Marbling

Marbling

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
The importance of marbling. James Henderson of the Bradley 3 Ranch in Texas after a beef producers meeting knows what kind of cattle his customers need. In the big cattle country where they operate - cows must be able to travel for their food, defend their calves against predators and produce offspring that are in demand. Those are the basics that seem reasonably obvious but when it comes to what his customers demand, it isn’t just good, healthy cows, it is good healthy cows that have marbling. “We have been in the meat business and we have dealt with consumers and we understand that marbling is a very important trait to the consumer. So looking at it from the meat side, that is important but if you look at it from the maternal side we think it is even more important because there is nothing that makes a cowman more money than a cow that has a calf and stays in the herd and reproduces on an efficient basis and so if you can keep those two things going, and marbling helps do that, that is what we think makes money.” But Henderson also has a surprising take on marbling. “ I have said numerous times that marbling may be a more important reproductive trait, maternal trait, then carcass trait and I say that because it is a ready source of energy. The cow can store it up really quickly and can use it really quickly when she needs to.”
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