Feeder steer specifications show how domestic grainfed beef is set up to grade

Why the domestic feedlot sector mattered so much#

The paper opens by framing just how large the domestic grainfed segment had become. Feedlots turned off roughly 1,280,000 cattle bound for domestic buyers in 2002, against 850,000 destined for export. That scale, combined with a much shorter feeding period for domestic cattle than for export cattle, meant that getting intake specifications right at the point of purchase had a direct bearing on whether a pen of cattle would meet the carcase targets that supermarket buyers were paying for.

McDonald explains that lot-feeding's main appeal for the domestic trade was not about flavour chemistry but about consistency. Meat Standards Australia consumer research, as cited in the paper, had shown that when other factors were held equal, grainfed beef was no different in eating quality to grassfed beef. What grainfeeding offered instead was year-round control: cattle could be turned off younger, with lower ossification (bone maturity) levels, and trucked straight from feedlot to abattoir just before slaughter, which reduced stress on the animal.

This explains why Woolworths and Coles, who between them slaughtered over 20,000 cattle per week according to the paper, leaned so heavily on grainfed supply, particularly in Queensland where grainfed cattle made up almost all of the supermarkets' intake. In the southern states the proportion was lower, with about 70% of the cattle bought by these two chains in that region sourced as grainfed, grassfed cattle being used first when enough finished stock was available.

Carcase targets behind the feeder steer specifications#

The paper reproduces the carcase specifications used by Woolworths and Coles for grainfed cattle at the time. Both required a minimum of 70 days on feed and a dentition of 0-2. Woolworths specified a carcase weight of 190-280 kg and a P8 fat depth of 5-16, while Coles specified a carcase weight range of 180-260 kg and a P8 fat depth of 3-15. Both set a marbling range of 0-2, a fat colour of 0-3, and a pH window of 5.3-5.7, with Woolworths requiring meat colour 1b-3 and Coles 1a-2.

McDonald notes that there was little difference between the requirements of the three major supermarkets, but that carcase weights had been gradually increasing over the preceding five years. Alongside the supermarket targets, the paper lists the intake specifications used by six named feedlots drawn from the Australian Feedlot Directory, covering entry weight, dentition, sex, muscle score, fat score, frame score and preferred breeds. Entry weights across these feedlots ranged broadly from 240 kg up to 350 kg, with most feedlots accepting both steers and heifers and favouring British or British-cross-European types, reflecting the breed flexibility that low marbling requirements allowed.

Because marbling carries so little weight in the domestic specification, the paper argues that feedlots can draw on many more breeds and breed combinations without giving up growth rate or carcase yield, a point that bears directly on how buyers select feeder cattle at the saleyard or on farm.

How entry liveweight is worked out#

One of the more practical sections of the paper walks through the arithmetic behind feeder steer specifications. Starting from a target carcase weight range of 200-260 kg, and taking a daily gain of 1.6 kg over 70 days together with an exit dressing percentage of 53%, McDonald works back to a liveweight at slaughter of 377-490 kg. Subtracting the expected gain of 112 kg over the feeding period gives a liveweight range at entry of 265-378 kg, which the paper rounds to a recommended safe entry liveweight range of 280-350 kg.

The same method is then applied to a different example, a Franklins carcase target of 210-270 kg described in the paper, which produces entry liveweights 20 to 30kg higher than the first example. McDonald is careful to point out that these entry weights would shift again if the time on feed, weight gains or dressing percentage changed materially from the assumptions used.

A case study in how averages can mislead#

To show the limits of specification-setting based on averages, the paper describes a consignment fed at the Mirrabooka feedlot at Condamine, Queensland, under a Woolworths contract that called for carcase weights of 180-260kg. The cattle in this group grew faster than expected and dressed out higher than expected, and the kill was delayed by a week beyond plan.

The outcome, as recorded in the paper, was an entry liveweight averaging 290 kg (range 260-340 kg), a weight gain averaging 2.1 kg per day (range 1.5-2.5 kg), an exit liveweight averaging 452 kg (range 422-518 kg), a dressing percentage averaging 54.2% (range 52.1-56.2%), and a resulting carcase weight averaging 245 kg (range 222-285 kg). Because strong performance combined with a seven day delay in slaughter, the paper notes that close to half of these cattle fell outside the Woolworths carcase weight specification even though they met every other requirement.

McDonald draws a clear lesson from this: custom feedlots set recommended intake weights based on averages, but individual pens of cattle do not always perform at the average, and both breeders and feedlots need to understand this variability rather than treat a single intake weight figure as a guarantee of hitting the target carcase weight.

The shift in MSA grading and what it means for feedlot cattle#

The paper describes a change in the Meat Standards Australia grading scheme toward a cuts-based system, where bonuses and discounts are applied to an MQ4 score depending on the cut and cooking method, rather than relying on a minimum feeding period or a marbling requirement. Under this approach, McDonald notes that most four and five star beef turns out to be the better cuts taken from carcases that would previously have only met three star criteria.

According to the paper, the factors with the greatest influence on eating quality score are the cut itself, Bos indicus content, the method of hanging, the period of ageing and the ossification level, with marbling having only a small influence. The basic eligibility rules for grading come down to a rib fat depth of at least 3mm, a ceiling on ossification, and sitting within the correct pH and temperature window during chilling.

This made it simpler for feedlots to hit grading targets: McDonald states that a feedlot really only has to hold 3mm of rib fat, keep fat cover even, and hold ossification down by turning cattle off young. Tenderstretching, a post-slaughter carcase hanging technique, is described as more than compensating for high Bos indicus content, so that with good post-slaughter handling, cold shortening prevention, ageing and tenderstretching, the main remaining consideration for feedlots becomes keeping Bos indicus content down and avoiding excessive ossification. The paper expects most graded domestic product to remain three star due to lower fat levels and price, though it suggests sales of four and five star product could increase without needing excessive fat or price.

Value based marketing and the limits of current fat specifications#

McDonald also raises the prospect, described as still hoped for rather than in place, of a value based payment system that includes yield being introduced by one or more of the major buyers. The paper frames this as a two-edged proposition for feedlots: fatter cattle would face a discount within the existing fat specifications even as higher-yielding carcases earned a premium.

To capture more premiums than discounts under such a system, feedlots would need to be more selective about which cattle they put on feed. McDonald's own impression, stated directly in the paper, is that lot-feeders would generally prefer to keep working within the current wide fat specifications and accept an average price rather than take on that selection burden.

This observation sits alongside a broader comment in the paper that cattle entering a feedlot in lower condition score tend to grow faster than cattle entering at higher fat levels, and that the fat specifications for supermarkets, while wide, still penalise cattle at the high end of the range in terms of yield, a penalty the paper expects to sharpen if VIA (video image analysis) technology were used to predict and pay on yield.

Breed, sex and other practical notes on feeder steer specifications#

Several shorter observations round out the paper's treatment of feeder steer specifications. Buyer specifications generally cover both steers and heifers, giving feedlots flexibility to feed either sex; McDonald notes that heifers grow a little slower, but that this can be offset by their cheaper purchase price and by watching for their tendency toward excess fat, with most feedlots preferring heifers carrying 50% European breeding to guard against this over a 70 day feeding period.

Structural soundness, the paper states plainly, carries little weight as a buying criterion for cattle on the shorter domestic program, since the finished weights involved are not heavy, unlike the longer feeding programs run for export cattle. McDonald also points to a reference publication, described in the paper as a 70 page booklet covering hide prices, export and domestic carcase specifications, quality assurance, trucking costs, MSA, grading charts, accredited feedlots and abattoirs, feedback sheets and beef alliances, as a fuller source of specification detail across the industry.

The author's related work on aligning breed bases within the BREEDPLAN evaluation system and on genetic change in the beef industry sits within the broader Armidale Feeder Steer School collection of workshop papers. We would treat the specific carcase and intake figures in this paper as a snapshot of 2003 industry practice rather than fixed benchmarks, since the paper itself notes that carcase weight targets had been drifting upward over the preceding five years.

Sources and further reading#

• Trove library search: find a library that holds the paper
• Meat & Livestock Australia: red meat industry research and marketing body
• Feedipedia animal feed database: an open-access database of animal feeds
• Australian Meat Processor Corporation: research for red meat processors

Questions#

— The Livestock Library team