REGINA – For the first time at Canadian Western Agribition, the steer carcass competition has been won with an animal that graded Prime.
Rancher Doug Norris selected the late-born, white calf late last fall.
“He was a bit small because of his age, but he had all the right stuff. So keeping him back from being shipped seemed like the right thing to do,” said the Oyen, Alta., cattle producer.
After weaning, the three-quarters Charolais calf was kept on a hay ration throughout the winter.
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“In May, we put him onto a barley ration and then just stepped it up as he grew,” said Norris.
“We use French or nearly fully French bulls to cut the air out from under the Charolais. We don’t want them so tall anymore and this guy was just about right when it came to height.”
The Charolais carcass scored well against the mainly Limousin competition. Of the 40 steer carcass entries, 27 were Limousin or Limousin cross animals, with three of the top four being Limousin.
The winning animal weighed 1,288 pounds and dressed at 59.16 percent for a carcass yield of 762 lb., making it the smallest of the top five with an average rate of yield.
“We got excellent marbling. That is what set him apart from the competition, because there were some awfully good looking animals there,” said Norris.
The winner’s loin eye measured 94 sq. centimetres and carried five millimetres of fat, but the marbling score of 25 out of 25 points set the animal apart from the competition.
The nearest competitors on the marbling score were an Angus and Limousin that placed 36th and 32nd respectively.
Second and third placed animals were Limousin from the Colin Barber farm at Balcarres, Sask. Andy Rock and Stan Skeels of Rimbey, Alta., owned the fourth place Limo and in fifth was a Belgian Blue cross entered by David and Les Sparks’ Sparky Blues of Zealandia, Sask.
The Sparks’ Belgian Blue-Charolais cross carcass entry in 2004 ended a 28-year string of Agribition carcass competition wins by the Limousin breed.
Norris said the carcass competition is where he feels the commercial industry’s fortunes lie.
“Commercial calves aren’t being bought for what is on the outside. It’s what’s under the hide that matters. Black, white, red doesn’t matter as much as the right combination of traits. Producers need to get feedback from all through the supply chain if we are going make the right genetics choices. The better our choices, the more money the whole industry makes,” he said.
