Introduction to Livestock Marketing, Market Classes, and Meat Grading

Vocabulary flashcards covering livestock market classes, sex classifications, frame scoring, dressing percentages, and beef yield grading factors derived from the lecture.

Market Classes and Grades

Industry standards designed to accurately describe livestock by grouping heterogeneous animals into homogeneous groups based on relative merit, cutability, and palatability.

Pairs

A marketing term describing a mature female animal along with her offspring, such as a cow with her calf or a ewe with her lamb.

Slaughter Cattle

Fed, fat cattle (primarily steers) from commercial operations that are fed in a feedlot for an average of $150$ to $300$ days and are primarily intended for food production.

USDA Meat Inspection

A mandatory processing requirement focusing on food wholesomeness and cleanliness, established by the Meat Inspection Act of $1906$ following Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle.

Bullock

An uncastrated male bovine primarily used for meat production that retains some male hormonal characteristics.

Barrow

A male swine that was castrated at a young age before developing secondary sex characteristics.

Gilt

An immature female swine that has not yet farrowed or produced a litter of piglets.

Wether

A male sheep or goat that was castrated at a young age.

Cannon Bone

The front leg bone located between the knee and fetlock joint, used as a skeletal indicator of future frame size and growth potential in livestock.

Small Frame Cattle

Early-maturing cattle that reach USDA Choice grade at lighter live weights ($< 1100\,\text{lbs}$ for steers and $< 1000\,\text{lbs}$ for heifers), often represented by British breeds such as Angus and Hereford.

Medium Frame Cattle

Cattle that reach USDA Choice grade at average live weights ($1100$ to $1250\,\text{lbs}$ for steers and $1000$ to $1150\,\text{lbs}$ for heifers), often represented by continental breeds.

Large Frame Cattle

Late-maturing cattle that require higher live weights ($> 1250\,\text{lbs}$ for steers and $> 1150\,\text{lbs}$ for heifers) to reach USDA Choice grade, such as Charolais, Bos indicus, or dairy breeds.

Dressing Percent

The percentage of live animal weight that yields carcass weight, calculated using the formula: $\text{Dressing Percent} = \left(\frac{\text{Carcass Weight}}{\text{Live Weight}}\right) \times 100$.

Average Dressing Percentage for Beef

The industry benchmark dressing percentage for beef cattle, which is $62.5\,\%$.

Average Dressing Percentage for Swine

The industry benchmark dressing percentage for swine, which ranges from $77\,\%$ to $78\,\%$.

Average Dressing Percentage for Sheep

The industry benchmark dressing percentage for sheep, which ranges from $50\,\%$ to $52\,\%$.

Factors Influencing Dressing Percent

Four major live animal and carcass factors comprising gut fill (decreases yield), fatness (increases yield), muscling (increases yield), and mud on the hide (decreases yield).

Beef Yield Grade

A voluntary USDA numeric rating ranging from $1.0$ to $5.9$ that estimates the yield of boneless closely trimmed retail cuts from the four major primals: round, loin, rib, and chuck.

Preliminary Yield Grade (PYG)

A yield grade starting value determined directly by measuring external fat thickness three-fourths of the way up opposite the rib eye muscle.

Rib Eye Area (REA)

The cross-sectional surface area of the longissimus dorsi muscle measured in square inches between the 12th and 13th ribs, with an industry benchmark of $11\,\text{sq in}$.

Kidney, Pelvic, and Heart Fat (KPH)

An estimate of internal fat surrounding the major organs inside the carcass cavity, expressed as a percentage of total carcass weight with an industry benchmark of $3.5\,\%$.

Longissimus dorsi

The primary muscle evaluated at the 12th and 13th rib cross-section to measure rib eye area and assess beef carcass quality traits.