Sorting Cattle May Mean Higher Beef Quality
US - Sorting cattle helps eliminate outliers in a pen, but the extra effort may be rewarded by higher quality grades, too.
7 December 2007
1 minute read
“Our data says those cattle that were sorted three or more times have much higher CAB acceptance rates than cattle that were just sold as one group,” says Gary Fike, beef cattle specialist for the company.
From 2005 to 2006, CAB tracked data from its 63 licensed feedlots in 15 states (see table). Cattle that were marketed together had an average CAB acceptance rate of 23.3 percent. Cattle in two sort groups improved to 29.6 percent, compared to those sorted three times or more at 33.9 percent.
That 10-percentage-point increase means more dollars for the seller.
“That's huge,” Fike says. “In a 100-head pen, that's 10 more head that make CAB. You're talking about roughly $40 per head or $400 extra.”
Source: The Prairie Star
