As lots of you might be doubtless conscious, the birthplace of carcass ultrasound to be used within the purebred cattle enterprise started at Iowa State College within the late ’90s. The primary “CUP” Lab, which stands for Centralized Ultrasound Processing, was operated within the basement of Kildee Corridor. The enterprise shortly outgrew the capabilities of the analysis college setting. Not solely was the demand for information sturdy, however the turnaround time anticipated by breeders was merely greater than a gaggle of graduate college students may deal with. Inside 5 years, most breed associations had jumped on board and the enterprise had been outsourced from the college.
Quick-forward to in the present day the place there are three labs within the U.S. with roughly 125 technicians gathering photographs on farms nationwide, and the info is used globally throughout just about all segments of the meat business. Satirically, these numbers have really remained fairly fixed for the previous twenty years. The identical three labs and a important mass of technicians have served the business fairly nicely for a while. So why this text then?
Nicely, in 2017, two new ultrasound machine applied sciences entered the market. There had been others prior to now, however none of them gathered important market share, so that they shortly went away. These two platforms, the Evo and the ExaGo, marked the primary digital programs in use. It was like going from bunny ears tv to livestreaming in your good TV. The traits of curiosity (ribeye space, again fats, and marbling) didn’t change, nor did the tactic of gathering them. What did change had been the consistency from machine to machine, and the prediction fashions for IMF (intramuscular fats) or marbling.
In all probability the extra important change that occurred over the identical time interval (1998-2018) was the CATTLE. The unique analysis that generated carcass ultrasound know-how was largely carried out on Selection-Choose cattle, or an IMF vary of two.0-9.0%. Now, it’s not unusual to seek out yearling cattle with 14+% IMF. The newer know-how seems to be extra correct on high-grading cattle, largely as a result of the prediction fashions had been developed and examined on extra USDA Prime carcasses.
These new platforms are also much less liable to issues like electrical interference, which may create “noise” in a picture which will trigger an over-inflation of the IMF worth. All mentioned, there’s purpose to imagine the ultrasound information being generated in the present day is extra correct to the true carcass worth of the animal than when the know-how was first launched. And that is, roughly, what you’d count on from a know-how firm: higher and quicker data.
As a breeder or bull purchaser, it is usually vital to notice that technicians have adopted this new know-how very quickly. Many techs already had been seeking to improve tools. The outdated platforms had been now not being manufactured and even serviced, and components had been unimaginable to seek out. Because of this, the ultrasound information below your nostril in a bull sale catalog could also be generated by a special machine than what you noticed final 12 months. Likewise, you additionally might discover a change within the group common IMF worth and/or the ratios. All this stuff are potential, however even when the numbers are decrease it does not imply there’s one thing flawed or that by some means the cattle are simply worse than a 12 months in the past. Research EPDs first, and also you’ll nonetheless land on the very best genetics for these traits.
The Ultrasound Tips Council (UGC) is an business board organized by the breed associations within the U.S. It’s charged with setting the rules and requirements for together with ultrasound information in genetic evaluations for pedigreed cattle. This group has spent the previous 5 years testing each machine presently in use nationwide. The decision? Carcass ultrasound information is extra correct, extra constant, and extra dependable than it ever has been.
