Feedlot and Carcass Performance
Almost a century ago, ranchers along the Gulf Coast began crossing taurine breeds with zebu to gain heat tolerance. In more recent years, ranchers have begun to introduce sanga bloodlines to taurine breeds to gain heat tolerance while maintaining or improving carcass quality. To test this theory, we compared the feed conversation and carcass quality of three types of crossbreeds, which were fed in a South Texas feedlot and processed in a South Texas packing plant in 2022. As you can see in the chart below, the sanga-influenced steers had the best feed conversation rate and the highest percentage of cattle grading Prime and Choice compared to the other types of cattle in this study. While a majority of the Jersey x Charolais cross steers were Yield Grade 1, a majority of the Sanga cross and Zebu cross steers were either a Yield Grade 2 or 3, which meets industry standards. The zebu-influenced cattle were the only group to have dark cutters (DC).
Three Types of Cattle Studied:
- Sanga-influenced – These steers were out of South Poll sires and STAR grandsires, meaning their genetic makeup was approximately 20% sanga and 80% taurine.
- Zebu-influenced – These steers were Beefmaster x Charolais crosses, meaning their genetic makeup was approximately 25% zebu and 75% taurine
- Dairy crosses – These steers were Jersey x Charolais crosses, meaning their genetic makeup was 100% taurine. Jersey cattle are known for their genetic predisposition to marble, which contributed to over 78% of this group being Prime or Choice.
| Sanga-influenced | Zebu-influenced | Dairy crosses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head (#) | 117 | 515 | 127 |
| Days on Feed | |||
| Weight In (lbs) | |||
| Weight out (lbs) | |||
| Gain (lbs) | |||
| Dry Matter Conversion | 5.67 | 6.01 | 6.50 |
| Choice Plus | 88.04% | 63.30% | 78.74% |
| - Prime | 3.42% | 0.38% | 2.36% |
| - Choice | 84.62% | 62.92% | 76.38% |
| Select & Less | 7.69% | 36.08% | 19.69% |
| Yield Grade 1 | 4.27% | 16.49% | 59.06% |
| Yield Grade 2 | 32.48% | 37.56% | 31.50% |
| Yield Grade 3 | 42.74% | 31.99% | 10.24% |
| Yield Grade 4 | 19.66% | 11.91% | 0% |
| Yield Grade 5 | 0.85% | 2.06% | 0% |
| DC | 0% | 1.11% | 0% |