Livestock stewardship

Abstract

The definition of stewardship from Webster's dictionary is "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care". As livestock stewards, we have a responsibility to manage and utilize the resource of cull animals. Cattle culled from beef and dairy herds fill an important role in meeting the nutritional needs of consumers. Currently the US population consumes approximately 60 lb (27 .2 kg) of beef per person each year. Of this, nearly 50% is consumed as ground beef, and one of the primary uses of cull cattle is the production of ground beef. Based on cow-calf budgets the estimate of the income contribution of cull cows to the gross returns are approximately 15%. With proper care, feeding, and good marketing, there is opportunity to increase the market value of cull cows through weight gain, and a change in the grading category to meet the high standards of our food production system, and to provide a more acceptable product to our consumers.