Dexter's Did You Know? Genetics

About a month ago, I made an infographic on my Facebook page, MAD Cattle Company, stating that U.S. cattle producers produce 20 percent of the world’s beef with only seven percent of the world’s cattle. My first blog post also talked about this topic.

 

The next day in discussion with my biology teacher, we began to wonder how this could be and how our operations could help make the percent of beef produced by the U.S. even higher.  We came up with only one answer.  Genetics.  We can control what genetics our herds include.  We also looked at what types of cattle third world countries are raising and found that they are still picking for survivability and work while the US ranchers usually select from growth or carcass traits to improve your eating experience and to keep costs low for the consumer.

 

Next, we looked at how our own operations could influence the U.S. gene pool.  Now, some of you might be wondering how genetics from two extremely small operations could influence something so large.  Our answer would be simply to improve our cattle and help provide extremely good replacements to grow the U.S. beef supply.  

Did you know that genetic improvement in one herd is going to eventually affect everyone who buys cattle from them either for slaughter or replacements?  Genetics tend to spread like wildfire especially if they work.  Through artificial insemination, smaller producers can affect even those who buy their cattle for replacements and beyond.  

I assumed the U.S. cattle industry is emphasizing the importance of genetic improvement and selection.  How many more percent of the total beef supply could we control if more people improved their genetic bases and stopped buying and keeping the cheapest animals at the sale barn?  I was surprised at how few people utilized genetic technology such as A.I. (Artificial Insemination) to improve their herd’s genetics. I investigated how few people looked at Expected Progeny Differences (a selection tool that predicts how well an animal could perform) as a serious factor in bull selection and found not many do.  I have begun to wonder how much higher the U.S.’s beef supply would be if individual herds started using the technology already at their fingertips.

U.S. feedlots tend to use more specialized personnel than other countries such as nutritionists who formulate balanced rations based on what is locally available as well as supplements to improve feed efficiency.  I plan to talk more about feeds next time.-  Dexter

Enchilada Lasagna

1/2 cup onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 cup water
1 (10 oz) can tomato soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1.5 cups light cream
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
12 corn tortillas

Saute 1/2 cup onion in butter in skillet.  Add ground beef.  Cook until brown and crumbly.  Stir in flour and chili powder.  Cook five minutes longer.  Add water. Cook until thickened stirring constantly.  Combine soup, cheese, cream, 1/2 cup onion and salt in bowl; mix well.  Slice tortillas into strips.  Layer tortillas, ground beef mixture and soup mixture 1/2 at a time in buttered 9x13 baking dish.  Bake at 325*F for 30 minutes.  Yield:12 servings.

Dexter is my oldest son and is working on a new 4-H project this year.  He is a 16 year old sophomore in high school.  He talks about cattle way too much, enjoys wrestling, likes to eat A LOT and I am making him cook, too.  He is involved in 4-H, FFA, as well as the church and school choirs.  He manages a Facebook page called MAD Cattle Company (Maddix & Dexter...because I wouldn't let them name it DAM Cattle Company ;) )