Final Draft (working title)

When you have a nice juicy, great smelling, taste filling and stomach filling steak in front of you on a platter, do you ever think about all the went into that steak before it was put on your table? As a raiser of beef cattle for over 50 years, I am an expert. My family has been involved in raising cattle before the first trail herds came up from Texas. They were trying to improve the flavor of beef before that. Many, many years have gone into the taste and quality of that steak on your plate. Let’s look at this process before you put that mouthwatering piece of meat in your mouth.
One of the first steps of a beef producer is selecting a good bull. It is much easier now with artificial insemination. All the qualities are bred into a test tube. Just imagine, years of testing, record keeping and hard work went into that steak on your plate, which took minutes for you to order and sink your teeth into.
Selecting a good bull or pappa is a vary important decision. We look for certain qualities Selecting a good bull or papa is a vary important decision. We look for certain qualities that have been bred into the bulls genes. We look for a polled bull or one with no horns. We look for a bull with big weaning weight. A black or dark colored bull is more resistant to disease. His rate of gain is also very important. These qualities are bred in the bull after several generations.

Cow image - Free Google

The next step is the cow or momma. This step is usually preformed from the herd. A cow is selected after the producer carefully selects, records on the cow, which have been recorded from birth. Certain things are carefully studied. Her birth weight, calving ease, color, and carcass grade, pelvic measurements all go in that steak. Again, it took several generations or years to get these genes bred in to the cow or mamma.

Calf Picture - Free Image

While it takes you minutes to devour that steak, it took over a year to develop it. To start with, there is working the cattle. That is branding, dehorning, vaccinating, giving implant in ear (if this critter is going to a feed lot). At this point it is decided whether to ship to feed lot or raise for private customers. Chances are that steak in front of you is from the feed lot, but it has been inspected by federal inspectors to pass federal speculations.

Please try and remember the next time you eat a steak, all the blood, sweat, and tears it has taken to put it in front of you. More than two hundred years it has taken to develop the taste and quality that you are savoring. HAPPY EATING!