Characterization of Biological Types of Cattle. V. Carcass Wholesale Cut Composition

Abstract

Wholesale cut composition of 1,121 carcasses of steers from mating Hereford and Angus cows to Hereford, Angus, Jersey, South Devon, Limousin, Charolais and Simmental sires was analyzed. Breed and slaughter groups were important sources of variation (P<.01), but breed groups tended to rank the same at each of three slaughter dates. Relative variation within breed and slaughter groups was much higher for fat trim (CV 25.1%) than for retail product or bone (CV 8.7%). Differences among breed groups in wholesale cuts, retail product, bone or fat trim as percentages of side weight were small but significant. Wholesale round and kidney and pelvic fat percentages differed more than other cuts differed; the difference was largest between Jersey crosses and other breed groups. Limousin, Charolais and Simmental crosses had more retail product and less fat trim in most wholesale cuts than other breed groups. Breed group similarity in distribution of total retail product or bone in each wholesale cut was more striking than differences, though some were statistically significant. Distribution of total fat trim by wholesale cuts, particularly external or kidney and pelvic fat, varied more among breed groups than did retail product or bone. Hereford, Angus and Hereford-Angus crosses had distinctly less of their total fat trim in kidney and pelvic fat and more in external fat than did other breed groups. These results suggest that change in proportion of wholesale cuts in carcasses is more likely to result from differences in relative amount and distribution of fat than from differences in muscle and bone.