Beef Cattle

• Cattle


  The word "cattle" was used at one time to mean all domestic species. Derived from the Latin word "Capitale" meaning wealth or property. Today the word is only used in relation to family Bovidae, which includes cattle, bison, and water buffalo
• Beef cattle


  • A rugged, adaptable, domestic species that can be managed extensively to harvest grass at low costs almost anywhere. Cattle are ruminants that convert grass and other food we cannot into valuable resources such as meat, milk, wool, and fiber
• Ruminants


  Distributed across the globe, including domestic species like cows, sheep, and goats. They have a diet high in fiber and low in protein and fat, and have functional and anatomical adaptations of the digestive tract to exploit fibrous feed resources through the use of the rumen microbiome
• Ruminants


  • Cows, sheep, goats
• Ruminant stomach


  Ruminants have four "stomachs": reticulum, rumen, omasum, and abomasum
• Reticulum


  • Honeycomb lining, no enzymatic secretion, acts as a "catcher's mitt"
• Rumen


  • No oxygen, constant temperature of 39°C, constant mixing, breaks down cellulose, home to the rumen microbiome, acts as a "fermentation vat"
• Rumen fermentation


  Produces volatile fatty acids (acetate, propionate, butyrate) that ruminants use as an energy source
• Omasum


  • Acts as a "filter", absorbs water, continual mechanical process like a book
• Abomasum


  • Similar to the stomach of non-ruminants, sometimes referred to as the "true stomach", secretes hydrochloric acid and enzymes for protein digestion
• The ruminant stomach of a calf
• Feeds we can feed cattle besides grasses and grain


  • Tortillas, ice cream, donuts, potatoes, potato by-products, bread
• It is important to balance the ration to ensure the animal is meeting all of its nutritional requirements. A cow cannot meet all of her requirements on just ice cream
• Bovine


  An animal of the cattle group, including buffaloes and bison
• Cow


  A sexually mature female, usually one that has produced a calf
• Heifer


  A young female (under two years typically) that has not birthed a calf
• Calving


  Giving birth to a calf
• Calf


  A young male or female under the age of one year
• Bull


  A male; term is usually used with animals of breeding age
• Steer


  A castrated male that was castrated early in life (typically before puberty)
• Bullocks


  In the US: A young bull, typically less than 20 months of age. In Europe: An old steer
• What is a bull calf?
• What is a steer calf?
• What is a heifer calf?
• US Beef Industry


  • Very segmented, with feedlots, backgrounding, harvest, and cow-calf producers
• The beef industry is the single largest money generating commodity in all of agricultural in the United States, with $73 Billion in cash receipts (2021). The US is the largest producer of beef, with the average consumer consuming 57.2 pounds of beef per year. There are 99 Million head of Cattle in the US (Including Calves; 2022)
• Globally there are roughly 1 Billion head of beef cattle, with the countries having the most being India (306 Million), Brazil (253 Million), China, United States, European Union, and Argentina
• Historical Beef Inventory (US)
• States with the most cattle
• States with the most cattle

  • Texas (12.7 Million)
  • Nebraska (6.8 Million)
  • Kansas (6.5 Million)
  • California (5.2 Million)
  • 42. Hawai′i (144,000)
  • Oklahoma (5.2 Million)
• Hawai′i Agricultural Commodities (2022)


  • Seed Crops ($114 Million)
  • Macadamia Nuts ($33 Million)
  • Coffee ($59 Million)
  • Cattle ($60 Million)
  • Algae ($45 Million)
  • Basil ($31 Million)
• State Inventory (2022): 144,000 Cattle (Including Calves) in Hawai′i. Annual state demand of beef: 81.2 million pounds. Tourist demand: 13.9 million pounds. Local production of beef: 7.4 million pounds. Approximately 80% of calves are shipped to the mainland
• History of Cattle in Hawaii
• Breed Revolution


  Shift to grain feeding due to concern with cattle getting too fat in the feedlot. Calves that fattened easily on grass got too fat on grain and grew slowly, so the industry felt they were not optimizing the finishing phase
• Frame size


  A measurement taken at the hip, essentially how tall an animal is
• Frame size

  • 1985 Champion Angus Steer, 2019 World's Highest Selling Bull ($1.5 Million), 1961 Champion Shorthorn Bull
• Horned and polled cattle


  Polled cattle became more in demand
• Horned and polled cattle

  • Horned, dehorned, polled, scurred
• Bos taurus


  • Early maturing, superior carcass traits
• Bos indicus


  • Adapted to higher temperature, nutritional stress