Beef Cattle

1. Beef Cattle

2. In the United States there are more than 80 recognized breeds of beef cattle.

3. A breed is a group of animals of common descent, possessing distinctive characteristics that distinguish them from other groups within the same species.

4. When you examine the characteristics of any breed there are always some advantages and some disadvantages.

5. British Breeds:Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn Advantages Disadvantages Low birth weight Lower growth rate High fertility Moderate milk production Moderate frame size

6. European Breeds:Charolais, Gelbvieh, Maine-Anjou, Pinzgauer, Simmental, South Devon,Tarentaise Advantages Disadvantages High growth rate Increased dystocia Larger frame size Increased maintenance High milk production

7. Beef Cattle Breeds

8. Shorthorn • PROFILE • From • England • Color • Red, red and white, or roan • Size • Mature Bulls: 1,000-1,300 lbs • Mature Cows: 800-1,200 lbs • Popularity Factors • Dual purpose breed for milk and meat.

9. Gelbvieh • PROFILE • From • Germany • Color • Red • Size • Mature Bulls: 1,000-1,300 lbs • Mature Cows: 800-1,200 lbs • Popularity Factors • Fleshy under the throat. Good mothers • who have a calf a year.

10. Charolais • PROFILE • From • France • Color • White • Size • Mature Bulls: 2,800-3,300 lbs • Mature Cows: 1,400-2,500 lbs • Popularity Factors • Long bodied large cattle. Heavily • muscled.

11. Brahman • PROFILE • From • India • Color • White to grey, red to black. • Size • Mature Bulls: 2,800-3,300 lbs • Mature Cows: 1,400-2,500 lbs • Popularity Factors • Insect and heat resistant, able • to survive on little, poor feed. • Has sweat glands.

12. Texas Longhorn • PROFILE • From • North America • Color • Diverse coloring • Size • Mature Bulls: 2,800-3,300 lbs • Mature Cows: 1,400-2,500 lbs • Popularity Factors • Can eat very poor vegetation. • Lean beef…and really cool horns.

13. PopularBeef Cattle Breeds in Utah

14. Hereford • Black and Red Angus • Simmental

15. Hereford • PROFILE • From • Hereford, England • Color • Red or Black with white head, legs, and underline. • Size • Mature Bulls: 2,000-2,500 lbs • Mature Cows: 1,00-1600 lbs • Popularity Factors • Excellent mothers. Very adaptable to any environment, juicy tender meat. Very easy to handle.

16. Angus • PROFILE • From • Scotland • Color • Black hair and skin or red hair and skin. • Size • Mature Bulls: 1,000-1,300 lbs • Mature Cows: 800-1,200 lbs • Popularity Factors • Excellent mothers. Naturally no horns, and natural marbling for tasty, tender beef. Very easy to handle.

17. Simmental • PROFILE • From • Switzerland, came to the United States in 1971 • Color • pale yellow-gold all the way to very dark red or black • Size • Mature Bulls: 2,200-2,800 lbs • Mature Cows: 1,100-1,500 lbs • Popularity Factors • Gentle and large with heavy milk production. Very lean meat. Very easy to handle.

18. Additional Beef Cattle Information

19. Breeds of Beef Cattle There are approximately 250 breeds of cattle recognized throughout the world, and several hundreds of breeds that are not recognized. The exact count is impossible to determine because other breeds continue to be imported, and crossing existing breeds continuously creates new breeds.

20. Breed Characteristics The major characteristics for beef producers: • Mature body size • Milk production • Age at puberty • Environmental adaptability • Rate and efficiency of gain • Muscle expression • Cutability • Marbling

21. Mature Body Size:If various sizes of cattle are fed for the same length of time, cattle with a larger body size will have faster, more efficient gains, lower marbling, less fat, and improved cutablity. Mature cows weigh less than mature bulls. Larger mature size results in: • Heifers being older and/or heavier at puberty • Heavier birth weights (often associated with difficult calving) • Faster rate of gain • Heavier weaning weights

22. Milk Production The Main reason for increasing milk production in beef cattle is to increase weaning weights of calves. Heavy milk production can be bad— • Heavy milking cows often produce milk at the expense of their body functions (they get skinny) • Thin females are less likely to come into heat and have a harder time getting pregnant • Heavy milkersare slow to cycle which lengthens breeding interval and reduces general reproductive efficiency.

23. Muscle Expression • Leaner meat means more muscle • Most breeds that are ranked above average in muscle expression are also above average in size. • One concern with beef producers is that muscularity appears to affect reproductive efficiency (calving difficulties with bigger calves).

24. Age at Puberty • Age at puberty is important because cattle that reach puberty at an earlier age conceive at an earlier age. These cattle have the potential to have a long productive life (economically important to cattle producers) • Age at puberty is linked to body size, milking potential, genetic classification, and environmental factors. • Smaller cattle with higher milk yield have been known to mature earlier. • Cattle exposed to harsh environmental conditions, whose nutritional requirements are not being met, reach puberty later.

25. Cutablity and Marbling • Cutability is the percent of lean in a slaughter animal and is directly affected by an animal’s muscle structure and directly related to nutrition. • Marbling (intramuscular fat) is often referred to as taste fat. • Cattle that mature early and have high milk yields are usually high in marbling.