If you’ve eaten a nicely marbled porterhouse or a tender filet mignon lately, you probably reveled in its delicacy. But, did you know those cuts of meat don’t naturally come tenderized or marbled?
Producers work hard to select for the genes to yield those top-end cuts.
It’s a beef industry practice that’s on the agenda at the “Applied Reproductive Strategies for Beef Cattle” conference in Boise.
John Hall is a professor and specialist in beef cattle reproduction at the University of Idaho. He says the conference is a big deal because it’s bringing “the top individuals in beef reproduction from across the nation” together.
The conference will touch on the genetic science behind producing high quality meat. It will also focus on increasing reproductive efficiency.
And more calves born to a herd means bigger benefits to the producer.
…especially as red meat prices remain high and a looming surge in beef prices resulting from a historic drought in Texas.
Biologists will present research regarding artificial insemination in cattle, but they will also talk about estrus synchronization. If all the cows in a herd are in heat at the same time, artificial insemination can save time and make the calving process a little easier.
“Now, those calves will be born in about a two week period if they’re all breed on a single day and so it makes management of the herd and getting vaccinations in calves and taking care of the calves a little easier,” says Hall.
That means beef producers have a narrower window to overlook problems that might occur during calving. That’s good news for an industry that was valued at over 2 billion dollars last year in Idaho.