Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
1/6/00
Contacts:
Daryl Strohbehn, Iowa Beef Center, (515) 294-0847, stroh@iastate.edu
Darrell Busby, Iowa Beef Center, (712) 769-2600, x1busby@exnet.iastate.edu
Tracy S. Petersen, Iowa Beef Center, (515) 294-5672,
tracyp@iastate.edu
Iowa Beef Tenderness and Carcass Evaluation Project Underway
AMES, Iowa -- More than 120 steers are enrolled in the 1999-2000 Iowa Beef Tenderness and Carcass Evaluation Project, according to Daryl Strohbehn, Extension beef specialist with the Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University.
"The Iowa Beef Center is excited to get this project underway," Strohbehn said. "Our main objective is to assist Iowa cattle producers in evaluating and identifying seedstock that produce calves highly desirable in tenderness."
Darrell Busby, ISU Extension field livestock specialist, is coordinating the test procedures for the tenderness project.
"The calves placed on test are all Angus-sired this year, but we hope to get additional breeds for next year," said Busby, who also is a member of the Iowa Beef Center. "The Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity Board of Directors is excited that they were able to coordinate this test and look forward to the results that come out of this critical project."
All of the calves, which were delivered Nov. 30, will be finished and ready for harvest at 12 to 15 months of age. They are being fed at Silver Creek Feeders, owned by Roger and Jill Chambers, Council Bluffs. Following harvest and a 24- to 48-hour chill, all cattle will have a one- or two-rib slice pulled for tenderness evaluation at the ISU Meat Laboratory.
"Using the ISU tenderness evaluation data we will calculate expected progeny differences for tenderness," Strohbehn said. "For the beef industry to make genetic change and improve upon tenderness and consistency, we have to get genetic differences reported and utilized. This project will serve as a very important starting point for this process to begin."
The project is sponsored by the Iowa Beef Center. The Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity Board of Directors is a partner in the project.
For more information about the tenderness project, visit the Iowa Beef Center web page at www.ibc.iastate.edu or contact the Iowa Beef Center at (515) 294-BEEF.
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