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Beef Industry (beef + industry)
Selected AbstractsContracting in the U.S. Pork and Beef Industries: Extent, Motives, and IssuesCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2000Clement Ward Contracting has increased significantly in the US livestock-meat sector. Over half of finished hogs and about a third of fed cattle are marketed under some form of contract. Contracting motives vary by type of contract, whether buyer or seller, and by commodity. Several motives for buyers and sellers of finished hogs and fed cattle are identified and discussed. Issues related to contracting per se and the trend toward increased contracting have been raised by contracting opponents, politicians, and economists. Several of these issues are discussed under six headings. Lastly, agricultural economists are encouraged to become actively involved in addressing these issues, especially providing pragmatic education and assistance to those involved in contracting. [source] Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in industrial minced beefLETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2002C. Vernozy-Rozand Aims: ,The lack of baseline data on the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in retail minced beef in France prompted this survey of industrial minced beef production. Methods and Results: ,An automated enzyme-linked fluorescence immunoassay (ELFA), the VIDAS E. coli O157 method, was used to detect E. coli O157 in industrial minced beef samples. Confirmation of samples positive according to the ELFA was performed using an automated immunoconcentration (ICE) system, VIDAS ICE, which allows the selective capture and release of target organisms. The ICE was followed by culture on cefixime tellurite sorbitol MacConkey agar and a chromogenic medium, O157:H7 ID. Of the 3450 minced beef samples tested, 175 samples were positive with the ELFA method and, of these, four were confirmed by the ICE method. They were identified as sorbitol-negative, O157-positive, H7-positive, mobile, verotoxin-producing E. coli . Conclusions: ,The prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in industrial French minced beef was 0·12%, consistent with many other reports. Significance and Impact of the Study: ,The low infective dose of E. coli O157:H7 presents a major threat. The main means of combating this organism are thermal destruction and good food hygiene covering activities on-farm, in the abattoir and in minced beef industries. [source] Value-based labels for fresh beef: an overview of French consumer behaviour in a BSE crises contextINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 5 2008Pierre Sans Abstract In the last decade, the French beef industry has been through two major health scares related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This paper describes and discusses changes in beef supply in France from the consumer's perspective. The authors review the initiatives implemented in each crisis and show that the immediate effects (slump in consumption), however spectacular, were not the most lasting effects. By contrast, responses from the industry and the authorities brought about a far-reaching change in practices by requiring new instruments to be used (traceability). Yet the information conveyed by this innovation cannot readily be appropriated by consumers who are not conversant with the characteristics of beef production systems. [source] Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the corticotrophin - releasing hormone and pro - opiomelancortin genes are associated with growth and carcass yield in beef cattleANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 2 2005F. C. Buchanan Summary A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the corticotrophin - releasing hormone gene (CRH C22G) alters the fourth amino acid in the signal sequence from proline to arginine. Two other SNPs (CRH A145G and C240G) occur in the propeptide region at residue positions 45 and 77, respectively, that result in serine/asparagine and histidine/aspartic acid substitutions respectively. These SNPs, as well as SNPs in pro - opiomelancortin (POMC), leptin (LEP) and melanocortin - 4 receptor (MC4R), were evaluated for associations with average daily gain, end-of-test rib-eye area, shipping weight and hot carcass weight in a group of 256 steers using a general linear model. The CRH C22G SNP was associated with end-of-test rib-eye area (P < 0.034) and hot carcass weight (P < 0.0015). The SNP in POMC was associated with shipping weight (P < 0.0078) and hot carcass weight (P = 0.006) while it approached significance for average daily gain (P < 0.07). The SNP in MC4R approached significance for hot carcass weight (P < 0.085) while no significance was observed between the leptin SNP and the above listed traits. Because both CRH and POMC regulate appetite, potential interaction effects between these two genes were assessed. The absence of an interaction effect between CRH and POMC with hot carcass weight suggests that these genes act independently to increase carcass yield. These gene effects used singularly or together could result in an economic benefit to the beef industry. [source] Development of novel SNP system for individual and pedigree control in a Japanese Black cattle population using whole-genome genotyping assayANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010Kazuhiro HARA ABSTRACT Individual identification and parentage analysis using DNA markers are essential for assuring food identity and managing livestock population. The objective of this study was to develop a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel system for individual effective identification and parentage testing in a Japanese Black cattle population using BovineSNP50 BeadChip. On the basis of SNP frequencies, 60 unlinked informative SNPs were finally selected as candidate markers. The allelic frequencies for each SNP were estimated using additional individuals by PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism). A total of 87 SNP markers added in conjunction with previously developed 27 SNPs were evaluated to assess the utility of the test. The estimated identity power was 2.01 × 10,34. Parentage exclusion probabilities, when both suspected parents' genotypes were known and when only one suspected parent was genotyped, were estimated as 0.99999997 and 0.99998010, respectively. This developed SNP panel was quite powerful and could successfully exclude false sires with a probability of >0.9999 even if the dam's genotype information was not obtained. The SNP system would contribute to management of the beef industry in Japan. [source] Development of SNP markers for individual identification and parentage test in a Japanese Black cattle populationANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010Kazuhiro HARA ABSTRACT This study describes the development of efficient single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for individual identification and parentage tests in a Japanese Black cattle population. An amplified fragment length polymorphism method was employed to detect informative candidate markers, and yielded 44 SNP markers from 220 primer combinations. 29 unlinked SNPs were finally selected as diagnostic markers. The allelic frequencies for each marker were estimated by using PCR-RFLP in the Japanese Black population. Based on the frequency data, the estimated identity power of these markers was 2.73 × 10,12. Parentage exclusion probabilities, when both suspected parents' genotypes were known and when only one suspected parent was genotyped, were estimated as 0.96929 and 0.99693, respectively. This panel of SNP markers is theoretically sufficient for individual identification, and would also be a powerful tool for a parentage test in Japanese Black cattle. The markers could contribute to the management of the beef industry in Japan. [source] Role of credence and health information in determining US consumers' willingness-to-pay for grass-finished beefAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2009Wendy J. Umberger Consumer demand for forage- or grass-finished beef is rapidly emerging in the US. This research uses data elicited from consumer surveys and experimental auctions to provide insight on product attributes (taste/flavour, credence and nutritional characteristics) and socio-demographic factors that are most important in determining US consumers' preferences and willingness to pay premiums for grass-finished versus grain-finished beef. Information related to beef production processes increased the probability consumers would be willing to pay a premium for grass-fed beef. However, it appears that health-related messages are more important drivers of willingness-to-pay, on average, than the absence of antibiotics and supplemental hormones and traceability. Labelling information regarding grass-fed beef's nutritional content and related production processes is vital for maintaining and growing premium niche markets for grass-fed beef in the US. The relative size of the willingness to pay estimates compared to previous cost estimates suggest that the Australian beef industry may have a comparative advantage for finishing beef on forage and marketing premium grass-fed differentiated beef products in the US market. [source] Echinococcus granulosus in northern QueenslandAUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 9 20061. Prevalence in cattle Objective To determine the prevalence and geographical distribution of hydatidosis and investigate factors that might be expected to influence the prevalence of hydatids in cattle in Queensland north of the Tropic of Capricorn. To determine the effect of natural levels of infection on carcase weight and subsequent economic loss. Procedure An abattoir survey conducted in 1981 provided information on the distribution, prevalence and viability of hydatid cysts in cattle from all shires north of the Tropic of Capricorn in Queensland. Livers, lungs and spleens from 10,382 cattle were palpated at abattoirs in Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton to detect hydatid cysts. Prevalence of infection in cattle in each shire was estimated from results of the abattoir study together with reports of infection in a further 22,185 cattle obtained from abattoir records. Linear modelling was used to define the effect of geographical origin, age, breed and sex on prevalence of infection. Differences in the weights of carcases between infected and non-infected cattle of the same age, sex, breed and property of origin were examined. The economic loss to the beef industry in the region surveyed was estimated. Results Cattle infected with hydatids originated almost entirely from regions to the east of the Great Dividing Range. The mean prevalence inside this zone was 28% compared with 3% in other areas. Viable protoscoleces were found in 0.7% of cysts. Geographical origin and age of the cattle were the most significant factors influencing prevalence. Infection with hydatids had no effect on carcase weight. Economic loss was limited to that associated with condemnations of organs at meat inspection, estimated to be $0.5 million per annum in 1981 and $6 million in 2004. The distribution of hydatids in Queensland north of the Tropic of Capricorn corresponded most closely with the distribution of small wallabies such as Macropus dorsalis (black-striped wallaby), M parryi (whiptail wallaby) and M rufogriseus (red-necked wallaby). Conclusions It was concluded that cattle are not an important part of maintaining the life-cycle of E granulosus in Queensland north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Within the endemic zone, which is almost all to the east of the Great Dividing Range, the local pattern of bovine echinococcosis is most likely to be determined by the presence or absence of small species of wallaby such as M dorsalis, M parryi and M rufogriseus. [source] | |||||||||||||