GREENHAND said:
OUR CATTLE ARE TURNED IN TO A CARCASS CONTEST IN MID MARCH, WE HAD TO WALK AWAY FROM THE IMPLANTS ALL TOGETGER TO BE COMPETITAVE WHEN THE HIDE COMES OFF!
DEPRESSES THE MARBELING IS THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR, I LOVE HOW THE CATTLE LOOK WITH THE IMPLANTS, BUT SHOULDN'T WE BE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE REAL END PRODUCT...........THE MEAT?
implants only reduce marbling, on average, 15% of a quality grade.
So from an industry perspective, thats not a real problem.
But you only have one calf, like in a carcass contest, it matters.
To answer your concerns with end product, people are very concerned. Many researchers have developed ways to reduce the negative impacts on marbling.
It depends on what you sell on. If you sell cattle on grid that is strickly quality based,or in times of very high choice-select spread, yeah implants aren't going to help much there. However, when you give up the weight and muscle implants put on, that loss can be greater than the reduction in marbling, if you had implanted. This is especially true when the choice-select spread narrows as cattle prices fall.