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New ‘Muscle Profiling’ Research Alms To Increase Cow Meat Value
Cull Market Represents up to 25 Percent of Total Beef Production
DENVER. Colo. Beef from
fed cattle is frequently used dif
ferently than beef from cull cows
and bulls. That’s why the indus
try, through the beef checkoff, re
cently completed the “Cow Mus
cle Profiling” project, a follow-up
to successful muscle research on
beef steers and heifers.
The research catalog’s inform
ation on potentially valuable cow
muscles so that processors can
make informed decisions and in
crease the value throughout the
cow beef production system. It is
Testing For SCN Still Important
Despite New Soybean Varieties
WOOSTER, Ohio Though over 200 new soy
bean varieties that resist soybean cyst nematode
have been made available so far for the 2003 season,
growers shouldn’t shirk monitoring SCN popula
tions in their fields.
Of the new resistant varieties, all but four origi
nate from the same resistant source, painting a pic
ture that tells Ohio State University plant patholo
gist Anne Dorrance that eventually resistant
varieties from PIBB7BB will no longer be effective
against the pest.
And, the amount of time it takes to identify
and incorporate resistance genes from new
sources of resistance, as well as breed a high
yielding competitive soybean variety, increases
the importance for growers to continue testing
SCN populations despite the varieties they do
plant.
“The list of new varieties coming from
PIBB7BB is telling us that growers need to be
sampling their fields and monitoring SCN popu
lations often to make sure that the source of re
sistance they are planting is still working,” said
Dorrance. “If the grower plants the same resis
tant variety year after year, eventually the ne
matode will adapt to it and the line will no long
er be effective.”
Dorrance said that the barrier between SCN
and certain resistant soybean varieties is already
crumbling in limited areas throughout Ohio, and
will likely continue as SCN populations adapt to
varieties that carry the PIBB7BB resistance.
“I think what growers don’t understand is
that resistance does not mean a complete resis
tance. The way resistance is measured to soy
bean cyst nematode is by how many females re
produce compared to the susceptible check,”
said Dorrance.
“There will still be females reproducing on
that resistant line, developing nematodes that
eventually will develop an appetite for that par
ticular resistant variety.”
The best way for growers to determine wheth
er they should plant a susceptible soybean vari
ety, a resistant variety or plant a non-host crop
is to test their soils for egg populations.
“This may sound ludicrous, but growers
should be planting susceptible soybean varieties
if the populations are from zero to 40 eggs per
cup of soil,” said Dorrance.
“By selecting a susceptible variety, it-keeps
the genetic pool in check so that all nematodes
are competing with each other for food and no
one nematode with a particular appetite for a
specific source of resistance can dominate.
Though PIBB7BB has been the mainstay of
soybean cyst resistant lines for Ohio growers for
the past decade, Dorrance said growers should
be keeping their eye out for the development of
October Pig Crop
2 Percent Below Year Ago
WASHINGTON, D.C. The October 2002
U.S. pig crop at 8.33 million head, was 2 percent
below the previous year, according to the Na
tional Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Sows farrowing during October totaled 940
thousand head, 2 percent below last year. The
average pigs per litter for October increased to
8.86, compared to 8.85 last year.
The U.S. inventory of sows and gilts on No
vember 1, 2002, was 5.83 million head, down 2
percent from November 1, 2001. U.S. sows and
gilts bred during October totaled 1.18 million
head, down 1 percent from the previous year.
The next “Quarterly Hogs and Pigs” report
will be released at 3 p.m. ET on December 30,
2002. The next “Monthly Hogs and Pigs” report
will be released at 3 p.m. ET on January 31,
2003. '
a culmination of more than two
years of planning and projects
coordinated on behalf of the Cat
tlemen’s Beef Board and state
beef councils by the National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association
(NCBA).
Today muscles from the cull
cow and bull market which
represents from 18 to 25 percent
of total U.S. beef production are
used for more than just the mid
dle meats, according to the Na
tional Market Cow and Bull Beef
Quality Audit, also funded
new lines that carry resistance, such as “Peking”
and “Hartwig.”
“Though we’ve got new varieties coming down
the line, we are still very limited at this point as to
what is available for growers in terms of different
resistant lines,” said Dorrance. “That’s why it’s im
portant to test fields for the presence of SCN. A
grower does not want' to waste a good source of re
sistance by overusing it. If this happens, it could
mean losing the crop.”
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through the beef checkoff. Cows
represent more than 90 percent
of this beef source.
Beef from these animals is
used to produce subprimals, lean
beef and beef trimmings. These
cuts go into both whole muscle
cuts and further processed items.
Yet until now little has been
known about the muscles from
these cuts, according to Bucky
Gwartney, Ph.D., director of re
search and technical services for
NCBA. This new research, per
formed at the University of Ne-
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braska and the University of
Florida, characterizes the indi
vidual muscles in market cows
and helps differentiate their
value in the beef carcass.
More than 3,300 individual
muscles were evaluated in the re
search for traits such as shear
force (for tenderness estimation),
fat and moisture composition, di
mensional data, color, pH, water
holding capacity, collagen analy
sis and heme-iron concentration.
Sensory testing was also con
ducted.
Even though a large and high
ly variable population was cho
sen, the research found that mus
cle traits varied across the
population less than was ex
pected. Muscle tenderness is one
of the most important traits, and
five of the 21 muscles were con
sidered tender when evaluated by
shear force testing. Three mus
cles were moderately tender.
In addition, many of the mus
cles evaluated were considered
lean, with less than 5 percent fat.
The Food and Drug Administra
tion (FDA) definition of “Lean”
is less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5
grams or less of saturated fat and
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95 milligrams of cholesterol per
100 gram serving.
“This kind of research will
help us expand our utilization of
the beef carcass,” said Bill Nice, a
beef producer from Morrison, 111.,
and vice chairman of the indus
try’s Joint Product Enhancement
Subcommittee. “Cattle producers
benefit from this effort as a result
of the increased demand generat
ed for more parts of the animal.”
According to Gwartney, in
formation from this research will
be distributed to the market cow
industry, and address possible
market cow grading standards
and ways to upgrade muscles
that lend themselves to more
value in the market cow chain.
A manual has been developed,
including all the summary data
and relevant photos from the
project. A CD-ROM containing
the raw data, as well as other in
formation such as fabrication
videos and 3-dimensional views
of the cow carcass and its cuts, is
also being produced. For more in
formation, contact the NCBA
Research and Knowledge Man
agement Department at 303/
694-0305.
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