More Individual Attention

Frank Winters is manager of Flint Rock Feeders in Gruver, TX, a 15,000-head capacity yard and one of 67 CAB-licensed yards nationwide. He says the capability for more individual attention may be the smaller yards' secret.

“A smaller operation may be able to pay closer attention to individual pens than a much larger operation. We can go to the individual animal, not just the individual customer,” he says.

Flint Rock receives cattle from across Texas, west to Arizona, and east all the way to Virginia. Winters admits his yard receives a lot of CAB-type cattle.

“My average for cattle that meet CAB certification was 16.1% for 2006,” he says, noting that figure was slightly above the national average and much higher than the 9.9% average for Texas.

Natural cattle fed for Laura's Lean Beef also perform well, as do cattle fed for several other grids. He credits his yard's small size, which typically boasts a ratio of one worker/1,000 head on feed.

McCollum says Flint Rock is an example of a small yard that may be more specialized than larger yards in the southern High Plains that wind up feeding huge numbers of cattle from the Deep South and South Texas.

“High Plains yards of less than 20,000-head capacity are relatively low compared to northern states,” McCollum says. “Northern yards likely receive more local cattle, or cattle from states like Wyoming or North or South Dakota, which often grade better than southern cattle. You can't just say the smaller yards have better QG numbers because they're small.”

His assumptions of yard location and cattle types jibe with the thoughts of CAB and its measurement of yard size vs. percent Choice and CAB acceptance.

“The feedyards with less than 20,000-head capacity are located in Iowa and Nebraska and tend to focus on higher-quality northern cattle,” says CAB's McCully. “The larger yards are often located in Kansas and Texas and typically aim to upgrade southern cattle.”

The Steam Flake Factor

Corah says the fact steam-flaked grain can have a negative impact on marbling could be a factor in larger yards' lower QG numbers.

“Most larger feedlots use steam-flaked grain,” says Corah, pointing to a 1999 Oklahoma State University (OSU) research review. That study showed steam flaking corn, rather than dry rolling, can drop a carcass from a Small marbling score of 524 points, to a Slight marbling score of 482 on a 1,000-point scale.

“Feeding steam-flaked corn can lead to external fat deposition instead of marbling,” Corah says. “This practice is pretty common in yards greater than 20,000 head. In yards under 5,000 head, it's almost unheard of.”

Many will argue that while marbling score may be lower, overall performance of cattle on a steam-flaked ration is better. In a CAB-cited study, cattle on a steam-flaked grain ration had an average daily gain of 3.48 lbs./day, compared to 3.12 for dry rolled, and 3.15 for whole grain.

In addition, conversion was 5.43 lbs. of feed/lb. of gain for steam-flaked, compared to a 6.3:1 ratio for dry-rolled and whole corn. The ribeye area of animals on the steam-flaked ration was 13.1 sq. in., compared to 12.6 for cattle on a dry-rolled ration, and 12.3 for the whole-grain ration.

Spencer Swingle, nutritionist for Cactus Feeders in Amarillo, the nation's largest cattle feeding company, says steam-flaked grain is higher in energy than dry-rolled.

“There's a 12-15% improvement in energy from steam-flaked corn, and improvement in the feeding value is important,” he says. “If there's a QG impact from steam-flaking, it's a very small one. Under controlled circumstances, the odds of it being a major factor are very small.”

McCully says the impact of steam flaking on marbling isn't fully understood, and the yield grade (YG) change may be due to less ruminal escape of dietary starch.

“With increased daily gains achieved through steam flaking, days on feed are reduced,” he says. “That could also reduce marbling."