Shorthorns - the Carcass Breed! A Dream or Reality?
by Grant Alexander

Over the past few years we have seen some very excellent feeding trials done with Shorthorn and Shorthorn cross cattle. The feeding trials started by the Alberta Shorthorn Association, a couple of years ago, really started turning some heads in the feeding industry. Several more tests have produced similar results. In this article, two more of these feeding trials will be reviewed... and if these don't convince you that we are onto something very exciting, you better read the figures again.

Last fall, Jim and Louise Scafe of Misty Hills Shorthorns, Dawson Creek, BC sent 50 straight bred Shorthorn steers to be fed out at Western Feedlots, Strathmore, AB. The steers were weighed on arrival and Western offered the Scafes the opportunity to gather carcass data on their steers. The feedlot would buy the steers from them, and if they agreed to take a one cent discount on the agreed price, they would split any premiums 50:50 with them, and supply all carcass information that was gathered. Jim and Louise agreed to this simply because they were very interested in gathering as much carcass data on their cattle as possible.

This turned out to be a very good decision as this set of steers received the highest premium Western Feedlots ever received from a group of steers. The steer were all slaughtered in one group at Cargill, High River, AB on June 27, 2001. When the grading results were received, there were a lot of people in the feeding and packing industries who were looking at these results and they were impressed. This group of steers received premiums that averaged $136.85 per head. This, along with a $5.00 hide bonus, resulted in the Scafes getting an extra $73.47 per head. The one cent discount they agreed to when the steers were delivered amounted to less than $6.00 per head.

Misty Hills Steers Rail Grade Results
Table 1

Carcass Grade Results from 50 steers
	# of head	%
A1	36	72
A2	12	24
A3	2	4

Table 2

Marbling Grades on 50 Misty Hills Steers
	# of head	%
Prime	1	2
AAA	39	78
AA	10	20

Table 3

Cargill Plant Returns
Owner (ST)	Western Feedlot Ltd.
WFL Lot Number	00.1.3046
Feedlot	Strathmore
Kill Date	27-June-01
Cattle	Type FSC
Number of Head	49
Cargill Lot	2731
Hot Weight	38,658 789
Live Weight	64,379 1,314
Yield %	60.0%
Cargill Base Yield	60.23%
Total Net $	$71,367.76
Live/Rail Price	$110.86 $184.61
Cargill Base Price	$99.93
Grid Premium 10.93

Total Premium paid by Cargill
$136.85/head, plus $10/head hide bonus

Misty Hills share of premium
$68.47/head, plus $5/head hide bonus

Why do you think that the feedlots and packers were so impressed with the results? Well, take your calculator and so some math. Just think what these figures would represent if they had several thousand or even several hundred animals that obtained similar results. It is results like this that are changing the industries attitude about Shorthorn cattle. If this breed can continue to produce results like this on a consistent basis, it won't be long before Shorthorn influenced cattle will achieve premiums in the auction markets across this country. It has already started to happen!

Another impressive set of results were obtained from a group of 94 steers that were fed at Poundmaker Agriventures Ltd., Lanigan, Saskatchewan. These steers came from eight Saskatchewan producers, and they were, in most cases, all the steers that these producers had raised that year. Therefore, there was no selection prior to them going to the feedlot. When this is considered, these results become even more meaningful. These steers performed and graded extremely well.

Take a look at these results and compare them to the industry averages that were obtained from the Canadian Beef Grading Agency.

Days on feed - 147 days
Average starting weight - 750 lbs
Average ending weight - 1339 lbs
Average daily gain - 4.01 lbs/day
Feed conversion - 5.91 lbs of feed/lb of gain

Table 4

Shorthorn steers (94 head)
	Industry Average*
AAA - 48%	43.9%
AA - 50%	49.2%
A - 2%	4.7%
Yield
Grade 1 - 90.4%	61.8%
Grade 2 - 9.6 %	28.1%

* Source - Canadian Beef Grading Agency

If one were to take a look at the results from the top 95% of this group of steers, the results would be even more impressive. The importance of these feeding trials was once again brought home to me while I was at Canadian Western Agribition in November. While walking down an aisle at the show, I happened to meet a man who has had a long and distinguished career in the cattle feeding industry. He stopped me and asked if I had a few moments to visit. What he wanted to tell me was that he thought that the Shorthorn breed was on the verge of seeing a big increase in our popularity. He said that he had been watching our breed for several years and wondered why we had not been promoting the facts about how Shorthorns performed and graded.

It was very good to hear such an influential man in this industry saying such good comments about Shorthorn cattle. He said that the packers were impressed with the results they were seeing from the Shorthorn cattle, but they were not in any position to promote our breed for us, as they really can't start showing breed favouritism, other than through offering premiums
to any cattle who meet the high quality criteria they set. The promotion is up to us as Shorthorn breeders. It is also our responsibility to start identifying Shorthorn genetics that offer superior carcass traits. We must continue to try to improve on our carcass quality, simply because other breeds will be striving to do so.

The Shorthorn breed has been blessed with the genetic ability to achieve high marbled carcasses on less days of feed than many other breeds. Let's use this to our own benefit and strive for constant improvement in these important economic traits, in order that new markets for this great breed of cattle can be developed.

Taken from The Canadian Shorthorn Report, January 2002.

Graph supplied by The Alberta Shorthorn Association and Highland Feeders of Vegreville