Don't know how many of you "industry" LMAO people will be able to stomach this but here you go anyway..
Having a happy day in fantasyland....
Welsh Black --- A Natural Carcass Breed
Welsh Black cattle were introduced to Canada along with the European continental breed surge in the 1970's. A time when things were changing fast in the North American beef industry. Producers were becoming more aware of opportunities in the corn and barley finished beef markets and the opportunities to feed cattle cheap and abundant feed grains. A high quality grain fed carcass emerged as the "branded" North American standard for quality. These 600 to 650 pound carcass animals were mostly traditional breeds of cattle in the 1960's and 1970's and due to selection by breeders in those days, fit this new quality carcass scheme to a tee.
The "opportunity" to raise even more beef from crossbred cattle and especially continental crossbred cattle led to a surge of new breeds coming into Canada from Continental European countries. Breeds that had been developed in these various countries for muscle to pull carts and milk quantity to produce dairy products. Breeders saw that these qualities could add weight to weaned calves and slaughter weights and the race was on.
The race to see the average carcass in North America that now tips the scales at over 850 pounds. A race that has led to breeders creating these barley and corn eating giants out of even the traditional British Breeds that landed in Canada in the original British cattle invasions of the early 1900's.
Everything changes and I am not here to say that there was anything wrong with the history of our industry in this country. I am however, here to say that every human structure is unstable and change is inevitable. And the time for change is now.
Economics often drive change and a mixture of economic change along with an new awareness from a growing consumer base concerning health has led to a huge opportunity for cattle that can produce high quality carcasses "naturally".
By "naturally", I mean without the excessive barley and corn diets, or the chemical crutches that allow most conventionally fed cattle to make it to slaughter in our conventional beef industry.
Welsh Black cattle have been working well in the Canadian beef herd mainly as an alternative sustainable crossbred brood cow for years. This characteristic will never change. Welsh Black cattle are hardy and efficient cattle that survive and thrive on land and feed that is not suitable for the production of cereal, oilseed, or bio fuel crops.
However, the last ten years have proven that these wonderful cattle can provide an amazing alternative to the breeds that are holding bragging rights to high quality "natural" carcass. In fact, I am not sure that anyone has actually coined the phrase yet and maybe it is time Welsh Black did just that.
In a book titled "Steak : One man's search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef" Canadian author Mark Schatzker describes a steak eating experience in Great Britain as one of the best he had on his quest. He thought that the steak he was eating was from an Angus animal and when the chef told him it was from a Welsh Black carcass, he was very impressed. I only wish I could have personally given Mark a steak when he called me and asked while doing research for his book. At that time, our "Second to None" meat shops in Calgary Alberta, Canada were already serving Welsh Black beef; and another beef connoisseur by the name of John Gilchrist had recently chosen a Welsh Black rib eye steak as his choice in a taste test among numerous Calgary butchers.
But why the claim to high quality "natural" carcass superiority you ask?
I believe that after years of studying carcass evaluation with Ultrasound, DNA measurement tools and linear measurement scoring of our bulls we have found the answers.
First off, the layer of hair and thickness of hide on Welsh Black cattle may only be equalled by Galloway or maybe Highland cattle. This hair coat and hide has allowed the Welsh Black breed to carry the genetic characteristic for marbling while lacking the lipid gene for back fat that some of the other British breeds have. Don' get me wrong, on the conventional side of our industry, the lipid gene is becoming more and more attractive for feedlots using growth implants, beta agonists and antibiotics to destroy natural bacteria in the acidic rumens of excessively grain fed animals. These dinosaurs of our industry need some sort of obesity gene to eventually stop the muscle and sheer protein growth forced on them by chemical and environmental conditions.
Tenderness in beef is a quality that can be changed in the aging process of a carcass, however breeding for tenderness is another technological advance that has come out of DNA and Ultrasound testing. Our Welsh Black bulls have shown an extreme tendency for genes that have been proven to show positive results in shear force tests as well as simple rib eye area relating to the size of an animal. Rib eye and the tenderloin muscle behind it on a carcass is the highest quality cut on a food bearing beast. These muscles are tender because they are not used for the daily physical actions of animals. I truly believe that this tenderness gene which also relates to marbling in a carcass was concentrated in the British breeds due to the idea that cattle have always been meant to eat in Britain and not so much produce milk or pull carts. I don't want to make this into a Continental cattle bashing article however and would like to say that breeds like Angus, or Hereford have simply become words rather that breeds and there are many cattle in other "breeds" that have high quality carcass traits now while many Angus and Hereford breeders have chased after size and performance..
Last but not least, I would like to focus a bit on the size of cattle which relates to our race for larger carcass animals. We can manipulate the quality of a carcass beast with genetic choices for lipid (fat) genes and even select large cattle that carry genetic predisposition for tenderness. However, an average housewife will still judge a rib eye or strip loin steak on size. And not only steaks, but full muscle cut roasts as well. Telling a housewife or a chef to simply cut their steak or roast in half, not only conflicts with their own perception but conflicts with the cooking capability of the cut of beef as well. Full muscle cuts allow all the juices to stay inside throughout the cooking process and allow the flavor of the good healthy fats in beef to enhance the eating experience. We cannot keep trying to force consumers to eat larger and larger cuts of beef.
I understand that not everyone can get their head around producing quality over quantity, especially in a conventional industry that still pays the producer by the pound for his animal. The number of people and groups looking at Welsh Black cattle as a high quality "natural" carcass alternative is growing I I for one will continue to breed cattle for this market.
Human choice will always trump force and the rise of more "natural" and organically raised carcass animals is proving that people love choice; while allowing opportunity for beef cattle producers.
Randy Kaiser
Having a happy day in fantasyland....
Welsh Black --- A Natural Carcass Breed
Welsh Black cattle were introduced to Canada along with the European continental breed surge in the 1970's. A time when things were changing fast in the North American beef industry. Producers were becoming more aware of opportunities in the corn and barley finished beef markets and the opportunities to feed cattle cheap and abundant feed grains. A high quality grain fed carcass emerged as the "branded" North American standard for quality. These 600 to 650 pound carcass animals were mostly traditional breeds of cattle in the 1960's and 1970's and due to selection by breeders in those days, fit this new quality carcass scheme to a tee.
The "opportunity" to raise even more beef from crossbred cattle and especially continental crossbred cattle led to a surge of new breeds coming into Canada from Continental European countries. Breeds that had been developed in these various countries for muscle to pull carts and milk quantity to produce dairy products. Breeders saw that these qualities could add weight to weaned calves and slaughter weights and the race was on.
The race to see the average carcass in North America that now tips the scales at over 850 pounds. A race that has led to breeders creating these barley and corn eating giants out of even the traditional British Breeds that landed in Canada in the original British cattle invasions of the early 1900's.
Everything changes and I am not here to say that there was anything wrong with the history of our industry in this country. I am however, here to say that every human structure is unstable and change is inevitable. And the time for change is now.
Economics often drive change and a mixture of economic change along with an new awareness from a growing consumer base concerning health has led to a huge opportunity for cattle that can produce high quality carcasses "naturally".
By "naturally", I mean without the excessive barley and corn diets, or the chemical crutches that allow most conventionally fed cattle to make it to slaughter in our conventional beef industry.
Welsh Black cattle have been working well in the Canadian beef herd mainly as an alternative sustainable crossbred brood cow for years. This characteristic will never change. Welsh Black cattle are hardy and efficient cattle that survive and thrive on land and feed that is not suitable for the production of cereal, oilseed, or bio fuel crops.
However, the last ten years have proven that these wonderful cattle can provide an amazing alternative to the breeds that are holding bragging rights to high quality "natural" carcass. In fact, I am not sure that anyone has actually coined the phrase yet and maybe it is time Welsh Black did just that.
In a book titled "Steak : One man's search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef" Canadian author Mark Schatzker describes a steak eating experience in Great Britain as one of the best he had on his quest. He thought that the steak he was eating was from an Angus animal and when the chef told him it was from a Welsh Black carcass, he was very impressed. I only wish I could have personally given Mark a steak when he called me and asked while doing research for his book. At that time, our "Second to None" meat shops in Calgary Alberta, Canada were already serving Welsh Black beef; and another beef connoisseur by the name of John Gilchrist had recently chosen a Welsh Black rib eye steak as his choice in a taste test among numerous Calgary butchers.
But why the claim to high quality "natural" carcass superiority you ask?
I believe that after years of studying carcass evaluation with Ultrasound, DNA measurement tools and linear measurement scoring of our bulls we have found the answers.
First off, the layer of hair and thickness of hide on Welsh Black cattle may only be equalled by Galloway or maybe Highland cattle. This hair coat and hide has allowed the Welsh Black breed to carry the genetic characteristic for marbling while lacking the lipid gene for back fat that some of the other British breeds have. Don' get me wrong, on the conventional side of our industry, the lipid gene is becoming more and more attractive for feedlots using growth implants, beta agonists and antibiotics to destroy natural bacteria in the acidic rumens of excessively grain fed animals. These dinosaurs of our industry need some sort of obesity gene to eventually stop the muscle and sheer protein growth forced on them by chemical and environmental conditions.
Tenderness in beef is a quality that can be changed in the aging process of a carcass, however breeding for tenderness is another technological advance that has come out of DNA and Ultrasound testing. Our Welsh Black bulls have shown an extreme tendency for genes that have been proven to show positive results in shear force tests as well as simple rib eye area relating to the size of an animal. Rib eye and the tenderloin muscle behind it on a carcass is the highest quality cut on a food bearing beast. These muscles are tender because they are not used for the daily physical actions of animals. I truly believe that this tenderness gene which also relates to marbling in a carcass was concentrated in the British breeds due to the idea that cattle have always been meant to eat in Britain and not so much produce milk or pull carts. I don't want to make this into a Continental cattle bashing article however and would like to say that breeds like Angus, or Hereford have simply become words rather that breeds and there are many cattle in other "breeds" that have high quality carcass traits now while many Angus and Hereford breeders have chased after size and performance..
Last but not least, I would like to focus a bit on the size of cattle which relates to our race for larger carcass animals. We can manipulate the quality of a carcass beast with genetic choices for lipid (fat) genes and even select large cattle that carry genetic predisposition for tenderness. However, an average housewife will still judge a rib eye or strip loin steak on size. And not only steaks, but full muscle cut roasts as well. Telling a housewife or a chef to simply cut their steak or roast in half, not only conflicts with their own perception but conflicts with the cooking capability of the cut of beef as well. Full muscle cuts allow all the juices to stay inside throughout the cooking process and allow the flavor of the good healthy fats in beef to enhance the eating experience. We cannot keep trying to force consumers to eat larger and larger cuts of beef.
I understand that not everyone can get their head around producing quality over quantity, especially in a conventional industry that still pays the producer by the pound for his animal. The number of people and groups looking at Welsh Black cattle as a high quality "natural" carcass alternative is growing I I for one will continue to breed cattle for this market.
Human choice will always trump force and the rise of more "natural" and organically raised carcass animals is proving that people love choice; while allowing opportunity for beef cattle producers.
Randy Kaiser
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