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The power of proven genetics
Drovers news source  |  Tuesday, May 04, 2010

“Not all beef is created equal,” Larry Corah, vice president of Certified Angus Beef, told a busload of cattle producers and extension specialists on a three-day tour of Kansas. The 33 Missourians saw and heard variations on that theme at four stops.

On the main stop at Irsik and Doll Feed Yard in Garden City, Kan., the group saw three pens of cattle sorted for harvest from two University of Missouri research farms. The tour was organized by David Patterson, MU Extension beef reproduction specialist.

Another message from the tour: Steers that produce juicy, tender steaks bring more money; often, much more. Packers pay premiums approaching $200 per head for cattle that grade at the upper end of the Choice-Prime USDA grades.

At the Garden City feedlot, 134 head of MU cattle were in the first sort for market. In the eyes of the Missouri visitors, the cattle were the best in a lot that has one-time capacity to feed 35,000 head of cattle.

“You make us look good,” said Mark Sebranek, manager of the feed yard. Whether by design or chance, a neighboring pen of skinny calves from Florida reinforced his point. The feedlot finishes cattle from across the United States for marketing at Kansas packing plants.

The steers are from the MU Thompson Farm, Spickard, Mo., and the Greenley Research Center, Novelty, Mo. All of the steers are from a study on timed artificial insemination using superior proven genetics. The feedlot steers are siblings of females developed for the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer program. The heifers go back into the MU herds or are sold at regional heifer sales.

“They all looked Prime to me,” said Jon Schreffler, herdsman at the Thompson Farm. Last year, his 2008 calf crop graded 100 percent USDA Choice or better. Of those, 79 percent of the steers from high-accuracy sires qualified for Certified Angus Beef and 36 percent graded Prime, the highest grade. None of the steers from untested natural service sires graded Prime.

The 2009 steers are expected to be marketed in early May. Carcass cutout data will be returned to MU researchers studying ways to add value by using AI genetics from proven high-accuracy, performance-tested sires.

To receive carcass-value printouts, producers must retain at least partial ownership of their calves during the feedout. If the cattle are sold to others for finishing, a farmer never learns the actual value of the carcasses sold by the packing plant.

“The tour was planned to help cattle producers learn there is money to be returned to Missouri by using superior beef genetics and retaining ownership of high-quality cattle,” Patterson said. “There is tremendous opportunity for people who develop a serious breeding program, using advanced reproduction management and genetics.

“Producers can make their herds into profitable businesses, while also enjoying raising cattle.”

At a restaurant in Manhattan, Kan., Corah, of Certified Angus Beef—the top premium brand of beef in the world market—told Missourians that the industry needs more calves like those from MU. The CAB brand goes on carcasses from black-hided cattle that grade upper Choice to Prime. A CAB premium is paid in addition to the grade premium.

Commenting on the high rating of the MU Thompson cattle in the last feedout, Corah said, “When we started CAB, I didn’t think that was possible. At that time 20 percent acceptance was considered high.”

After viewing the steers at the feedlot, Thompson Farm manager David McAtee said, “It made me realize that working on those cold and snowy nights, keeping them alive, was worth it.”

Patterson added, “The finished product in those lots shows how much progress the cow herd at the MU Thompson Farm has made by using AI and superior genetics.”

The research farms are part of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

 

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