ALL
CONTINENTALS ARE
NOT CREATED EQUAL...
Limousin Produce More Retail Product
Due to Advantages in Muscle,
Leaness and Muscle to Bone Ratio
|
Table 1. Carcass and yield parameters for
close-trimmed ( .3" ) retail product |
|||||
|
Breed Group |
Live Weight(lbs.) |
Carcass Weight (lbs.) |
Dressing |
Percent |
Pounds of |
|
Hereford |
1,115 |
673 |
60.3 |
66.0 |
444 |
|
Angus |
1,133 |
695 |
61.3 |
67.1 |
466 |
|
Gelbvieh |
1,247 |
748 |
59.9 |
74.2 |
555 |
|
Simmental |
1,278 |
766 |
59.8 |
72.8 |
557 |
|
Charolais |
1,261 |
766 |
60.7 |
73.2 |
560 |
|
Limousin |
1,142 |
726 |
63.4 |
76.5 |
555 |
The importance of Dressing Percent and Retail Yield becomes dramatic when you consider:
 | Limousin cattle with approximately the same live weight as Angus and Hereford produced approximately 100 lbs. mor close-trimmed retail product. |
| When contrasted with Gelbvieh, Simmental and Charolais, Limousin weighing 100 to 130 lbs. less live weight produced the same quantity of retail product. |
|
Table 2. Growth and efficiency when fed 207
days |
|||||||
|
Breed Group |
Initial |
Slaugter |
ADG |
*Mcal of Energy |
*Mcal of Energy |
Live Gain |
Close-Trimmed |
|
Hereford |
516 |
1,127 |
2.95 |
5128 |
1353 |
54 |
38 |
|
Angus |
571 |
1,164 |
2.86 |
5319 |
1403 |
50 |
38 |
|
Gelbvieh |
662 |
1,270 |
2.94 |
5697 |
1517 |
48 |
42 |
|
Simmental |
635 |
1,294 |
3.20 |
5876 |
1523 |
51 |
41 |
|
Charolais |
635 |
1,283 |
3.13 |
5632 |
1513 |
52 |
43 |
|
Limousin |
569 |
1,151 |
2.80 |
4870 |
1394 |
54 |
49 |
|
*Mcal=megacalorie |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MARC 1994 (JAS 72:1152)
We often hear from cattle feeders that Limousin cattle do not consume as much per day or gain as rapidly as other Continentals. These data support those observations, however:
| When
efficiency of gain is measured as Mcal of energy per unit of live gain,
Limousin cattle excel Gelbvieh, Simmental and Charolais by 11.1%, 5.5% and 3.7% respectively. |
| When
efficiency of gain is measured on a close-trimmed retail product basis,
Limousin advantages become even greater. Comparative advantages in inherent efficiency, dressing percent and retail yield combine to result in advantages of 22.4%, 22.4%, 14.2%, 16.3% and 12.2% over Hereford, Angus, Gelbvieh, Simmental and Charolais respectively. |
Limousin... Muscle Into Profit