Bulls for Beef

Beef production research at the University of Alberta has shown that feeding of bulls holds several advantages over feeding of steers, including better gain, improved feed conversion, and leaner carcasses. The Canada Grading System discounts carcasses if their color is darker than the bright red that consumers like to see in the supermarket. This condition is called "dark cutting," and it means, for example, that an otherwise A-l carcass would drop to B-l and the carcass would bring less money. Dark-cutting beef is a sign that certain biochemical changes have occurred in the muscles of the animals. The greater probability of dark cutting among uncastrated males suggests that bulls respond differently than do steers to changes in their environment. At the University of Alberta, used 112 yearling bulls in the first experiment on preslaughter stress as a cause of dark cutting.