Best Beef Cattle Breeds

Identifying the Best Beef Cattle Breeds

As you are trying to identify the best beef cattle breeds you should keep in mind that research indicates that there is no one breed that can be considered the best for all areas. This is because there are too many variations in climatic conditions, production conditions, and market requirements from one area to another. The old rancher advises that your best beef cattle breeds are the ones that do well in the environment where you plan to operate your beef cattle enterprise. The best recommendation is to locate one or more breeds that do well in the area you plan to raise them in, select one from that group and learn to like it.

Finding the best beef cattle breeds for any area should not be too difficult as there are eighty or more recognized breeds of beef cattle available in the United States. This number may change from time to time because other breeds continue to be imported and crossing existing breeds continuously creates new breeds.

As you look for the best breeds of beef cattle you will also want to keep in mind that a breed is defined and described as a group of animals of common descent that possess distinctive characteristics which distinguish them from other groups within the same species. When so defined and described you will find that these groups will most often be referred to as purebreds. The term purebred comes from the purity and documentation of their ancestry and implies that there should be genetic uniformity of all characteristics.

Here is one of many web pages where you can find several of the breeds that are available.
http://www.beefcattlebreeders.com/breeds-of-cattle.html

Best Beef Cattle Breeds Characteristics

Knowledge of breed characteristics is important to beef producers in purebred and crossbreeding programs. Crossbreeding is considered to be the most efficient means of commercial production, but highly productive purebreds are the backbone of successful commercial crossbreeding programs. Crossbreeding programs use breeds that possess complimentary characteristics to produce desirable offspring. The major characteristics that are important in beef production include mature body size, milk production, age at puberty, environmental adaptability, rate and efficiency of gain, muscle expression, cutability, and marbling.

The major characteristics differ in relative economic importance, especially when considering different phases of the production system. Reproduction traits such as milk production and age at puberty are the primary concern of a cow-calf producer, while efficiency of gain, rate of gain and carcass traits are most important to stocker and feeder operations. Two characteristics that have a marked effect on most production traits are mature body size and milk production. Other indicators that may be important are muscle expression and age at puberty.

Best Beef Cattle Breeds Mature Body Size

Mature body size varies with every breed and gender. On average, a mature cow will weigh less than a mature bull of a given breed. Mature body size is proportionate to body size at all stages of growth. Larger mature size normally results in (1) heifers being older and/or heavier at puberty, (2) heavier birth weights (often associated with calving difficulty), (3) faster rate of gain, and (4) heavier weaning weights. Larger mature size is also associated with later maturity. Research indicates that increased body size results in higher nutritional requirements to maintain life and physiological functions. As body size increases, milking potential, ease of fleshing, nutrition, and general management considerations become more critical.

If various sizes of cattle are fed for the same length of time, those cattle with a larger mature body size will have faster, more efficient gains, lower marbling, less fat, and improved cutability. However, if various size cattle are fed to similar carcass grades, these differences among cattle of different mature sizes are greatly reduced or eliminated. Smaller cattle and excessively large cattle are currently penalized in commercial markets. Their slaughter weight at acceptable levels of fatness is outside the range desired in the beef industry.

Best Beef Cattle Breeds Milk Production

Milking ability is related to mature size in that larger animals have the inherent ability to consume more feedstuffs that may be used for milk production. This does not mean that all large breeds are heavy milkers or that all small breeds are light milkers. Selection for or against milk production within a certain mature size is an effective tool. Cattle selected only for increased milking ability, without consideration for other factors, tend to increase in body size with some reduction in muscle expression.

The main reason for increasing milk production in a beef cattle operation is to increase the weaning weights of calves. However, there are several reasons why very high milking ability could be undesirable. Heavy milking cows often produce milk at the expense of other body functions. If nutrition is inadequate, heavy milkers may become thin. Research has shown that thin females are less likely to come into heat and are harder to settle than those in good flesh. There is also evidence that heavy milkers may be slow to cycle even when heavily fed. This lengthens the breeding interval and reduces general reproductive efficiency.

Best Beef Cattle Breeds Muscle Expression

As the emphasis on the percentage of lean in slaughter cattle continues to increase, the importance of a breed’s muscularity also increases. Most breeds that are ranked above average in muscle expression are also above average in size. This indicates that there is less of a difference between breeds in muscle-tobone ratio than in body size. There is also little difference between types of cattle in the distribution of muscle (relative percentage of desirable versus undesirable carcass parts).

One concern of beef producers is that muscularity appears to affect reproductive efficiency. Very heavily muscled cattle are associated with calving difficulties, but producers can combat calving problems through selection at breeding. A bull that is large and muscular should be used with caution as a sire, particularly on small to medium size cows.

Best Beef Cattle Breeds Age at Puberty

In cattle, age at puberty is related to body size, milking potential, genetic classification, and environment factors. Smaller cattle and cattle with higher milk yield have been known to mature earlier. Cattle exposed to harsh environmental conditions, whose nutritional requirements are not being met, reach puberty later. Age at puberty is important because cattle that reach puberty at an earlier age conceive at an earlier age. These cattle have the potential to have a longer productive life, which is economically important to cattle producers.

Best Beef Cattle Breeds Cutability and Marbling

Cutability is the percentage of lean in a slaughter animal and is directly affected by an animal’s muscle expression. Cutability is evaluated in slaughter cattle as an USDA Yield Grade and is dependent upon the amount of fat, muscle, and bone. The relative amount of fat varies greatly in cattle, while the amount of bone is least variable. When comparing slaughter animals, it is assumed that similar breeds and genetic types have similar nutrition levels, but in all probability they do not. A producer can directly affect or alter cutability through nutrition.

Marbling, or intramuscular fat, is often referred to as “taste fat.” Marbling is used to determine USDA Quality Grades, which are indicators of palatability. Marbling increases with age until cattle reach physiological maturity, which normally occurs prior to thirty months of age. Cattle that are early maturing and have high milk yields are usually high in marbling. Bos indicus and heavily muscled, low milking types are normally low in marbling.