Exam 3: Meat Science in Adding Value to Primary Beef Operations (Scott Howard) Flashcards
What are cattle procurement systems
Live: Cattle sold basis live weight and a market negotiated between buyers and sellers, with reporting back to USDA
Dressed: Carcasses sold at the hot scale with value determined relative to the dressing percentage of an individual lot relative to the plant average
- Influenced by trimming practices on the Harvest Floor
Grid: Carcasses sold at the grade scale based on Quality Grade, Yield Grade, and other contract terms
- Influenced by plant conditions influential to Quality grade
More risk is incurred as you move from live to dressed to grid based procurement
What are some ways you can add value to primary beef operations?
- Genotypic and Managerial Influence on Composition
- Cutting Style
- Harvest Floor practices
- Feeding
- Plant practices
- Yield optimization
How has cutting style changed to match consumer/ distributor preferance?
Cutting for less fat
How can the harvest floor influence price and value?
Remove more fat while the carcass is hot (hot fat trimming)
* Saves money in terms of water and energy use
Denaturing of proteins (turning it brown) –> Exposed to a heat wash to get rid of bacteria
* Minimize/ optimize the heat used to limit the amount of protein that is denatured
* Denatured protein has to be removed
Limit the amount of defects
* Bruising
* Removal of fat when removing the hide
What influence does feeding have on carcass value?
What defect has a considerable impact on the price of a carcass?
Liver abcess
* Liver abcesses can adhere to the skirt (diaphram) which has huge value when dressed
What is the relationship between chilling the carcass and the Quality Grade?
The faster the carcass is chilled, the higher it grades
* Deep round temperature (harder to chill here) –> Adequate measure of internal temperature
* 24 hours is the ideal time frame for the carcass to reach its end temperature
Chilling minimized shrinkage of the carcass
* ~75% of muscle is water
What two areas of the carcass retain water?
- Brisket
- Belly (navel)
T/F: A good amount of muscle is used to make ground beef
True
What are the influences on trim value?
- Valuation: Trim value is not a linear relationship between price relative to lean point
- Composition: Carcass composition influences trim value and plant yield
- Yield Grade: Does not accurately account for differences in trim value
How are cattle first sorted?
Based on Quality Grade
* Prime
* Choice
* Select
How are cattle sorted after Quality Grade?
Based on size
* Heavy and Light
Where is the bottleneck in commercial packing?
Distribution
