Lecture #21 ~ Beef Cattle

Animal Science

Cash receipts for industry in 2021

$72.9 billion

US is ranked #? for beef production

1

US is ranked #? for beef importer

2

US is ranked #? for exporter of beef products by volume

3

Beef cattle production need what kind of feed?

forages

what is the most expensive aspect of raising agricultural animals?

feed

what are cattle good at that makes them great on farms?

converting unusable land to protein

____ consumed by cattle and converted to __

poor quality forages; energy

where are beef cows located?

midwest (plus mid-east, and south, and some in cali, and some in northeast)

heifer

female bovine who’s never had a calf

cow

female bovine who has had a calf/cows

steer

casted male bovine

bull

intact male bovine

springer

female animal (heifer or cow) close to calving

what are springers usually associated with?

increased size of udder

fresh cow

cow who recently gave birth

what are parts of the facilities structured around meat production?

pasture management, shelter, chutes, fencing

how long are calves raised on mother’s milk?

until weaning

true or false: beef animals are genetically bred for meat characteristics

true

beef cattle breeds

angus, hereford, charolais, brahman, highlands

what are breeds dependent on?

climate, management style, etc.

true or false: cows are prey animals

true

what can cattle do in response to threats?

kick, gore, and stomp, OR take flight

describe herd animal characteristics that cows have

prefer being in large groups w/ other cattle, extremely uncomfortable when alone

what to do when moving cattle:

move slowly, be confident, don’t make sudden movements/sounds, don’t sneak up on them or chase them, and don’t get between mother and calf

what do cattle not like?

heads handled, being spooked, being away from herd, loud noises, fast movements

should you work with bulls without experience and training?

NO!

can you ever trust a bull?

NO!

how to stand next to a bovine when working with them, and why?

stand close to the animal, so they can’t hurt you as bad

how long is gestation according to the generalized production timeline?

9 months

how long is period of time between calving and weaning according to the generalized production timeline?

6-8 months

how long is stock and/or feedlot according to the generalized production timeline?

5-18 months

describe breeding

producing bulls and heifers

describe feeding

provide appropriate nutrition to achieve healthy and productive animals

describe marketing cattle

cattle are bought and sold, sometimes many times, throughout life; end result is processing and retail sale of beef products

how long does it take from breeding until beef products are at consumer level

2-3 years

other names for seedstock producers

purebred breeders or registered breeders

what are important parts of superior genetics which work to influence the beef cattle industry

breeding, semen, embryos

how long do commercial cow-calf producers raise calves for?

from birth until weaning

how long does a cow raise a calf

205 days

at weaning, the calf should be about ____ weight of its mother

half

how much does a calf gain per day in weight

2 lbs

how many calves should a cow produce a year?

one

how long is gestation of cows (days)

283 days

what can calves become in the long run

replacement heifers or enter food production chain

what is found in the great plain states that is responsible for large cattle populations

corn (produced there)

another name for yearling/stocker producer

backgrounding

what does backgrounding include

adding weight to weaned calves prior to feedlot or sluaghter

can large, weaned calves go straight to feedlot?

yes

when are calves purhcased?

fall or spring

how long are calved fed grazable foraged in backgrounding

until they’re 12-20 months of age

how much do cattle gain when backgrounding per day

1-1.t lbs

animals come in at ____ lbs and leave at 800 after yearling/stocker producing

800

what is a feedlot producer doing

feeding cattle high energy diets to prepare them for harvest

rations in feedlots are higher in ___to increase ____

grains; gains

what is the protein aspect

mucle

what increases palatability

fat

how many lbs a day do cattle gain at feedlots?

3 lbs

animals are closed close to what in feedlots?

water, feed, shelter, etc.

at what size do cattle finish 

1200 lb (based on genetics/breed)

at what age do cattle finish?

18 months

what does a packer do?

harvest, process, and distribute beef across the world

__% of sources of beef cattle are fed steers and heifers?

80

example of retailors

grocery stores, restaurants, big box stores

who cuts the beef in grocery stores

butchers

where is beef cutting happening, and who sells it

packer; retailer selects

describe direct marketing

community supported agriculture, farmers markets, on farm store, freezer trade

who drives the beef cattle industry

consumer

true or false: beef products used to be fattier because the consumer liked increased palatability

true

what percentage of the lifetime diet of grain-finished cattle is grain?

11%

beef is a natural source of ___ essential nutrients

10

what are the essential nutrients that beef is a source of?

protein, iron, zinc, riboflavin, B12, and niacin

describe prime beef quality

most marbling, produced in smaller quantities

describe select beef quality

least marbling, most lean

describe choice beef quality

middle man between prime and select in terms of marbling and leanness

most important factor within a beef operation

reproduction

cannot have a successful operation without __ ___ __

successful reproductive management

repro management includes:

successful initial heifer pregnancies and rebreeding; managing gestation, calving, calf and mother health, weaning, and nutrition

the goal is ___ calf/ves produced from each female bovine every 365 days

one

describe reproductive efficiency

# of calves born / # of calves weaned per 100 females in breeding herd

repro is ___ as important as growth or carcass qualities for profitability of cow-calf producers

twice

management decisions that increase repro rates:

early puberty, high conception rates, minimize calving difficulty, early rebreeding

successful reproduction required focus on (4):

cattle health, nutrition, genetics, and parturition management

Describe Food and Mouth Disease

Severe, contagious viral disease which doesn’t transmit to other animals, spreads through formites, huge economic risk, eradicated in US

Describe Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis

prion (misfolded protein in CNS) disease which causes neurologic disease that leads to death; avoid feeding ruminant tissue in feed to ruminants, restrict importing live animals into US

Describe Rinderpest

Virus which causes severe disease in cattle, death rates reach 100%, eradicated bc of vaccines, largest stock of rinderpest virus destroyed in 2019, could be used as bioterrorism