National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit - Dairy Cattle Edition

Cooler AuditsKey points:Cow and bull carcasses were heavier than in 1999.Cow and bull carcasses had a lower fat thicknessthan in 1999.Majority of cows had a muscle score of 1 or 2.More cow carcasses had the more desirable fat colorscores of 1 and 2 than in the previous two audits.Carcass weight – Cow and bull carcasses wereheavier in 2007 than in 1999. In 1999, cow carcassesaveraged 540.5 lbs. and bull carcasses averaged858.5 lbs.In 2007, dairy cow carcasses averaged 648.8pounds and dairy bull carcasses averaged 927.9pounds21% of all carcasses were less than 500 lbs. and7% of all carcasses were too heavy (more than 1,000lbs.) compared to the 46% that were too light and the27% that were too heavy in 1999. 19% of dairy cowcarcasses were too light, and 4% were too heavy. 2% ofdairy bull carcasses were too light, and 36% were tooheavy.Fat thickness - Fat thickness for all carcassesaveraged 0.22 inches in 2007, lower than the 0.37inches measured in 1999.Ribeye area – Ribeye area averaged 10-squareinches. Ribeye area/cwt. of carcass averaged 1.54.Marbling – 3% of carcasses were devoid ofmarbling.Lean maturity – 27% of all carcasses werescored as C maturity for lean. 24% of dairy cowcarcasses and 71% of dairy bull carcasses wereclassified as C lean maturity. In 1999 33% of cowcarcasses were D lean maturity.Skeletal maturity – 16% of all carcasses, 14% ofdairy cow carcasses, and 15% of dairy bull carcasseswere D maturity. In 1999 cow carcasses averaged E -and bull carcasses averaged D o.Overall maturity – 39% of all carcasses, 44% ofdairy cow carcasses, and 29% of dairy bull carcasseswere graded as D overall maturity.Quality grade -- 44% of all carcasses gradedutility. 29% of all carcasses and 20% of dairy cowcarcasses graded as cutters. 8% of all carcasses and4% of dairy cow carcasses graded as canners. 0.2% ofthe carcasses audited graded prime.Muscling scores - The majority of dairy cowcarcasses had a muscle score of 1 or 2, with anaverage for all cattle of 2.06. In1999 cow carcasses averagedPoint ofImprovement1.6 and bulls averaged 3.5.Fat scores -- Morecarcasses audited in 2007had fat color scores of 1 and2 (whiter color). The 2007average score was 2.7. Theaverage fat color score in 1999was 3.8 for cow carcasses and2.5 for bull carcasses.Yield grade -- The average yield grade was 2.6in this year’s audit. Cow carcasses in the 1999 auditaveraged a 2.4 yield grade.Market your cattle beforethey become too thin ortoo lame for transport.Dairy Cattle Edition 9