Cow-Calf Corner | March 4, 2024
Understanding Beef By-Product Values
Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist
The beef industry produces an enormous set of products. Among the thousands of different products are a wide range of edible and inedible by-products. USDA reports by-product values in several daily and weekly reports for steers, cattle, and cows. There are additional reports for detailed variety meat, hide and tallow values. Over the last fifteen years, steer by-product values have averaged $11.77/cwt. on a liveweight basis. That is roughly $165/head, or about 9.5 percent of the total value of a fed steer. In the 2009-2023 period, steer by-product values have varied from a monthly low of $5.90/cwt. to a high of $16.59/cwt. (Figure 1). As a percent of total fed steer value, the by-product value has varied from a low of 6.2 percent to a high of 13.1 percent.
Figure 1. Steer By-Product Values
The set of products included in total by-product values is quite varied and includes edible offals, inedible offals, meat. bone and blood meal, edible and inedible tallow, hides, and pharmaceutical products. Edible beef by-products include a variety of muscle and organ meats (e.g. liver, tongue, tripe, tripas, heart, oxtail, sweetbreads, edible tallow, and cheek and head meat, much of which is exported or used in processed products. Edible tallow is used for cooking and processed foods and bones are the source of gelatin used in many products (think gummy bears). Some tallow that is equivalent to edible grade is also used for cosmetics and soaps.
Organs that are inedible are used primarily for pet food, including lungs, trachea, inedible livers, and melts (spleen). Inedible tallow is used for industrial use and, more recently, for biodiesel production. Hides are a significant part of the total by-product value of cattle. Most hides are exported. Some products, such as gallstones and fetal blood serum, are harvested infrequently but have very high values.
Each of the many by-product items operates in a separate market with variable values and market conditions. These impact the total by-product value over time. For example, the high by-product values in 2014-2015 (Figure 1) were largely driven by very strong hide values. The more recent high prices in 2021-2022 were the result of very strong demand for tallow used for biodiesel production.
The steer by-product value for Friday, March 1, was $11.64/cwt. and shows that tallow is the largest contributor to by-product value at 20.3 percent of the total; hides were second at 18.4 percent; tongues at 15.2 percent; and tripe at 11.9 percent of the total by-product value. These total to roughly two-thirds of the total by-product value. Current by-product values represent about $165/head of total fed cattle value. With tight supplies driving beef and cattle prices higher, by-products currently represent a smaller percentage of total cattle value (6.4 percent) than the long-term average (9.5 percent).
By-products are a significant value component for the cattle and beef industry. By-product markets are varied and complicated and typically require significant volume. Capturing the value of by-products is challenging, especially for small packers. When by-products cannot be captured for value, they typically represent an additional cost for disposal.
Evaluating Cow Efficiency and Fit During Calving Season
Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist
Does our selection and breeding program result in a cowherd that is suited to our resources? Can our available resources support our current cowherd or are we attempting to make a highly productive cow function in an inadequate environment? Calving season can be an excellent time to answer these questions. Calving sequence analysis can reveal useful information about your cows, your management and how well your existing cowherd fits your production environment. A characteristic of sound reproductive management is a short calving season, usually 60 – 65 days in length. Split the calving season into three 21-day intervals. If you are having 70%, 20% and 10% of all calves born from mature cows in the first, second and third intervals, without excessive energy supplementation (during the previous breeding season), it indicates a practical match of cow genotype (mature size and milk production) and your production environment (forage/feed resources).
Following are other potential indicators of a mismatch of cow genotype to available forage/feed resources:
- Yearling replacement heifers that fail to reach puberty and/or breed by 13 – 15 months of age and calve by 24 months of age.
- Infertility of two-year old first calf heifers during a defined breeding season, (the most common reproductive challenge).
- Excessive weight/body condition loss after calving.
- Decline of percentage of cows calving early (less favorable calving sequence analysis).
- Reduced overall conception rate.
In operations with a good herd health program, any of these problems is a signal that cows are too big and/or give too much milk to fit the production system they are in. There are a number of factors entering the decision about optimum mature size and milk production. Ultimately, the reproductive rate of the cow herd determines the practical limit or optimum combination of each. Selection programs to improve the fit can be accomplished through using bulls with lower EPDs for Mature Weight, Mature Height and Milk.
Production environments vary a great deal in beef production. Fertility is low in heritability and largely influenced by environment. A cowherd of optimum mature size and milk level relative to a given production environment creates the potential to increase revenue in the form of increased reproductive efficiency.
Maintaining Cattle Immediately After a Wildfire
Dana Zook, OSU NW Oklahoma Area Livestock Specialist and David Lalman, OSU State Beef Extension Specialist
Wildfire can leave a ranching operation without forage, requiring a sudden and radical change in management to maintain animals immediately after the event. Fortunately, the ruminant animal is resilient, having the ability to adapt to a wide range in diet composition as well as feeding management. With that in mind, several stop-gap nutritional management strategies are provided below. These are intended as alternatives to minimize stress and weight loss in cases where standing forage or hay is non-existent or very limited.
These emergency nutritional management programs are based on a limit feeding strategy because a) digestive upset and founder can occur when concentrate feeds are overfed to unadapted animals, and b) it is assumed the hay resource will be limited for the next several months until pasture green up occurs. Limit feeding hay dramatically reduces hay waste and stretches the precious forage supply.
In cases where there is no forage immediately available, a low-protein, low starch commercial feed product can be used for a short period to minimize weight loss until hay can be secured. Many commercial feed companies produce and inventory calf creep feeds or a growing ration/feed with similar characteristics. These products will generally contain around 12 to 14% protein and 8 to 12% crude fiber. Some of these feeds are pelleted and some are textured (not pelleted). Another advantage with this program is that many companies keep an inventory of this type of feed bagged and ready to be shipped immediately. Feeds with these characteristics can be fed daily at around 0.6% of body weight to minimize weight loss in pregnant beef cows. This feeding rate is equivalent to 8 pounds of feed per day assuming cows weigh about 1,200 pounds. The low feeding rate is intentional because a sudden switch from free-choice forage to a grain (or concentrate) diet can result in digestive upset and founder. The risk is increased tremendously if the concentrate is overfed to animals that are not adapted. Therefore, this program should be used no more than four or five days because weight loss will be occurring (due to the limited feeding rate), minerals will not be balanced, and the roughage component in the diet is not adequate to maintain long-term health of the cattle. The cattle should be fed every day and at about the same time each day. Weight loss should be limited to about 0.75 to 1 pound per day until hay or another forage source can be provided.
Once hay is available, priority should be given to providing enough long-stemmed hay to keep the rumen healthy and provide a balanced diet to sustain the animals until adequate spring forage is available. If hay supply is limited, the inventory can be stretched by using a limit feeding strategy.
One method is to provide very limited hay (about 0.5% of body weight) plus about 1% of body weight concentrate feed like the creep feed product mentioned above. Cattle must be fed both the hay and the concentrate every day. Be sure both feed sources are distributed far enough to allow all animals abundant access. Begin feeding about 8 pounds of concentrate and gradually increase the amount to 12 pounds.
If hay is more abundant, 15 pounds of grass hay fed with 5 pounds of a 28 to 32% range cube can maintain a 1,200-pound cow in the last trimester of pregnancy. Again, the hay should be rolled out to ensure each animal has equal opportunity to consume their share of the limited hay resource. The cattle must be fed every day and again, it is recommended that cattle be fed about the same time each day.
In both cases the priority is to meet nutritional needs while stretching the hay supply.
Producers should consider working with their feed industry professional and/or Extension Educator to ensure a well-balanced diet. In most of these limit-feeding scenarios, a mineral supplement with a high level of calcium is essential to offsetting high levels of phosphorus in concentrate feeds. Wheat pasture mineral is a good option for this, but producers should also ensure that salt and vitamin A are also included in the diet. As always, a source of clean, fresh water is paramount to all other feed sources.