05/15/08 2007 Market Cow Audit

The 2007 National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality audit was completed in September of 2007 and the results indicate cattle producers are doing a better job merchandizing cull cows and bulls. This is very relevant with six to eight million cows sent to packing plants each year. These market cows and bulls are only culls when compared to other cattle in production herds; they are not considered culls as far as meat producers. Meat products supplied by this cattle group include hamburger, specialty sandwiches, jerky, and even chicken-fried steaks. An article by Larry Stalcup in Beef magazine gave all the comparisons of the 1994 and 1999 audits to the 2007 audit. The audit was conducted by specialists from seven universities as they monitored 23 meatpacking facilities across the nation. Believe me, this was a complete audit collecting data on injection-site blemishes, lameness, carcass weights, muscle score, body condition score, hide color, length of haul to packing facilities, hauling vehicle types, unloading procedures, brands and bruises. That's not even the complete list. Improvements over previous audits showed 26 percent less bruising, and fewer injection-site blemishes. Producer improvement in just those two items increase economic worth of the cattle. I'm Jeff Keane.