Gruver Area Feeders Win Top
Slot In TCFA Beef Challenge

AMARILLO — In an industry often criticized for a lack of uniformity, the cattle in the 1997 Texas Cattle Feeders Association’s Fed Beef Challenge showed improvement in that attribute over past years.

"The judges said this year's cattle were more uniform than in other years," says Sam Stevenson, TCFA Challenge coordinator.

David Lust of West Texas A&M University and Sam Jackson of Texas Tech were this year's judges.

Vance Morris and Sons Stock Farm of Gruver, Texas, won the grand champion carcass class, and C Bar Feedyard of Plainview consigned the first place pen of steers and the first place pen of heifers. Carson County Feedyard of Panhandle had the second place pen of steers and Keeling Cattle Company of Hereford the third place pen of steers. Wes-Tex Feedyard of Muleshoe, entered the second place pen of heifers, XIT Feedyards of Dalhart the third place pen of heifers.

For more than a quarter century, says TCFA spokesman Burt Rutherford, the Fed Beef Challenge has pitted the efforts of competing feedyard managers to produce and select cattle for today's consumer.

Winners are determined by carcass merit.

This year 29 feedyards entered 48 pens of three head each. There were 12 pens of heifers and 36 pens of steers.

Stevenson says the bulk of the carcasses fell into high Select and low Choice catagories.

"It’s harder to make Choice calves than you really think," Stevenson notes.

Two percent of the entries were high Choice, 13 percent were Choice, 35 percent low Choice, 46 percent were Select, and three percent were Standards.

The animals were evaluated using the TCFA Fed Beef Index, which includes ribeye area, backfat thickness, kidney, pelvic and heart fat, and quality grade. USDA supervisory graders measured the backfat, KPH and quality grade, and ribeye areas were measured by West Texas A&M meat science students.

IBP bought all the carcasses based on hot carcass weight, quality and yield grade.

In addition to the carcass show, feedyard managers, college students and the public make live evaluations on the day the cattle arrive. Although the winners of the live evaluation won't be announced until the association's annual convention in November, Stevenson says the scores were much more accurate this year than they were in 1996.

"We have a lot of scores higher than the winner last year," Stevenson notes.

The winner of the live evaluation is awarded a trophy saddle and a Kenneth Wyatt pewter sculpture. Cash awards and trophies for the live evaluations and carcass competition will be presented Nov. 17 during the TCFA annual convention in Austin.