Meeting the Needs of the American Beef Producer and Consumer
by Mike Lowry
The American Beef Industry continually faces adverse challenges. The survival of the U.S. producer and feeder operations is dependent upon efficiency. Unless an operator is selling the maximum amount of quality product in an efficient manner, operating costs, regulations and volatile markets can easily devour profit margins or leave them very slim.
U.S. cattle producers over the past few decades have prioritized hypothetical expectations in selecting seed stock over the fundamentals of actual performance in developing efficient cattle. In my lifetime of being associated with the cattle industry, I have witnessed many quality herds deteriorate from selecting seed stock based strictly on EPD's regardless of proper conformation. Many cattle producers have intertwined exotic breeds into the industry. As a result, the consistency in quality of beef marketed to the consumer is too variable.
Cattlemen in Australia have developed a breed of cattle that has all the qualities that fits the needs for a viable and competitive U.S. raised beef product. They have done so by selecting the best of the foundational English genetics. The Australians built the phenomenal Murray Grey breed by crossing the best of the original Aberdeen Angus with the best of the Shorthorn breed. The Murray Grey's subsequent progression and development has led to a unique Angus Breed with a dash of Shorthorn influence.
This breed has a vibrant demand for top quality beef in the Pacific Rim countries. The Murray Grey carcass quality combines yield, tenderness, marbling and consistency that has created a well earned export market for the Australian beef industry. The Murray Greys’ extraordinary carcass quality was well illustrated at the 2008 Midland Bull Test and sale in Columbus, Montana. For the first time in the history of the Midland Bull Test, a Murray Grey bull scored a perfect 10 on the genetic test for marbling and a near perfect 9 on the genetic test for tenderness. In Australia the Murray Grey is setting records in multi breed carcass competitions. The Murray Grey is proving to be the best suited breed for providing excellent beef in the rapidly emerging grass finished beef industry.
Through my experience with multiple breeds of beef cattle, I have objectively concluded the Murray Grey universally out performs competing breeds. They are truly a unique breed with all of the attributes that farmers, ranchers and feeders want in beef cattle.
Disposition: these are the easiest handling cattle that I have ever worked with
- Milk: cows are good milk producers with sound udders and teats
- Feed Conversion: they grow, maintain and retain flesh, while utilizing the tough outside country. In the feedlot they finish in less time in comparison to most other breeds.
- Soundness: good travelers with black feet
- Carcass: consistently high yield with tenderness, marbling and flavor
- Marketability: their uniformity, quality and eye appeal brings top dollar at the feeder calf sales
- Efficiency: producers who raise these cattle and feeders who feed them experience cattle that produce for their type of operation — maximum gain with less cost
- Black Hides: Murray Greys are homozygous black
- Calving ease: stockmen who use Murray Grey bulls experience virtually problem free calving
Our growing clientele of beef producers, both commercial and purebred breeders, are experiencing positive results from the Murray Grey.
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