ANSC 2005 - Beef Industry

The majority of our imports and exports come from

US

Three main stages of beef production

1. cow calf

2. backgrounding

3. feedlots and finishing

Cow calf productions usually calve in _________ in time with _________

spring, new grass

Why is it preferable to calve in a short time window?

So that they will all meet market weight at a similar time

Bulls are turned out in

early summer

Open cows are usually

culled

Calves are kept with their mothers until the

end of the grazing season

Calves are how old at weaning?

6-10 months old

After weaning, calves usually go to a

backgrounding operation

Backgrounding calves are fed mostly

forage, some grain

Backgrounding calves are wintered on a diet that supports growth without

fattening

Calves are backgrounded until they are about ____ pounds

600-800lbs

Feedlots feed animals an _______________________ to add what

energy dense diet, add muscle and fat

Feedlot diets comprise mostly of

grain

Grain finishing produces more

tender, marbled, beef

Usually finish weight is about

14000lbs

Finishing on grass changes the

Amino acids of the meat, makes it omega 3 enriched

Frame score

uses hip height and age to guess when the animal is ready to slaughter

__________dictates the mature size of the cattle

frame size

Cow calf farm operations maintain

herds of mature cows to mate and raise calves until weaning age

weaning age is around

6 months

Backgrounding operations are those which

grow weaned calves on forage or pasture for another six months

Feedlot operations those which

bring calves up to market weight usual with a substantial portion of cereal grain

Bulls are turned out usually in

early summer

What processing occurs in cow calf operations

-vaccinations

-castration

-dehorning

-branding

-RFID tagging