BRED FOR BEEF

by Managing Editor Stevie Ipsen

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the national cowherd is more than 75 percent black-hided. This is up from the National Beef Quality Audit results in 2016, where it was found than 68 percent of cows slaughtered and 67.2 percent of beef bulls possessed a black hide.

To those who closely follow trends in the beef industry, the rise of blackhided cattle comes as no surprise. Composite crossbreeding has resulted in well-respected breeds like SimAngus, Brangus, Balancer and LimFlex cattle that combine the long-admired traits of Simmental, Brahman, Gelbvieh and Limousin cattle with the highly sought traits of the uniform, low-birth, moderate size, higher marbling and feed efficiency of Angus genetics.

The added value is obviously not in the actual hair coat color of Angus crossbred stock. The black hide often indicates the breeding philosophies that have been implemented in these cattle to bring across-the-board uniformity in carcass quality to cattle raised for beef, not just here in the western U.S., but across the nation and many areas of the world.

The Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brand has done a phenomenal job at making Angus a buzz word synonymous with quality. Since the first pound of beef labeled as CAB was sold in Ohio in 1978, the exponential growth of the brand has catapulted Angus to a household name recognized by consumers.

Producers and beef marketers have worked to replicate the success CAB has had. For breeders dedicated to other breeds of beef cattle, implementing Angus genetics has brought them closer to the notoriety of the Angus breed while still being loyal to the breeds that have brought their families success for generations.

Looking Beneath The Black Hide

Hide color doesn’t automatically dictate a premium. Average cattle are going to perform as average cattle regardless of their coat color. But when cattle with a mostly black hide come through a packing plant, the hock of the carcass is marked with blue ink. Those marked carcasses then are further evaluated to see if they meet the other specifications for CAB retailers. Just like the age-old adage of judging a book by its cover, what lies beneath the hide of a beef animal is far more important than the color of its coat.

...CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

ASIDE FROM THE HIDE: CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF CRITERIA

• Modest or higher marbling

• 10- to 16-square-inch ribeye area*

• 1,100-pound hot carcass weight or less

• 1 inch or less fat thickness

• Medium or fine marbling texture

• 30 months of age or younger

• Superior muscling

• No neck hump exceeding 2 inches

• Practically free of capillary rupture

• No dark cutters

Beef On Dairy

It might come as a surprise to some, but dairy cattle are an important part of beef production in the U.S. With so many dairy steers being born each year and the obvious inability to use them for milk production, dairy herd progeny is widely seen in feedlots in California and other dairyproducing areas. These steers are developed as any beef cattle and harvested at an age that qualifies them for the USDA Prime, Choice or Select quality grades.

According to USDA figures in 2020, finished dairy steers and heifers accounted for roughly 20 percent of federally inspected steer and heifer beef production. Placed on the right ration, marbling within Holstein beef can be decent compared to native (non-dairy) beef breeds. In fact, data says Holstein beef accounts for more than 30 percent of Prime beef.

For anyone who has fed straight dairy beef, they know that while grading potential is impressive, it is well-documented that feed conversion in Holsteins is not as advantageous as the feed conversion of native beef cattle, namely Angus bred cattle.

The goal in finishing purebred Holstein steers is to produce carcasses weighing 850 to 950 pounds that qualify for USDA quality grades Choice or Prime. Accomplishing this goal requires acknowledgement that Holsteins have a large skeletal growth potential. Holstein cows produce steer progeny that have large frame scores. Consequently, these large-frame steers are not likely to be finished until they weigh at least 1,400 pounds. Steers with a bodyweight of 1,640 pounds and a dressing percentage of 61 percent would potentially yield a carcass of 1,000 pounds. Carcass weights in excess of 1,000 pounds incur carcass price discounts, not to mention feeding these cattle to 1,600-plus pounds takes time and feed, which also means more money.

While dairy bred cattle in feedyards is nothing new, something that has taken off over the last decade is using Angus steers on dairy heifers and cows. Longtime Central Valley cattle feeder Randall Grimmius prides himself on being a go-to Angus semen supplier for dairymen and commercial cattlemen alike. He says beef on dairy is a win-win for everyone involved – if done correctly.

From an easier first-calf heifer calving experience for a dairy mama having an Angus baby to the aforementioned benefit of Angus growth and carcass characteristics, there seem to be plenty of reasons for dairy owners to consider beef genetics for their herd. But there are also plenty of warning labels that beef experts say should be applied,

Unfortunately, some beef-dairy matings may just yield “black Holsteins,” with similar frame characteristics to full-blood dairy animals. When the beef on dairy trend started, there seemed to be a misconception that one straw of Angus semen was as good as the next.

“Rather than just breeding to any old Angus bull, a dairy cow producer may as well produce purebred Holstein steers, because at least there is a specific market for them,” says Grimmius. “A tall, black crossbred won’t fit well into our current marketing systems.”

Producers aiming for black animals that may potentially qualify for black-hided premiums and programs like CAB should be strategic about what Angus bulls to use and the impact they will have on the goals of their mating decisions. Quality standards like those required by CAB likely won’t be achieved otherwise.

Some criteria suggested by Denise Schawb at Iowa State University Extension may help breeders hone in on the specific genetics they should be seeking:

Breed – The natural inclination may be to reach for Angus semen to produce black calves. But the Angus breed has the largest beef registry in the country, which means it also has the greatest variability. Surprisingly, Angus also now has the highest hot carcass weight of the major beef breeds, which means a Holstein x Angus cross may very well be duplicating frame size. “Think specifically of the bull, not just the breed,” advises Schwab.

Frame size – To develop more compact animals that feed and finish efficiently, Schwab suggestes

...CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

...CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 choosing moderately sized bulls, with frame scores of 5 or under.

Ribeye area – Holsteins tend to marble well and can have excellent quality grades, but also have less-desirably-shaped ribeyes. Selecting sires with ribeye EPDs in the top 25 percentile of the breed can improve this.

Muscling – Because Holsteins are known to have a lower muscle-to-bone ratio, choosing bulls with higher muscle scores can enhance the beef composition characteristics, in terms of muscle size and shape.

Calving ease – While selecting for moderately sized calves is a common goal, Schwab said it actually is less of a concern in beef-on-dairy breeding with Holsteins but may be more of a concern with Jersey cows. Schwab said selecting birthweights in the top 30-50 percent of birthweigh EPDs is reasonable since most Holstein females could easily give birth to a larger calf.

MONEY IN MARBLING: CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE ANGUS-WAGYU CROSS

For virtually any beef conniseur, Wagyu beef is known for being an ultimate eating experience. The rich, tender but commonly expensive cuts from a Wagyu carcass have many producers and consumers believing that this well-known delicacy is out of reach for regular people.

What led to this belief? Wagyu cattle were first introduced to the American continent from Japan in 1976, one perception is that the importation of Wagyu makes their beef harder to come by, thus increasing the demand-to-supply ratio and subsequently the price.

While it’s true that there are less Wagyu cattle in the United States than other beef breeds, producers may argue that the price of Wagyu beef in restaruants is due to the cost of raising the product. Sometimes, less really is more. By spending less in feed, many producers feel they can make more money raising traditional beef breeds that have better feed conversion rates.

According to Vlok Ferreira, Ph.D., a cattle nutrition expert who has studied the feed requirements of Wagyu cattle, a purebred Wagyu steer is ready for harvesting at 27 months of age or later. This is partially attributed to feed conversion but also because Wagyu cattle don’t reach their maximum levels of marbling until later in life (28 to 36 months) compared to other beef breeds that take 12-18 months to finish out, he explains.

Because Angus genetics carry a broad spectrum of admirable traits, it didn’t take those seeking to produce a superior beef product long to experiment with combining Angus and Wagyu genes.

With a 50/50 Wagyu-Angus cross, Ferreria says, the Wagyu contributes its intense marbling and the Angus contributes to size and growth, which leads to a product that performs in the growyard and on the rail.

To take it a step further, something else for producers to consider are the maternal traits that can be improved by crossing Angus cattle with Wagyu. Docility is a trait that Wagyu cattle are praised highly for, making them great mama cows to be around. Unfortunately, they are also known for being lighter milkers, which is another reason their already small calves tend to grow slowly. With milk production being a concern for Wagyu breeders, it can be difficult to grow a full blood Wagyu cowherd.

Ferreria also notes that Wagyu heifers tend to have higher marbling when fed for beef than their steer counter parts. Knowing this may be incentive for someone raising Wagyu strictly for beef to consider utilizing breeding technology of sexed semen to produce more heifers. Implementing Wagyu into an embryo transfer program could also be an option for raising superior Wagyu beef on better milking mother cows.

Because of the superiority of Wagyu beef, there is a great deal of value in exploring options for making a Wagyu-influenced operation as profitable as possible. Perhaps the best and most economically sound solution to maximize the potential of the superior carcass traits of Wagyu is to cross Angus and Wagyu genetics. All factors indicate producers can do this and capitalize on keeping the feeder, the packer and the consumer very satisfied.