Moneyball for cattle creates an American beef renaissance

But there is more to trust than his poise. He comes with a print of genomic reviews and a family tree that goes back generations. The numbers say he is a winner, and these days the numbers are correct. He is ranked in the top 3% of all Angus bulls for ribeye quality, and the top 5% for marbling – the white fat patches that make the steak tastier and tender, according to Brian McCulloh, who bred "big money bull". "Reliance's descendants are almost guaranteed to become lovely Porterhouses, which their owners can charge more money.

Today, cattlemen can choose better calves better than they ever have, as DNA testing becomes cheaper and forecasts become It is to transform the beef industry, with cattle that make high-end beef the most American crews in recent years, lower quality steaks are expected to all but disappear from the US market while the highest quality, once Rarely, it is common enough for retailers such as Costco Wholesale Corp. to make it.

"It's like Cattle Moneyball," Mark McCully, Certified Angus Beef Production Director, tells of the advanced statistical movement. eye everything we had and now we have very driven analytical tools and can make progress so much faster. "

A race is dominant in quantitative genetics game: Hornless, Black Angus, who has been promoted as having better beef than others. When new calves are born, they are registered with the American Angus Association, and their pedigrees are confirmed by DNA testing, which costs about $ 37 a test compared to $ 1[ads1]39 in 2011. A number of measurements have been taken and compared to databases that may include millions of animals. So much data is gathered at this point that the statistical modeling has become remarkably accurate, says Dan Moser, president of non-profit Angus Genetics Inc. It is a complex interest.

Last year, 82% of the US crew consisted of the two highest quality steak categories-USDA prime and choice, McCully says. Only five years ago, only 70% of the herd qualified. Prime, considered the most desirable meat, was for decades only one percent or two of the flock. Now it's about 10%. The plethora of marbled meat and a strong economy help drive a beef refinement, says Shane Miller, senior vice president of beef firms at Tyson Food Inc. American consumers, now accustomed to ribeyes over smaller cuts, will eat 57.7 pounds of beef per this year, the highest in almost a decade, according to government data.

Previously, such a luxury steak was a happy accident. More often than not, the cattlemen chose a bull because they liked the look of it. They saw how it went, preferring animals with long steps, since those who took short and chopped steps did not gain weight. They wanted to release it in the pasture with the women, and only years later, when the offspring were grown, the fat and sent to the market, a farmer could know if he had made the right conversation.

This began to change the 1970s and 1980s, when a few revolutionary tools came silent. The American Angus Association had long registered animals and collected data on everything from how easily a calf was born to how full it was. But in the 1970s, the industry began using statistical models to predict how well an animal was as a parent and the likelihood that it would transfer some valued attributes to their children. The forecasts helped. In the 1990s, these characters, called expected offspring differences or EPDs, became the premier tool for American cattlemen who wanted to make better steaks.

In 1990, the industry also began to use ultrasound to see what the flesh of a live bull looked like. With it, breeders could immediately know if an ox had the good meat genes it was supposed to convey. "In the past, you had to sacrifice the animal to get the data," says Moser.

It all led to great crew quality gains. By 2010, a new leap had come. Early adopters began to test bovine DNA or genotype them as Allows breeders to quickly identify parent young animals, DNA is extracted from blood, hair, or tissue samples, which is placed on a chip and passes through a machine looking at approximately 55,000 positions in DNA (an early developer of such DNA chips, also called microarrays). is also Pat Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods, who wants his meatless burger to eliminate the need for traditional steak.) It is translated into information used to calculate breeding values, or the value of the genes an animal sends to its Children

Some of the most innovative works are being done at the University of Georgia in Athens, which has had a major agricultural research operation since the 19th century. e, where two rooms are crammed with data-printing computers, Daniela Lourenco and colleagues sharpen the accuracy of the methods developed ten years ago by US research department researchers and first applied for Holstein lactic acid in US Lourenco, a 37-year-old assistant professor of animal breeding and genetics from Brazil, spend their days trying to streamline the translation of genes into a number based on the DNA information of millions of animals. The more accurate that number, the better she can identify the best animals, from cattle and pigs to chickens and honey bees.

"I always joke that I am very proud when I eat a good steak, especially from Angus, because I know most likely that it is the offspring of an animal that was selected from our software method," she says. that breeding breeds contribute to food safety, since the world must feed 9 to 10 billion people in the coming decades. "I am very excited that we can get a better way to identify the best animals and to improve animal production."

While Some ranchers are reluctant to embrace computerized breeding, non-cowboy-way-Jim Moore has jumped in with both feet A third-generation ranch that runs around 300 cattle in Charleston, Arkansas, began Moore trying to increase culture in his herd 25 Previously, ranchers had no financial incentive to do so because cattle were sold per pound, and the same prices were obtained if they were well marbled or not, but in the mid-1990s the slaughterhouses began to pay off. or quality

Fifteen or so years ago, about half of Moore's crew considered and first-prioritized national average at that time. Today, thanks to DNA testing and Moneyball points, all the animals fall into top categories for marbled beef, with as many as 53% of those making top marks. "We started making progressive progress," he says. Then it began to click. "

If DNA tests show heifers, or young women, lack the ability to marble, Moore gets rid of them. Keepers are mated with bulls with high marbling scores. The resulting calves are raised until they are about one year old and between 700 and 800 pounds, then they are loaded into a feedlot in Kansas, where they stay for 160 to 190 days until they reach £ 1,400 or more.The animals go to a National Beef Co. packing factory in Dodge City, Kansas, and Moore Being paid at the time of each animal, based on quality, the meat is then marketed through the US Premium Beef, which has a number of brands including Certified Angus Beef.

"We are passionate about producing as high-quality steak as we possibly can Can produce, "Moore says." If a man and a wife go to a steakhouse and lay down $ 100 to eat and have a bad dining experience, they won't come back for a while. If it is juicy and tender and well prepared, they are much more suited to returning. "

More marbled steak has pushed prices down. The USDA Prime Biff sold $ 2,2458 a pound wholesale last year, the lowest since 2011. It compares to $ 2,0106 a pound for the USDA selected steak, which has little marbling.

Now choices cut once just found on white tablecloths steakhouses are available at the local grocery store.There is so much elit beef sloshing around these days, companies have taken to slapping fancy names on their products.There are 95 US certified gay brands today in Tyson Foods sells the president's Reserve and Open Prairie Natural Angus steak, JBS SA has 5 Star Reserve and 1855 Black Angus steak, while Democratization of steak has even reached Walmart, which upgraded to certified Angus steaks in 2017.

Science And maths have transformed the steak industry into less than a generation, but successful ranchers also know that a happy animal is just as important in creating delicious steaks. In his Arkansas area, Jim Moore does everything needed to Give the cattle the best shot by making the character. It includes feeding them well, making sure they go to the vet and always handling them carefully. "We keep them as calm as we possibly can," he says.

This article was written by Lydia Mulvany and Michael Hirtzer, journalists for Bloomberg.