By DON STONEMAN

Ultrasound just took a giant step  towards helping
beef producers make genetic selection decisions. 
Calgary-based Canadian Beef Improvement Inc. (CBI)
has launched a group  of technological advances it
says are unavailable elsewhere in the world.
The implications of a new
internationally-recognized ultrasound program are
enormous for the beef industry, says Ken
Aylesworth, CBI executive director.
"This new service is a major milestone in beef
genetic management for profit," Aylesworth says.
Because it provides a live animal carcass
evaluation early in life it means the industry can
predict the genetic potential of an animal much
earlier than in the past and more accurately.
To produce an ultrasound reading, a technician
places a probe across the animal's back over the
12th and 13th rib. In a few seconds an image of the
carcass section is projected onto a screen. The
information is available instantly and can be
transferred to a computer, and printed out at the
end of the day. In good handling setups, where
cattle go through chutes quickly, two technicians
can handle as many as 400 animals a day.
Technicians operating the service are certified by
the Beef Improvement Federation, the
internationally-recognized body that sets standards
for beef ultrasound; that means CBI Ultrasound
readings are recognized around the world.
Beef Improvement Ontario (BIO) will be taking part
in this scheme, says its past-president, Hilbert
Van Ankum, a Wingham-area purebred producer and a
director on CBI.
BIO has offered its own ultrasound measurement
service for a while, measuring ribeye size and
backfat information to producers. The Western
technology offered by CBI is more advanced, Van
Ankum says: "We are interested in offering that
technology in Ontario. Nothing has been inked yet."
The Ontario system takes measurements at a bull
test station and records it on either tape or disk
which is taken to the BIO office. There, it is
projected onto a screen where the ribeye of an
animal is outlined and measured.
With the Western technology, "you can do this at
the chute side and press the button and get the
calculation," Van Ankum explains. The CBI
Ultrasound also measures the percentage of
intramuscular fat, the live animal equivalent of
the marbling score at the packing house.
A reading on a live animal  "makes a very
interesting selection criteria," Van Ankum says.
"The marbling component is very important." Van
Ankum says packers find they can move beef on the
basis of marbling, since retailers associate
marbling with tenderness.
"I have some concerns that way," he told Farm &
Country. While marbling is highly touted as a
predicter of tenderness, his feeling is that youth
is more of an indicator.
The province's BioLink program is at the point now
where packers can tell how old an animal is when it
passes through the plant, he says. So the industry
may be covered that way as well.  
While BioLink is mostly used by seedstock
operators, Van Ankum says some of the larger herd
owners, who take the trouble to record birth dates
and sire and dams, are using it as well.  "I  think
this is the trend," he says. 
BIO's Scott Bothwell points out that CBI's
Ultrasound is not the final breakthrough in the
technology. If someone comes out with a package
that is totally automated, the industry will lean
towards that.
BIO has plans for a deal with CBI to develop
expected progeny differences for them nationally.
While it won't be a big money maker, it will spread
BIO's overhead in investment, expertise and product
development over more cattle. At press time,
signing of the number-crunching deal was imminent.

   

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