Heres a brief overview of these terms and an explanation as to when we eat their meat. Effect of castration on meat quality and quantity. But, theres actually a huge difference between a steer vs bull, and a cow vs heifer. It will be ready to be delivered to a customers door as finished beef in the Winter of 2025. and Martin, J.-F. Since you should get about 500 pounds of meat, your processing is 0.76 x 500= $380 + 100 kill charge equals a total of $480 in processing cost. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac345. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In other words, heifers are like first-time moms. As they get older, their meat suffers a quality problem. Content of connective tissue in relation to individual muscles, age and sex of animals and carcass quality grade. You could say that all female cows were once heifers but they are not anymore. Picard, B. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal 3) and unrelated to juiciness or flavour. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The differences (attributed to flavour, texture and juiciness) were not substantiated using descriptive scaling tests when the only significant difference was that roast m. longissimus dorsi from bulls was slightly drier than that from steers. We set out to assess whether that was the case and, as well as production performance, we looked at eating quality and consistency with the help of AHDB. Increased likelihood of getting shipping fever (BRD). 1990. J Anim Sci Technol. Our best calves are hand-picked to be Clover Meadows Beef, which is the beef wesellas quarter,halfand whole beef. A steer has 13 ribs on each side. Bulls are usually not used for meat. Hes an advocate of the carnivore diet, an athlete, and a pure health enthusiast. The best way to cook bull meat is by using a moist cooking method, such as braising. II. Disclaimer Stuart is passionate about sustainable farming and animal welfare and has written extensively on cows and geese for the site. As well as the faster growth, the most valuable part of the carcass, the eye muscle, was almost 18% larger in the bull carcasses at 81.0sq cm compared with 68.8sq cm in the steers, contributing to a higher carcass value. MjVlZmUxYzAzZTU3MmNiYmFiMThiMjE1NTI0Mzc2YmQ2NmQ1M2RhYzE2NTA5 Although bull meat is edible, we dont usually eat it because its not really worth it for the farmer to sell, and the meat is typically lower quality than regular beef. 2023 Jan 3;101:skac345. 2009. Our (beef) calves stay with their mothers until theyre approximately 6-8 months. The marbling is what gives steaks and other prime cuts their flavor, making bull meat less desirable than cuts from younger beef cattle. Bulls slaughtered at the young age of 12 to 14 months produce quality beef. Small udder, smaller body frame, vulva under tail area. MzZlYjhlOTlkNTI0NzhiYTYxYWYxMWMxNTJjYjIzMmQ3M2JmOTE2Y2FlZTE0 Effect of age, marbling and sex on palatability of beef. You can tell the difference between a cow and a heifer by comparing the size of their bodies and looking at their udders.