) Large Steers- 1250 + lbs Heifers- 1150 + lbs B) Medium Steers- 1100-1250 lbs Heifers 1000-1150 lbs

27. Frame C) Small Steers < 1100 lbs Heifers < 1000 lbs

29. Muscle A) Number 1 • Cattle with beef breeding in them • Moderately thick B) Number 2 • Cattle that could have dairy influence • Slightly thick

30. Muscle C) Number 3 • Thin D) Number 4 • Less than thin but still thrifty

31. USDA No. 1 USDA No. 2

32. USDA No. 3 USDA No. 4

33. Inferior Grade A) Conditions • 1) Sick calves- They can’t be put in feedlot and perform normally • 2) Double Muscled calves Won’t marble & reproductive problems

34. Beef Selection

35. 4 Areas to Evaluate • Muscle- top and rear • Length- side • Balance- how the animal looks • Structure- shoulder, hip, feet and legs

37. Light muscled vs. Heavy Muscled

38. Can hair can give a false shape?

42. Which prospect would you choose?

47. Beef Cattle Reproduction

48. Reproduction Terms • Pregnancy -- carrying a fetus • Fertilization -- the union of the EGG and SPERM nuclei • Conception - occurrence of fertilization • Ovulation - release of an ovule from the female. • Gestation - the time from fertilization or conception of a female until she gives birth

49. Reproduction Terms • Ovaries - FEMALE reproductive gland in which eggs are formed and hormones are produced. • Egg or Ovule- Female Reproductive Cell • Testes - MALE reproductive gland that produces sperm and testosterone. • Sperm-Male Reproductive Cell • Semen- Fluid that carries sperm

50. Female Reproductive Organs