Live animal performance and carcass characteristics of bulls versus steers

"Consumers, increasingly, are expressing a preference for beef cuts with a high proportion of lean in relation to fat. The continued increase in consumption of beef of the Choice and Good grades suggests a preference for beef with desirable eating qualities. The production of quality lean beef is a goal that involves many aspects of animal production including breeding, feeding and management. The trend toward leaner beef carcasses and more efficient feedlot performance has focused atterition on the effect of age at the time of castration on feedlot efficiency and carcass meatiness and quality. Since the early 1950's, several reports have suggested that young bulls gain faster and more efficiently than comparable steers and that the bullock carcasses yield a greater percentage of retail cuts. Reports also indicated that the meat from young bulls was similar in palatability to meat from steers of similar age and breeding. The objectives of this study were to compare the feedlot performance, qualitative and quantitative carcass characteristics of beef produced from Hereford bulls, crossbred bulls, Hereford steers castrated at 205 days, crossbred steers castrated at 205 days, and crossbred steers castrated at birth."--Introduction.