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Gains and Grades of Beef Steers in the Gulf Coast Region¹

Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station

Abstract

The Louisiana State Experiment Station established an experiment in 1952 to evaluate and compare the performance of several different breeds of beef cattle and crosses among the breeds. Females from the Angus, Hereford, Brahman, and Brangus breeds were mated to bulls from the Angus, Hereford, Brahman, Brangus, Charolaise, and Shorthorn breeds, resulting in the production of 24 different types of cattle. The experiment included feeding out the steers on a wheat and rye grass pasture with a concentrate supplement for a 168-day period, at which time they were given a slaughter grade and transported to the University's Meat Laboratory where they were slaughtered. The results of feeding 275 steers over a five-year period have shown that steers sired by Shorthorn and Charolaise bulls averaged a greater rate of gain on feed than steers sired by Brahman and Brangus bulls. Steers sired by Hereford and Angus bulls had an average rate of gain that was intermediate between these two groups. The slaughter grades of steers sired by Hereford and Shorthorn bulls were significantly greater than the grades of steers sired by the other four breeds of bulls. Steers sired by the Brangus bulls received slaughter grades which were significantly lower than the grades of all other steers except those sired by the Charolaise bulls. Steers raised by females of the Hereford and Angus breeds showed a considerably greater rate of gain on feed than those raised by Brangus and Brahman females, and also received higher slaughter grades. Ranking of the 24 different types of steers showed that the steers of English and Charolaise breeding gained considerably better on feed than those of predominantly Brahman breeding. However, only when the Brahman breeding exceeded 50% did this appear to influence the ability to gain on feed adversely. The slaughter grades, in general, followed the same pattern as did the rates of gain, the cattle of English breeding receiving higher slaughter grades. However, the Charolaise crosses were all graded lower than would be anticipated from their rates of gain, due the lack of finish of these steers.

Since condition and weight of the calves prior to being put on feed have an influence on rate of gain, weights per day of age at the close of the feeding trials were calculated. There were no significant differences among the weights per day of age of steers sired by Charolaise, Shorthorn, Brahman, or Hereford bulls. The weights per day of age of steers sired by Brangus and Angus bulls were significantly lower than those of the steers sired by the other four breeds of bulls. There were no significant differences among the weights per day of age of the steers raised by the four different breeds of cows.

¹ This work is cooperative with the U. S. Department of Agriculture and is a part of the S-10 Southern Regional Beef Cattle Breeding Project.

² Present address: U.S.D.A., A.R.S., Biometrical Services, Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland.

³ The authors wish to express their appreciation to Walter R. Harvey, Biometrician in charge Livestock Research Staff, Biometrical Services, Beltsville, Maryland, for his advice in the statistical analyses; to E. H. Vernon and the U.S.D.A. for loaning the Brahman-Angus cattle used in this study; and to Mrs. Fred W. Turner of Weslaco, Texas, for supplying several of the Charolaise bulls used in this experiment.