Survey of transportation procedures, management practices, and health assessment related to quality, quantity, and value for market beef and dairy cows and bulls1

Abstract

This survey consisted of data collected from 23 beef harvest plants to document transportation procedures, management practices, and health assessments of market beef and dairy cows and bulls (about n ≅ 7,000 animals). Gooseneck/bumper-pulled trailers were used more often to transport dairy cattle than beef cattle to market whereas tractor-trailers were used more often to transport beef cattle than dairy cattle. All loads (n = 103) met the American Meat Institute Foundation guidelines for spacing. Loads where more than 3% of the cattle slipped during unloading were observed in 27.3% of beef loads and 29.0% of the dairy loads. Beef loads had numerically greater usage of electrical prods (32.4%) versus dairy loads (15.4%) during unloading and were more likely to have a variety of driving aids used more aggressively on them. Fewer cattle had horns, brands, and mud/manure contamination on hides than in the previous survey in 1999. The predominant hide color for beef cows was black (44.2%) whereas the predominant color for dairy cows was the Holstein pattern (92.9%). Fewer cattle displayed evidence of bovine ocular neoplasia (2.9%) than in previous surveys in 1994 (8.5%) and 1999 (4.3%). Knots on live cattle were found less in the round (0.5%) and more in the shoulder region (4.6%) than in 1999 (1.4% and 0.4%, respectively). Dairy cows were more frequently lame in 2007 (48.7%) than 1999 (39.2%) whereas beef cows had numerically less lameness (16.3% vs. 26.6%, respectively). Most beef cows (62.3%) and dairy cows (68.9%) received midpoint body condition scores (3, 4, and 5 for beef; 2 and 3 for dairy). Beef cows had higher numerical percentages of no defects present (72.0%) versus dairy cows (63.0%) when evaluated for a variety of reproductive, health, or management conditions. Continued improvements in several key factors related to transportation, management, and health were observed in this survey, which could result in increased value in market beef and dairy cows and bulls.

Review: Overview of factors affecting productive lifespan of dairy cows

“…Gröhn et al (1998) found that mastitis was the disease that most influenced culling in dairy herds. Studies with data from slaughterhouses reported that between 3% and 9% of dairy culled cows had mastitis, although that may not have been the reported reason for culling (Nicholson et al, 2013). Cows with subclinical mastitis produce less milk and have elevated somatic cell counts (SCC).…”

Compliance of large feedyards in the northern high plains with the Beef Quality Assurance Feedyard Assessment

“…Numeric scoring of cattle handling is an essential component of many cattle handling and transport assessment programs used to objectively monitor quality of handling (Edge et al, 2005;Grandin, 2010;Nicholson et al, 2013). Numeric scoring of specific cattle handling categories for monitoring welfare in commercial production first gained substantial traction when guidelines were written and subsequently audited routinely in slaughter plants (Grandin, 1997(Grandin, , 2006USDA-FSIS, 2009).…”

Transport Fitness of Cull Sows and Boars: A Comparison of Different Guidelines on Fitness for Transport

“…There are many factors that can affect animal welfare during transport such as temperature, stocking density, and animal condition [43,44,45,46,47]. For sows and boars, research is needed to determine how the animal’s condition before loading interacts with distance travelled, road conditions (smooth vs. rough), temperature, and other factors.…”

“…The author recommends doing a survey at slaughter plants that processes sows and boars to determine the condition of incoming animals. It should use the same methods as the slaughter surveys that have been conducted for cull dairy and beef cows [44]. Some boars are traveling long distances to a single North American slaughter facility.…”