DNA Dialogue – Getting the Most Out of Your Carcass
January 25, 2024
Dr. Galen Erickson, Professor of Ruminant Nutrition at University of Nebraska Lincoln, breaks down the important characteristics behind quality carcasses and what the packers are looking for related to the carcass.
Video Transcript
[Music]
Narrator: DNA Dialogue is brought to you by Igenity Feeder powered by Neogen.
TITLE CARD: DNA Dialogue — Igenity® Feeder — powered by Neogen®
[The screen shows Dr. Galen Erickson speaking.]
SUPERIMPOSE: Galen E. Erickson, Ph.D., Professor of Ruminant Nutrition at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Dr. Galen Erickson: Really, we feed cattle in feedlots because we're feeding them high energy diets and we're fattening them.
[The screen cuts to images of beef being cooked, cattle in feedlots, sides of beef curing in a slaughterhouse, and returns to Dr. Galen Erickson speaking.]
Dr. Galen Erickson: And so we're obviously get other benefits from that, such as taste, tenderness, juiciness of the end product. But what it really comes down to is: "how much fat can we put on those" and we're not doing it to put on fat on the outside, it's really about the marbling inside the meat itself. But it's difficult to know marbling when the cattle are live. You don't know that until after they're marketed. So what are packers interested in? They're interested in obviously the weight and the amount of pounds that they can also produce in their line. They're interested in red meat yield, which obviously in our in our grid systems, is a premium and discount based on yield grades—one and two as a premium, yield grade four and five as generally a discount.
[The screen cuts to images of beef yield grade tables, quality grade tables, and returns to Dr. Galen Erickson speaking.]
Dr. Galen Erickson: And, obviously, if you're not familiar with those, yield grade one and two are more red meat yield. Yield grades four and five are obviously fatter relative to red meat yield. So there's a premium discount on yield grade and then, of course, there's a premium discount on quality grade. Quality grades are usually just discussed as a choice-select spread, but that's really low choice compared to select. And there's premiums as you go to upper two-thirds choice, CAB, which would be black-hided in upper two-thirds choice, and then an even larger premium for prime. So what are Packers interested in? Weight, yield, and, obviously, the most marbled beef that they can market, because they get a premium for those end products as well.
[Music]
TITLE CARD: DNA Dialogue — Igenity® Feeder — powered by Neogen®
TITLE CARD: Neogen logo. Igenity Feeder.
[The screen shows graphics of two cows eating corn from a trough. The camera zooms in on the far cow to reveal the DNA structure of the cells.]
Narrator: Are you a cattle feeder looking to manage for a stronger and more profitable set of cattle? Look no further than Igenity® Feeder. Igenity Feeder utilizes DNA to gain insight into your cattles genomic potential.
SUPERIMPOSE: Performance. Quality. Economic Endpoints.
Narrator: With the information to predict performance, quality, and economic endpoints for cattle feeders. Animals are scored and ranked in a simple format, driving more precise and accurate management decisions.
[The zooms out to show the graphic of two cows eating corn from a trough.]
SUPERIMPOSE: The Power to Predict.
Narrator: Igenity feeder gives you the power to predict days on feed, manage variability within lots, characterize carcass performance, and focus on metrics important to you and your operation. With the data provided you will identify superior animals earlier and maintain high operational efficiency. Maximize your profit and optimize performance with Igenity Feeder.
TITLE CARD: Neogen logo. Igenity Feeder.
[Music]
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Category: Beef, Dairy, Igenity® Profiles, FAQs