National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit - Beef Cattle Edition

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• Publié par: Mofeg
• Nombre de lectures: 41
• Langue: English

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ExecutiveSummaryofthe2007
National Market Cow and Bull
Beef Quality Audit
•Recognizeandoptimizecattlevalue
•Monitorhealth
•Marketcattleinatimelyandappropriatemanner
•Preventqualitydefects
•Beproactivetoensurebeefsafetyandintegrity Beef Cattle EditionExecutiveSummaryofthe2007
National Market Cow and Bull
Beef Quality Audit
Conducted by
TexasA&MUniversity
NorthDakotaStateUniversity
CaliforniaPolytechnicStateUniversity
PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
UniversityofGeorgia
UniversityofFlorida
WestTexasA&MUniversity
®
Coordinated by
NationalCattlemen’sBeefAssociation’s
BeefQualityAssuranceProgram
December2007
NationalMarketCowandBullBeefQualityAuditDo the right thing.
Ultimately, this is a roadmap to optimize beef quality.
Thisdocumentsummarizesanindustry-wideresearch They continue to prefer beef’s flavor to all other
effortthatisuniquetoallofU.S.agriculture. productsinthemarketplacetoday,andthey’llcontinue
Inthesepages,wetalkopenlyaboutthechallenges tosupportourlivelihoodaslongastheyknowwe’re
andopportunitiesourindustryfaces.Wediscussour doing a good job.
weaknesses.And,weexplorewherewe’vebeenand Butit’ssomethingwecannevertakeforgranted.
wherewe’vemadeprogress. About250millionAmericanswilleatbeef–thebeef
Weshareideasonhowwecanworktogether–inour youhelpedproduce–thisweek.
ownway,onourownfarmsandranches–toimprove And,beefproducedfromcowsandbullshasbecome
beefqualityandthestewardshipofcattle. anincreasinglyimportantfooditeminAmerica’s
Since the first beef quality audits were conducted in kitchensandrestaurants.
theearly1990s,cattleproducerslikeyouhavemoved It’s no longer just fast food hamburgers. It’s roasts,
aggressivelytomakebeefbetter. steaks, fajitas and an endless array of innovative,
Yourecognizequalitymatters. flavorful and value-added food items that are available
Youunderstandthenecessityoffoodsafetyto at just about every restaurant, grocery store and eatery
underpinningbeefdemand. inAmerica.
Yourealizebeefproductiondoesn’tendwhenacow “Beefproducersmuststopthinkingofmarketcows
orabullleavesyourfarmorranch,thatit’sreallya andbullsascullsandstartmanaging,monitoring,and
first, critical step in a complicated journey to the dinner marketingthemastheimportantfoodsourcetheyare,”
platesofAmerica. saysDr.BillHenningofPennsylvaniaStateUniversity.
Youalsorecognizehowconsumershavechangedin “Improvedproductionofcullcowsandbullswillhelp
recentyears. keepupwiththeAmericanconsumer’sloveaffairwith
Theyworrymorethaneverbeforeaboutantibioticsand beefwithoutrelyingonimportedleanmeatforusein
disease. theUS.”
Theywanttoknowtheirsteaksorhamburgersare Andultimately,that’swhatthe2007NationalMarket
producedsafelyandhumanely. CowandBullBeefQualityAuditisallabout.Itprovides
Theyscrutinizeabuseormishandlingoflivestocklike areviewofwherewe’vebeen,asnapshotofwhere
neverbefore. wearetoday,andaroadmapforwherewecanbe
Atthesametime,theytrustus,andtheydemonstrate tomorrow.
thistrustbykeepingbeefatthecenteroftheplate.
BeefCattleEdition Background The 2007 Audit
In 1994, the industry conducted its first audit to Researcherscarriedoutthe2007National
developstrategiesandtacticsforimprovingquality MarketCowandBullBeefQualityAuditbetween
andminimizingeconomiclosses. December2006andSeptember2007.
Theauditdeterminedtheindustryfellshortin Theirgoalwastocompareresultstothe1994
ensuringthequalityofitsproductinanumberof and1999audits,determinehowfartheindustry
importantareas.Theseincluded: has come in addressing previously identified quality
Producersdidnotharvestcowsandbullsina problems,whatareasarestillbelowgrade,andwhat
timelyfashion,waitinginsteaduntilthephysical challengesmightlayahead.
conditionofthecattlehaddeteriorated,resulting
innumerousproblemsdowntheproductionline. The audit was comprised of four phases:
Beefanddairycowshadinadequatemusclingat DuringPhaseI,researchersconductedaudits
harvest. inpackingplantstoidentifyqualitydefectsincows
Toomanymarketcowsweredisabledpriorto andbullsinreceivingareasandholdingpens,andin
harvest. their carcasses on harvest floors and in chill coolers.
Toomanymarketcattleandcarcasseswere Theyalsoauditedpackingplantsforfabricationand
condemned. traceability.
Toomanycarcasseshadexcessivebruises. Thepackingplantphaseoftheauditwasthe
resultoftheworkofover70auditors,including
Theauditconcludedthatmostoftheselosses faculty,staff,andgraduatestudents,aswellas
couldhavebeenreclaimedifproducersmanaged, statebeefcouncilpersonnelandothermembers
monitored,andmarketedtheirherdsmorecloselyto oftheindustryworkingincollaborationwithseven
promotevalueintheircowsandbullsandimprove universities.
thequalityofbeef. Theaudittookplacein23packingplantsin
In1999,asecondauditdeterminedthatthe 11states.Collectively,theseplantsharvestmore
industry had made significant strides in reducing than15,000headperday.Theauditsurveyed
condemnations,thefrequencyof approximately5,500liveanimals,5,000carcasses
disabledcattle,bruising,damage duringharvest,and3,000carcassesinthecoolers.
caused by branding, injection-site InPhaseII,interviewsconsistingoffreePoint of
lesionsandtheoverallcondition responseandaidedquestionnaireswereconductedImprovement ofcattle,butconcludedmuch withtwointervieweesateachplant–onepacker
moreworkneededtobedone andoneFoodSafetyInspectionService(FSIS)Reducetheuseof
tomakebeefbetterandbeef employee.Thepurposeoftheinterviewswastoelectricprodsandother producersmorecompetitive. determineimprovementsanddeclinesinthequality
aggressivedrivingaids ofcattlesincethe1999audit.
whenmovingcattle. InPhaseIII,theauditsconsistedofinterviews
with eight end users, looking specifically at subprimal
defects,topsirloincentercuts,caps,andbottom
round flats. They also looked for injection-site lesions
andotherdefectsthatwouldcausedevaluation.
InPhaseIV,researchers,producers,retailers,
restaurateurs,packers,processorsandgovernment
representationsmetforatwo-dayworkshopto
discussstrategiesandtacticstoensurecontinued
qualityandanimal-handlingimprovements.

NationalMarketCowandBullBeefQualityAuditPhase I – Packing Plant Audits
Duringthisphase,auditorsmonitoredsixareas
at23packingplants:receiving,holdingpens,harvest
floors, coolers, and fabrication rooms. The auditors
alsolookedatthetraceabilityofthecattlebeing
processedbytheseplants.
Receiving Audits
Key points:
Auditorssawthevirtualeliminationofcattlethat
were injured and could not walk when compared to Load sorting -- 65%ofallloadsand56%ofbeef
previousaudits. loadsweresinglegender.35%ofallloadsand44%of
AlltruckandtrailerloadsmetAmericanMeat beefloadsweremulti-gender,ofwhich73%werenot
Institute(AMI)guidelinesforspacing. sortedbygender.
Unnecessaryuseofelectricprodscontinuestobea Cattle unloading --65%ofallcattleloadshadno
cattle-handlingproblemthatneedsimprovement. cattleslip,70%hadnomorethan3%cattleslip,and
Cattleslippingwhilebeingunloadedcanbea 30%hadmorethan3%cattleslip.64%ofbeefloads
problemandneedstobeaddressed. hadnocattleslip,73%hadnomorethan3%cattle
Cattleneedtobeseparatedbygendertoavoid slip,and27%hadmorethan3%ofcattleslip.
injuries. Dead/moribund cattle – Atotalof0.24%loads
hadmoribundcattleand0.04%haddeadcattle.Beef
Auditors evaluated approximately 5,500 live cattleloadscontained0deadofmoribund
animals and 10 percent of trucks during this phase. Electric prod usage for unloading – Electricprods
Theydeterminedthatalltruckandtrailerloads wereusedon22%ofallloadsand32%ofbeefcattle
mettheAMIguidelinesforlivestockspacing. loads.
Overall,cattleloadsaveraged30squarefeetper 13%ofallcattleloadshadelectricprodsusedon
animaland34animalsperload.Beefcattleloads morethan25%oftheanimalsunloaded.
averaged24squarefeetperanimaland38headper 18%ofbeefloadssawelectricprodsusedon
load. morethan25%oftheanimalsunloaded.
Travel – Amongoverallloadnumbers,lessthan Other driving aids used while unloading –15%
1%ofthecattletraveledmorethan28hours. ofbeefloadsexperiencedtheaggressiveuseofthese
Allcattlesurveyedweretruckedanaverageof9 otherdrivingaids.Aggressiveuseis
hoursand409miles. defined as making contact with
Beefcattleweretruckedanaverageof9hours theanimalwithdrivingaids Point ofand473miles.Theminimumdistancetraveledby suchassticks,paddles,and
cattleoverallwas22miles. Improvementwhips.
Theminimumdistancetraveledforbeefcattlewas Electric prod usage
60miles. Improvefootingsocattlewhile moving cattle to the
Themaximumdistancetraveledforbeefcattle don’t slip and injure restrainer – 83%ofallplants
was1050miles. usedelectricprodsformoving themselves.
Trailers -- 64%ofbeefloadsarrivedontractor cattletotherestrainer.65%
trailers,while36%cameinongooseneck/bumper usedelectriccattleprodsons, with the same figures applying to all morethan25%oftheircattle.
cattleloads.14%ofbeefloadstravelingintractor- Other driving aids used when moving cattle to
trailerscontainedcattleinthedoghouse(therear the restrainer -- 39%ofplantsauditedshowedthe
compartmentofpotbellytrailers),comparedto16%of aggressiveuseofdrivingaidswhenmovingcattleto
overallloads. therestrainer.Employeefatigueincreasedaggressive
handling.
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Reproductive defects –CowssurveyedhadaHolding Pen Audits – Part 1
0.23%incidenceofvaginalprolapsesand0.31%Key points:
incidenceofretainedplacentas.4.08%ofbullshad Fewerca