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ALL CONTINENTALS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL...
Limousin Produce More Retail Product Due to Advantages in Muscle, Leaness and Muscle to Bone Ratio
Table 1. Carcass and yield parameters for close-trimmed ( .3" ) retail product
| Breed Group |
Live Weight(lbs.) |
Carcass Weight (lbs.) |
Dressing Percent |
Percent of Retail Product |
Pounds of Retail Product |
| Limousin |
1,142 |
726 |
63.4 |
76.5 |
555 |
| Charolais |
1,261 |
766 |
60.7 |
73.2 |
560 |
| Simmental |
1,278 |
766 |
59.8 |
72.8 |
557 |
| Gelbvieh |
1,247 |
748 |
59.9 |
74.2 |
555 |
| Angus |
1,133 |
695 |
61.3 |
67.1 |
466 |
| Hereford |
1,115 |
673 |
60.3 |
66.0 |
444 |
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The importance of Dressing Percent and Retail Yield becomes dramatic when you consider:
- Limousin cattle with approximately the same live weight as Angus and Hereford produced approximately 100 lbs. mor close-trimmed retail product.
- When contrasted with Gelbvieh, Simmental and Charolais, Limousin weighing 100 to 130 lbs. less live weight produced the same quantity of retail product.
Table 2. Growth and efficiency when fed 207 days
| Breed Group |
Initial Weight (lbs.) |
Slaughter Weight (lbs.) |
ADG lbs. per day (lbs.) |
*Mcal of Energy Consumed |
*Mcal of Energy for Maintenanc |
Live Gain per *Mcal of Energy, grams |
Close-Trimmed Retail Product per *Mcal of Energy, grams |
| Limousin |
569
| 1,151 |
2.80 |
4870 |
1394 |
54 |
49 |
| Charolais |
635 |
1,283 |
3.13 |
5632 |
1513 |
52 |
43 |
| Simmental |
635 |
1,294 |
3.20 |
5876 |
1523 |
51 |
41 |
| Gelbvieh |
662 |
1,270 |
2.94 |
5697 |
1517 |
48 |
42 |
| Angus |
571 |
1,164 |
2.86 |
5319 |
1403 |
50 |
38 |
| Hereford |
516 |
1,127 |
2.95 |
5128 |
1353 |
54 |
38 |
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*Mcal=megacalorie
MARC 1994 (JAS 72:1152)
We often hear from cattle feeders that Limousin cattle do not consume as much per day or gain as rapidly as other Continentals. These data support those observations, however:
- When efficiency of gain is measured as Mcal of energy per unit of live gain, Limousin cattle excel Gelbvieh, Simmental and Charolais by 11.1%, 5.5% and 3.7% respectively.
- When efficiency of gain is measured on a close-trimmed retail product basis, Limousin advantages become even greater. Comparative advantages in inherent efficiency, dressing percent and retail yield combine to result in advantages of 22.4%, 22.4%, 14.2%, 16.3% and 12.2% over Hereford, Angus, Gelbvieh, Simmental and Charolais respectively.
Limousin... Muscle Into Profit
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