Printable Ultrasound Data . . .
     The live animal carcass ultrasound used by Dr. Allen Williams and Clay Nash (both of Tallgrass Beef) is an automated, chute-side software system that captures images and calculates trait measurements on an objective basis. The traits determined by this ultrasound software are:
  • Back Fat Thickness
  • Ribeye Shape Score
  • Ribeye Area (REA)
  • Ribeye Area/Hundred Weight (REA/CWT)
  • Percent Intramuscular Fat Ratio (% IMF RATIO)
  • Tenderness Score
     On this and the following six pages (in .pdf format), we have posted these measurements and scores (except Ribeye Area) for all of the bulls in this sale — by lot number. Dr. Williams considers the Ribeye Shape Score and the Tenderness Score to be the two most important traits because they are not affected much by environment or by the amount of feed consumed by the animal. In other words, these scores should be about the same whether the animal is being fed a hot feedlot ration or grazing poor quality forages with no supplement. Dr. Williams provided brief descriptions of these two traits below.
     Ribeye Shape Score: This score is indicative of desired shape of the ribeye muscle. It is correlated to eventual Yield Grade, Cutability, and % Retail Product. The score ranges from 0.0 to 1.0, with an acceptable score being 0.35 or greater. An ideal score is 0.50 or greater.
     Tenderness Score: This score is correlated to the actual Warner-Bratzler Shear Force in a carcass ribeye steak at the 12th rib location. This score ranges from 10-50, with 10 being very tender, 20 being tender, 30 being slightly tender, 40 being slightly tough, and 50 being tough. An ideal score for heifers and steers is 25 or less, but 29 or less is considered acceptable in bulls.
     Back Fat and Percent Intramuscular Fat are affected by environment and feed consumption. It is easy to see that these bulls were being nutritionally stressed by our forage test. The fact that these bulls were being run in 10 different groups is also somewhat evident by the amount of variation that exists for fat thickness and marbling. With all this in mind, we asked Dr. Williams to shade in the scores and measurements that he would consider to be “top-sort”. I hope you find this data interesting and useful.
      The ultrasound data is now in a convenient pdf form that you can download and take with you (if needed). Simply click the link below to open the ultrasound data file. You can then save it to your computer or just print it out for easy viewing. This file includes pages 97-104 of the Spring Bull Sale catalog.
(The Next button will take you to page 92 of the Catalog)