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Are you breeding for Marbling??????

M

Mike

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Joined
Feb 10, 2005
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Location
Montgomery, Al
Update: April 10, 2008 - USDA

The USDA reported beef cutout values Wednesday were higher, with the choice cutout value up $1.27 per hundredweight at $140.96 and the select cutout up $1.36 at $140.74. The volume of sales was reported at 353 choice and select fabricated loads and 118 loads of trimmings and coarse grinds.

$0.22 difference between CHOICE & SELECT yesterday!!!!!! Per hundredweight!!!

That amounts to a $1.76 TOTAL PREMIUM on an 800 lb. CHOICE carcass above Select!!!!!!
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Everyone breeding for marbling has just had the stool shot out from under them........
 
the chioce select spread is always moveing. I would expect the spread to widen back out as we sart getting more calf feds to kill. The grid we sell on is paying a premium for select 3's, that doesn't happen very often. Marbling is one of those things that I want as much as possible but I won't give anything else up to get it.
 
We don't select for it-the fats we kill seem to grade well-breed average in it is plenty good enough for me. Buying bulls I suppose if all things were equal I'd pick the bull with more marbling.
 
Mike, The effort to improve the end product for the consumer is one that will be of more and more importance as the beef industry becomes increasingly global (reopening of export markets, JBS expansion, etc.). Genetic selection for "carcass quality" isn't perfect, but the intentions are good. As NR stated, all things being equal, I too select for higher IMF ratio bulls. To look at the overall efforts that we have made to improve both the profitability of our herd and the quality of the end product in light of a slaughter cattle market that is still trying to compensate for the vertigo brought on by feed prices and red ink may be a little short sighted. Many of the things I do every day I don't get "paid" for directly, but I do them because I feel that they improve the quality of the product I produce.
 
I watched something that kind of surprised me today in ways- but didn't in other ways...I was at a bull sale of an old angus ranch (back to the 50's) that has a lot of old bloodlines and a history of low birthweights- that in the last few years has also bred and sold some composites and some cattle bred to the higher performance AI bulls...

Now knowing their bloodlines, I haven't been scared using even an around 90lb birthweight full angus from their place on my heifers- with one of my bulls I'm calving again this year on heifers (3rd year) coming from them that had an 86 lb birthweight with a +0.6 EPD- from which I haven't touched a heifer in 3 years...

Anyway at the sale today many of their higher WW, YW, ratioing composite and performance bred bulls sold first- but sold lower than their later bulls which were mostly the 70-80 lb birthweights (some of which were unregisterable, No EPD's, out of one of their home raised bulls)...

Either there are a lot of folks out there planning on calving heifers next year- or like is happening around here, the age of those with cattle is getting much older- and they have decided they don't want to put in the extra time/labor/problems of the perceived harder calving/heavier calves... :???:
 
I don't think anyone should be breeding for just marbling. Single trait selection takes you down a road that often ends in a road closed sign.

I think this is a little bit of an anomoly in the market right now. There are natural program offering me $10/cwt premium over the board on any choice carcass and $14/cwt over the board on any prime carcasses. There is still demand for choice product, its not just in the commodity market right now.

I know some meat distributers on the east coast and they are telling me that the market is slow there. These weather patterns of rain, snow and cold don't help the resteraunt business either on top of a weak economy.

I wouldn't change my breeding program drastically because of the choice select spread yet.
 
This narrow to non-existent Choice/Select spread will hopefully be a blip on the screen. Since it takes a long time to see genetic improvement in a cow herd, I can't imagine abandoning a well planned breeding goal of improving marbling because of a 3 or 6 month market disruption. Now I don't think a person would get too far on this forum even suggesting that single-trait selection for any trait would be wise. But with today's genetic offering and information, it is very possible to place some steady upward pressure on carcass traits without upsetting the apple cart. My two cents.

HP
 
Here's a thought.

Here's a link to check. http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:1zp4cRGn8MwJ:www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/54380530/19950004A1.pdf+importance+of+marbling+in+beef+%2Btenderness&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ca

(it also comes as a pdf, but my dialup is way too slow for it.)

This paper suggests there is more to tenderness than marbling. It's an interesting read.

There was also an article in a magazine last year that told of a big beef cookoff at a large show in Edmonton. I can't remember which one, being from Manitoba. Maybe Randy knows. :wink: All the breeds cooked up their beef and put it out for the public to judge the best tasting. Guess what? Limousin won, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the first year. It's been a while since I read this, and I'm not sure if I still have the book, but I'll try and find it.

One thing that worries me about the big quest for marbling is the day some smartie pants 'expert' goes back to the media with a warning about how beef is too fat, and no one should eat it. :shock:

I think middle of the road is the way to go, personally, on a lot of traits that we breed for.
 
Kato said:
Here's a thought.

Here's a link to check. http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:1zp4cRGn8MwJ:www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/54380530/19950004A1.pdf+importance+of+marbling+in+beef+%2Btenderness&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ca

(it also comes as a pdf, but my dialup is way too slow for it.)

This paper suggests there is more to tenderness than marbling. It's an interesting read.

There was also an article in a magazine last year that told of a big beef cookoff at a large show in Edmonton. I can't remember which one, being from Manitoba. Maybe Randy knows. :wink: All the breeds cooked up their beef and put it out for the public to judge the best tasting. Guess what? Limousin won, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the first year. It's been a while since I read this, and I'm not sure if I still have the book, but I'll try and find it.

One thing that worries me about the big quest for marbling is the day some smartie pants 'expert' goes back to the media with a warning about how beef is too fat, and no one should eat it. :shock:

I think middle of the road is the way to go, personally, on a lot of traits that we breed for.
Click to expand...

Kato, I agree totally on the tenderness aspect. MARC researchers have touted Tenderness for years as the number priority to consumers for a pleasant beef eating experience, along with the research that says that marbling only contributes 10% to the tenderness of beef.

Our grading standards need to be changed to fit what consumers want.

I have a buddy who buys Prime only at his restaurant. He says 1 in 10 whole loins go back to the wholesaler for toughness complaints.
 
The beef marketing system is far from perfect, and we sure could use some proven tools to improve tenderness (of course aging for 21 days is a foregone conclusion that our packers just won't do properly). Of course, we would want to get paid in some fashion or at least increase demand.

Some of the most popular grids that are accessible to anyone such as Angus America and Gene Net have a minimum Ch/Se spread of $8.00 regardless if the actual spread is $0.00, the $8.00 is the floor on those grids. The cattle seller gets right around half of that, so it's $4.00/cwt. on a carcass basis for every Choice carcass with that floor spread. An 800 pound Choice grade carcass is then worth $32.00 over a Select carcass. Change the spread to $15.00 and then you're looking at $60.00. That's not including branded beef premiums, a few Primes and any Yield Grade premiums you might pick up. The real good cattle can be worth over $100 a head on a grid. $$$$$$$

HP
 

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