Montana Beef Quality Assurance Certification Course

• Tutorial Main
• Introduction
  • Education Team
  • Intro to BQA
  • BQA History / Nat. Audits
  • 2005 Nat. Audit
  • Top 10 Industry Goals
  • Defining Quality Beef / Cattle Care
• Regional Curriculum
• Record Keeping
  • Effective Record Keeping
  • Information Recorded
• Care & Handling
  • Producer Attitude
  • Animal Behavior
  • Facilities & Transportation
  • Nutrition
• Feed & Additives
  • Feed
  • Additives
  • Handling / Monitoring
• Animal Health
  • Vaccines
  • Injections
  • Needles
  • Implants
  • Parasite Control
  • Antimicrobials
• Processing
  • Vaccinations
  • Dehorning & Castration
  • Identification
  • Weaning
• Carcass Quality
  • Quality Grade
  • Yield Grade
  • Other Quality Issues
• Marketing
  • Source & Age Verificiation
  • Market Timing
  • Cow Marketing
  • Feeder Calf Grades
  • Shrink
• Breeding & Genetics
  • Uniformity & Consistency
  • EPDs
  • Crossbreeding
• Biosecurity Basics
  • Disease Control
  • Learning Tough Lessons
  • Attention to Zoonotics
  • Agroterrorism
• Certification Process
• MT BQA Directives
• BQA Code
• Certification Exam

Funded, in part, by beef and veal producers and importers through their $1-per-head check off through the Cattlemen's Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Carcass Quality

Birdshot/Buckshot in Meat

Cattle producers tend to point their fingers at hunters with regards to this problem. However, there are producers that sometimes use shotguns/scatter guns to gather unruly cattle.

Regardless of who is at fault, this defect should be prevented with education about the consequences. Other means of animal control and capture can be used. To ensure that foreign objects are not found in carcasses, never use a shotgun to gather cattle.

Lead birdshot/buckshot cannot be detected by metal detection devices used in packing and processing facilities. Furthermore, lead is considered an adulterant by the Food and Drug Administration.

If shot is detected during ground beef production, the entire lot of ground beef must be condemned. In large slaughter and processing plants, this can be several thousand pounds in one batch!

In the 1994 audit of non–fed beef cattle (cull cows and bulls), one processor commented that his company lost a total of 100,000 lbs. of ground beef in a six–week period due to the presence of lead shot.

Dark Cutters

The 2000 NBQA reported that dark–cutting beef carcasses (dark cutters) result in a loss of $5.43 per beef animal harvested in the U.S.

Dark cutters result from pre–harvest stress, which depletes muscle glycogen storage. Without sufficient glycogen in the carcass, lactic acid cannot be produced after death to reduce the pH of the meat. The result is lean meat that is dark, firm, and dry. Weather, growth promotants, genetics, disposition, and handling practices before harvest all play a role in causing dark cutters.

Reducing Dark Cutter Losses

Implants — Data from Colorado State University indicate that cattle tend to have a lower incidence of dark cutters per pen when the time from reimplantation to harvest was longer than 100 days.

Environment — The occurrence of dark cutting beef is highest during very cold weather combined with precipitation. This increases the rate of body heat loss and elicits shivering. The incidence of dark cutters is also high in hot weather or when large fluctuations in temperature occur over short periods of time.

Mixing Different Groups of Cattle — Don’t mix strange animals. Fighting to establish a new social order 24–48 hours prior to slaughter can increase the incidence of dark cutters. Mixing bulls can cause dark cutters within 90 minutes.

Crowding — Crowding can increase the incidence of dark cutters.

Genetics — Temperament appears to be inherited. Producers are encouraged to add disposition as a selection criteria.

Feedlots — Cattle that are "start–up" cattle to be processed at the beginning of the week can be expected to have more dark cutters because they may have more time to stand around than other sets of cattle brought in during the week.

Carcass Bruises

Bruising rates are often monitored at the packing plant. Bruising costs the beef industry $22 million annually in carcass trim at the time of processing. The most common cause of bruising is a hard bump against a protruding object or horns. Rough, careless handling causes more than 50% of all bruises.

Recommended practices to help reduce bruising:

Horns — Groups of horned cattle have more bruises than polled cattle; however, tipping will not reduce bruising. Dehorning of cattle (manual or genetic) is recommended.

Gates — A common cause of loin bruises is throwing a gate into the side of an animal.

Protruding Objects — Broken boards, nails and exposed bolts should be eliminated. Check facilities by looking for shiny, rubbed spots or tufts of hair.

Fencing — Planks, sheet metal or other fencing materials should be installed on the side of posts toward the cattle. If animals are being handled on both sides of the fence, install a belly rail to prevent them from catching hips on the posts. The area from 28 inches to 52 inches from the floor is the hazard zone.

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Copyright © 2006, Montana Beef Quality Assurance