The carcass connection
1986 at National Beef Packing Plant in Liberal
“It doesn’t cost any more to make a Prime than it does a Select” if you
begin with the right genetics. Stacked breeding works for almost all
traits in cattle, most especially phenotypical traits. And marbling is a
phenotypic trait, we can see it in live cattle with ultrasound technology
and we can see it in the carcass quality at the packing plant.
In 1989, John Brethour, a meat animal research scientist at KSU Beef
Research Center in Hays, picked our herd to help calibrate and advance the development
of his
ultrasound technology. This gave us a bit of a leg up on selecting for
carcass merit, by giving us ultrasound data before it was commercially
available.
Since then we have become one of the leading marbling programs in
the country, having 8 Current Sires in the top 100 of the
breed for Marbling EPD, along with 8 Current Dams,
14 Non Parent Bulls, and 12 Non Parent Cows.
Building Success into your Cow Herd
Buying the best bulls you can
afford is a great tool to move the genetics of your herd forward, but you
cannot forget your cow base. Here at Green Garden we sell bulls that can put
that final finishing polish on your feeder calves, but those bulls are also
ones you can build your herd with. Having a good cow base with high
marbling, moderate sized individuals is half the battle in getting the most
dollar for your calves. The more solid your base, the easier it is to have a
consistent product.
Green Garden does not raise terminal cross bulls, we raise bulls you can
build a herd on that will get you your premiums when you go to town.
The
real advantages come when you retain ownership and get to see the premiums
at the packing plant, and you also get to see them in your own freezer. With
our cattle you can still get premiums if you want to feed them for 60-90
days, instead of the typical 150 days.
Frank Ranches
Hatfield, MO
Quality Grade
# Head
% Grade
Prime
36
86%
Choice/+
6
14%
Choice -
0
0
Select
0
0
Standard
0
0
Total # Head
42
CAB+
42
100%
Average YG - 2.90
| Frank Ranches | Hatfield, MO | |
| Quality Grade | # Head | % Grade |
| Prime | 108 | 74% |
| Choice/+ | 36 | 25% |
| Choice - | 3 | 1% |
| Select | 0 | 0 |
| Standard | 0 | 0 |
| Total # Head | 147 | |
| CAB+ | 144 | 99% |
| Average YG - 3.03 |
| Frank Ranches | Hatfield, MO | |
| Quality Grade | # Head | % Grade |
| Prime | 185 | 89% |
| Choice/+ | 15 | 7% |
| Choice - | 8 | 4% |
| Select | 0 | 0 |
| Standard | 0 | 0 |
| Total # Head | 208 | |
| CAB+ | 200 | 96% |
| Average YG - 3.84 |