![]() Rough handling either at the packing plant or in the feedlot will double bruising (Grandin, 1981a, 1993). National Beef Quality Audits (NCA/CSU, 1991-1993). Research on injection site damage at Colorado State University has shown that there is an area of tougher meat around injection lesions. There is some practical evidence that even old healed bruised areas may possibly be tougher. Marketing alliances where cattle are traced from the ranch, feedlot and meat packing plant hold producers accountable for losses. The creation of marketing alliances which sell branded beef has helped to reduce bruising and damage to carcasses in fed cattle. The national average for severe bruises on fed cattle is 4.9 percent and the Strategic Alliance Field Study cattle had 4.2 percent. Unfortunately, there was no reduction in severe bruises. This would add up to a savings of $2 million per year. Bruises were reduced by 15 percent when feeders and ranchers worked together to improve handling. ![]() The 1993 Strategic Alliance Field Study indicated that cooperation between all segments of the industry can reduce bruises. When cattle are sold in the carcass, the producer has to pay for the bruises and this provides a great incentive to reduce them. Over ten years ago, I conducted a survey that showed that cattle sold liveweight had twice as many bruises compared to cattle sold in the carcass (Grandin, 1981a). As long as bruise losses can be passed on by the producer into the packing plant, there is no motivation to reduce them. The reason the beef industry has failed to stop this shocking loss is due to a lack of accountability. The Livestock Conservation Institute made a similar estimate twenty years ago. The really bad news is that bruises have stayed at the same level during the last twenty years. This adds up to a loss of $22 million per year for the fed beef industry. ![]() The audit was conducted at major packing plants all over the U.S. Bruises on fed steers and heifers cost the beef industry $1.00 for every animal marketed according to the 1992 National Beef Quality Audit conducted by Colorado State University for the National Cattlemen's Association.
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