Good Morning List Friends,
These are links to press releases from Mississippi state and Texas A&M
respectively. They tell of research done at TAM which showed that
excitable cattle, measured by the exit speed from a working chute, were
more likely to produce tough steaks.
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article2593.htmlhttp://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/ANSC/Apr0504a.htm
An interesting, objective, way to measure temperament. From my
anecdotal observations from years ago, the temperament is probably both
a genetic and a conditioned response. This is a good argument for
"quiet handling practices". It also suggests that selection for a
quiet temperament in the breeding herd may may not only make handling
less stressful for the operator but also result in more tender steaks
for the consumer.
Regards
Ross Gould, P.Ag. Retired
Calgary, Alberta
P.S. - A bit of trivia: I first found this as a news item in this
morning's Globe and Mail, Tuesday, April 13, page A7. I then put the
authors' names and "Temperamental Cattle" into a Google search to find
the above links. Isn't Google amazing 8-) .
