Survey of quality defects in market beef and dairy cows and bulls sold through livestock auction markets in the Western United States: I. Incidence rates1

Abstract

A survey was conducted to quantify incidence of Beef Quality Assurance (BQA)-related defects in market beef and dairy cows and bulls selling at auction during 2 seasons in 2008. Twenty-three BQA-related traits were evaluated by 9 trained personnel during sales at 10 livestock auction markets in Idaho (n = 5; beef and dairy), California, (n = 4; dairy only), and Utah (n = 1; beef and dairy). Overall, 18,949 unique lots (8,213 beef cows, 1,036 beef bulls, 9,177 dairy cows, and 523 dairy bulls,) consisting of 23,479 animals (9,299 beef cows, 1,091 beef bulls, 12,429 dairy cows, and 660 dairy bulls) were evaluated during 125 sales (64 spring, 61 fall) for dairy and 79 sales (40 spring, 39 fall) for beef. The majority of market beef cows and bulls (60.9 and 71.3%, respectively) were predominantly black-hided, and the Holstein hide pattern was observed in 95.4 and 93.6% of market dairy cows and bulls, respectively. Market cattle weighed 548 ± 103.6 kg (beef cows), 751 ± 176.1 kg (beef bulls), 658 ± 129.7 kg (dairy cows), and 731 ± 150.8 kg (dairy bulls). Most beef cows (79.6%) weighed 455 to 726 kg, and most beef bulls (73.8%) weighed 545 to 954 kg, respectively. Among market beef cattle, 16.0% of cows and 14.5% of bulls weighed less than 455 and 545 kg, respectively, and 63.7% of dairy cows and 81.5% of dairy bulls weighed 545 to 817 kg or 545 to 954 kg, respectively. However, 19.5% of dairy cows and 13.1% of dairy bulls weighed less than 545 kg. Mean BCS for beef cattle (9-point scale) was 4.7 ± 1.2 (cows) and 5.3 ± 0.9 (bulls), and for dairy cattle (5-point scale) was 2.6 ± 0.8 (cows) and 2.9 ± 0.6 (bulls). Some 16.5% of beef cows and 4.1% of beef bulls had a BCS of 1 to 3, whereas 34.8% of dairy cows and 10.4% of dairy bulls had a BCS of 2 or less. Emaciation (beef BCS = 1, dairy BCS = 1.0) or near-emaciation (beef BCS = 2, dairy BCS = 1.5) was observed in 13.3% of dairy cows and 3.9% of beef cows. Among beef cattle, 15.1% of cows and 15.4% of bulls were considered lame. In contrast, 44.7% of dairy cows and 26.1% of dairy bulls were lame. Ocular neoplasia (cancer eye) was observed in only 0.6% of beef cows, 0.3% of beef bulls, 0.3% of dairy cows, and 0.0% of dairy bulls. However, among animals with ocular neoplasia, it was cancerous in 34.4% of beef bulls, 48.0% of dairy cows, and 73.3% of beef cows. In conclusion, numerous quality defects are present in market beef and dairy cattle selling at auction in the Western United States, which could influence their value at auction.

Dairy cow handling facilities and the perception of Beef Quality Assurance on Colorado dairies

“…One explanation as to why most dairy producers are not concerned about DBQA is the lack of an apparent incentive for them to follow the standards laid out by the BQA program. The proportion of income derived from cull cows reported by Colorado dairies (4.6%) is only slightly higher than the national average of 4% previously reported by Ahola et al (2011). When accounting for such a small amount of income derived from the sale of cull cows, there is little motivation for dairy producers to put more emphasis on DBQA.…”

“…To accomplish this, however, producers must provide better quality carcasses with fewer defects that result in fewer discounts. As an increasing percentage of each dairy cow carcass is being fabricated into whole muscle and higher priced cuts, injection site blemishes have historically prevented many dairy farmers from benefiting from this improved price (Ahola, 2010;Ahola et al, 2011). Dairy cows received $2.92 (per 45.5 kg of BW) less at auction than beef cows, $12.87 less than dairy bulls, and $14.07 less than beef bulls (Ahola et al, 2011), which could be attributed to the fact that dairy cows are selected more often for carcass examination than the other classes of cattle.…”

“…As an increasing percentage of each dairy cow carcass is being fabricated into whole muscle and higher priced cuts, injection site blemishes have historically prevented many dairy farmers from benefiting from this improved price (Ahola, 2010;Ahola et al, 2011). Dairy cows received $2.92 (per 45.5 kg of BW) less at auction than beef cows, $12.87 less than dairy bulls, and $14.07 less than beef bulls (Ahola et al, 2011), which could be attributed to the fact that dairy cows are selected more often for carcass examination than the other classes of cattle. The main reasons a carcass will be selected for examination are signs that the entire carcass, or a part of it, is not fit for human consumption (USDA-FSIS, 2013), and may include evidence of disease, injection-site lesions, or surgical scars.…”

“…This logic is in direct disagreement with projections that indicate that injection-site lesions result in an astounding $9,000,000 loss to the beef and dairy industries (Roeber et al, 2002). It has been estimated that quality defects were responsible for a deduction of $68.82 per cow, with injection site blemishes accounting for $11.49 to $13.82 of that loss (Roeber et al, 2001;Tozer et al, 2005;Glaze and Chahine, 2009;Ahola et al, 2011). These findings support the argument that dairy producers would benefit financially if they were to implement and consistently follow a DBQA program on their operations.…”

“…Although the majority of income on a dairy farm is generated from the sale of liquid milk, other sources of income include the sale of cull cows and bulls for slaughter. It has been reported that cull cows and bulls comprise 4% of the income of dairy sales (Ahola et al, 2011). With an average replacement rate of 30 to 35%, cull dairy cows accounted for 10.9% of the beef animals slaughtered in early 2013 .…”