Ultrasound and Wagyu Cattle Boost Small Feedyard’s Profits By: Larry Stalcup Reprinted with permission from Calf News Tenderness pays, even if it means keeping cattle on feed an extra 100-150 days. That’s the Wagyu way of feeding at Morris Stock Farm near Gruver, Texas. And ultrasound data collected on every animal helps identify cattle that will produce a Prime or High Choice carcass demanded by high-end steakhouses – demand that produces a $15-$20/cwt. premium. Joe Morris, his wife Nancy, daughter Brandy, and his sister Sherry, run the 6,000-head feedyard. His father, Vance, started it in 1957. “My dad began custom feeding in 1962,” Morris says. “We’ve never missed a feeding since then and we’ve never been empty. Not many feed-yards can say that.” The operation also includes several thousand farm acres, where wheat and native pasture provide grazing for Morris’s cow-calf and stocker program. When the economy went south in 2009, they looked for a niche to offset the market downturn. Wagyu was the answer. He began working with the Texas Wagyu Association (TWA), which has been a springboard for many producers, small and large. Some, in the weekend-ranchers category, may run four or five animals. Others are all-in with Wagyu bulls on breeds of females, from Angus to Holstein and beyond. Wagyu refers to all Japanese cattle. “Wa” means Japanese or Japanese-style and “gyu” means cattle, says TWA. Wagyu are the cattle made famous by Kobe beef. Known for its extreme marbling and tenderness, Wagyu was not available outside of Japan until recent years. The breed has now established itself in many places around the world, and has strong foothold in Texas. “Wagyu beef has a higher ratio of mono-unsaturated fatty acid to saturated fatty acid, are more tender and tasty, and can improve marbling and quality grade in crosses,” TWA says. “Wagyu bulls are great for calving ease in heifers, with birth weights normally between 40 and 60 pounds.” While custom feeding for others, Morris Stock Farm also produces Wagyu F1 and full-blood animals. “This program has kept us open,” Morris says. “We have 18 pacdvms.com
a niche. I don’t have to compete with Cargill, JBS and others who get breaks on high volume purchases of medicines and other inputs. Last year we received cattle from 35 different producers from the Panhandle, South Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and other states.” Calves typically go on feed at about 500 pounds. “They are all-natural and receive a corn-based ration that includes an alcohol based product, Kobe Tech E,” Morris says. “It has been proven to aid in conversion, weight gain and marbling.” Average daily gain is a little lower than what is typically seen. “We see gains of 2.2 to 2.5 (pounds per day),” Morris says. “Some Angus-cross cattle see 2.8. They will be on feed close to 300 days.” Ultrasound Sorting All cattle are scanned by ultrasound at least twice, usually by Lynn Allen with Cattle Performance Enhancement Co. (CPEC). Ultrasound images with overlays show backfat, marbling and muscle depth (an indicator of ribeye size) measurements using the computer processing procedures developed and patented by John Brethour, one of the founders of CPEC and former Kansas State University meat science researcher. Wade Taylor, DVM, and Tom Noffsinger, DVM, are the other two CPEC owners. “Cattle are first scanned at about 120-140 days on feed,” Allen says. “From that scan, we figure out where they are in marbling. We scan them again in another 80-120 days. From that data, we have a good idea what they’ll do with another 60-90 days on feed.” A Beef Marbling Score (USDA) of 8.0 is Prime. Over 7.0 is near High Choice. If the cattle show Low Choice or below the first scan, they are usually sorted out and fed for normal marketing channels. “They have to be Prime or High Choice because they are going to high-end markets,” Allen says. “With the ultrasound, we know which cattle will be ready to go to those markets.” During a recent scanning session at the Morris yard, one steer topped 1,500 pounds with a BMS of 8.2. With a carcass that will likely push 900 lbs., and a premium of $15-20/ cwt. for Prime, that’s an extra $135-$180 per head.
