April 21,
2010
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more
information contact:
Laura
Nelson, CAB industry information specialist, 330-345-2333 or lnelson@certifiedangusbeef.com
Disposition Drives
Feedlot, Carcass Performance
Data on nearly 50,000 feeders proves docility pays.
Nervous
and aggressive cattle are a pain in the wallet.
That was
the kicker in a recent presentation at the Midwest American Society of Animal
Science meetings in Des Moines, Iowa.
Gary
Fike, beef cattle specialist for the Certified
Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand, said cattle that were
considered docile graded Premium Choice and Prime at more than double the rate
of their nervous to very aggressive contemporaries.
Docility
in the feedlot pays off with better performance, improved carcass merit and
reduced morbidity and treatment costs, Fike says. Data were collected on nearly
50,000 cattle from 18 Iowa feedlots, all consigned to the Tri-County Steer
Carcass Futurity over a span of eight years (2002-2009).
Using the
six-point Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) disposition scoring system, calves
in the futurity were scored three to four times during the feeding period.
Based on their average scores, they were grouped into three categories: docile
(DC), restless (R) and nervous to very aggressive (NVA).
While
calves in the study had similar arrival weights (see Table 1), Fike noted the
DC and R calves were, on average, 10 days younger than the NVA calves. DC
calves more than made up for their age, gaining 3.21 pounds (lb.) per day
compared to the NVA’s 3.01 lb., and outweighing them by 39 lb. in final live
weight.
“Once
those docile calves arrive and get on feed, they eat more, have heavier weights
and gain more quickly simply because they’re spending more time at the bunks,”
Fike surmised. “They’re able to perform better when they’re not taking off from
the bunk every time there’s a disturbance.”
That
feedlot performance proved increasingly valuable in the carcass data (Table 2).
With a 30.7-point difference in marbling score between the most and least
docile cattle, it’s not surprising the former have better CAB brand acceptance
rates. “For lack of a better term,” Fike said, “They’re just easy keepers.”
Applied to a study on nearly 50,000 head, “that’s very significant data,” he
added.
A $40
difference in profit is also pretty significant. Taking into account quality
and yield grade, cost of gain, death loss and treatment costs, the DC calves
brought in an average profit of $46.63 per head, while NVA calves made $7.62.
“There’s
no doubt cattlemen need to understand the heritability of disposition traits in
their herds. You really have to look at things like disposition in sire
selection and in the cow herd,” Fike said, noting that expected progeny
difference (EPD) tools are now available as a guide.
The
bottom line? “Nobody likes having to chase cattle — these are the ones that
cause all the trouble at home, then they don’t perform in the yard, either,”
Fike said. “There’s just no reason to keep them around when all these points
are against them.”
###
Table 1:
Effect of disposition on feedlot performance and profitability
abcMeans within a row with unlike superscripts differ
(P<0.05)
Table 2.
Effect of disposition on carcass traits
abcMeans within a row with unlike superscripts differ
(P<0.05)
1 Marbling score 400 = Small0
2Disposition score influenced CAB®
acceptance rate (P<0.0001)
###