Know
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co.) Knowing the genetic
makeup of the feeder cattle you
buy can translate into better dollars
earned at auction time if you
follow good feed management
strategies.
And efforts are under way to
study the process of cattle grading
and selection mote thoroughly to
streamline cattle “pools” and pro
vide buyers with lots that can bring
in the better dollars.
Those were the messages heard
Wednesday night at the third annu
al Penn-State sponsored Feeder
Cattle Grading Workshop at the
New Holland Sales Stables.
“It’s more important today to
know where the cattle come from,”
said Dr. Phil Osborne, West Virgi
nia University, who spoke to more
than 120 cattle feeders and agri
industry representatives at the
workshop.
Other experts who spoke at the
workshop indicated that it’s like
throwing away money by trying to
get results from cattle that should
be separated before going to the
feedlot from more potentially
higher producing cattle.
Producers who want the best
rate of gain and feed efficiency
(closely linked genetic aspects of
cattle) should obtain breeding
information about the cattle before
the sale. Already, extension exper
ts and department of agriculture
officials in several states are com
piling such information before the
beginning of special sales.
One of those sales, the Quality
Assurance Sales from West Virgi
nia University, brings perfor
mance data from individual herds
into their grading and selection
before feeder cattle are sold. This
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information, according to Osbor
ne, is compiled into breeding prog
ram databases from the university.
Dwayne O’dell, West Virginia
Department of Agriculture
(WVDA) cattle grader, said that
grading standards using USDA
information have been in place
since 1979. Most cattle going to
processing in the feedlots in West
Virginia finish in a range from
1,000-1,200 pounds (M, or
medium, to L, or large frame),
although a small (S) frame size is
sometimes used. But “the average
kill weights are 1,170 pounds,”
said O’dell.
The final finish weight is signif
icantly dependent on management
strategies.
The finish weight will depend
“on how you match cattle with
feed resources,” he told the
producers.
What special cattle “pool” sales
do is segregate, for market pur
poses. the individual feeder ani
mals (ranging from 600-800
pounds) before sale. Cattle that are
separated before the regular auc
tion are unthrifty, physically
defective, exhibit certain diseases
(loss of sight or active pinkeye
problems), or those with 3- to
4-inch horns.
An evaluation worksheet is used
in the process to match distinct
groups of cattle that show similari
ties in frame scores and live
weight, in addition to potential
attributes related to expected aver
age daily gain (ADG), days on
feed, a muscle score, and estimated
final weight During the workshop,
those who attended compared
notes on how they would judge 10
different cattle in toms of esti
mated live weight, frame score,
and other factors.
The first animal, an all black
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Knowing the genetic makeup of the feeder cattle you buy can translate into better
dollars earned at auction time if you follow good feed management strategies. “It’s
more Important today to know where the cattle come from,” said Dr. Phil Osborne,
West Virginia University, front and center, who spoke to more than 120 cattle feeders
and agri-industry representatives at the workshop. From, from left, Dr. John Comer
ford, Penn State beef specialist; Osborne; and Dwayne O’dell, West Virginia cattle
grader. In back Is Chet Hughes, Lancaster livestock agent.
steer, weighed exactly 730 pounds
(estimates from those attending
put the weight about 750-780
pounds), with an M+ frame score,
with a muscle score of about 1.5.
The cattle was a “pretty decent
steer” said O’dell, which should
finish in the 1,250-1,275 pound
range, giving a carcass from
625-800 pounds. In last year’s
sales, O’dell indicated the graders
got “60 percent of those within 30
pounds” of estimated weight
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The second steer was a black
baldy, graded an M 2 with a muscle
score of 2. It had a much larger
frame than the first calf, with a big
ger head, with an estimated weight
of 740 pounds (actual weight 755
pounds). The third, a brown steer,
was more weighty and older, with
an actual weight 0f785 pounds but
with an S 2 score. Muscle score
was 1.2. The steer would finish
only in the upper 900 of the weight
range, which would put him out of
the board sale, according to
Osborne.
Dr. John Comcrford, Penn State
extension beef specialist, indicated
that it is important to look at the
economic realities when having to
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manage these types of steers.
Those who want to push these
types of older, small framed feed
ers to heavier Idll weights are liter
ally “throwing money down a
rathole," according to Comerford.
“It takes 13 pounds of dry matter
for every one pound of gain after
1,000 pounds of livewcight,”
Comerford indicated. It doesn’t
benefit holding onto the animals
beyond the 1,200 pound range, try
ing to get additional gain.
With all the grading details used
to help keep databases on the
pooled cattle sales, even a “temp
erament score” could someday be
a possibility to help buyers watch
(Turn to Page A 317)