Denise Schwab, interim IBC director column
June 2025
In addition to making hay and spraying fields, June kicks off county fair and carcass contest season. The ICA Carcass Challenge results will be announced at their banquet on June 11, and county fairs kick off about mid June. If your kids or grandkids are 4-H or FFA age, you know how important the county and state fair are, and how tiring it can be for the adults in their life! But what if your kids are grown, or aren’t yet old enough to compete?
You can still play a significant role in encouraging and educating the beef youngsters in your county. Yes, volunteers and sponsors are always needed, but more importantly you can help youngsters understand the real product we are producing and wanting them to learn about – producing safe, wholesome, high quality food for consumers.
Educate youth about carcass merit and measurements. If your county doesn’t already have a carcass contest, work with your Extension beef specialist and county staff to get one started. We have several opportunities to work with Tyson Fresh Meats at Dakota City and Joslin to help coordinate that process. As you know collecting actual carcass data isn’t cheap, so plan for $5-25 per head for the data, plus the costs of transportation to the plant, EID tags, etc. County Cattlemen groups often help offset some of these costs for youth exhibitors.
Counties that have either an ultrasound or actual carcass contest usually rank cattle based on the Carcass Value per Day on Feed (CVDOF) formula. This formula can sometimes be challenging for youth (and adults) to understand, since there isn’t a single dominant factor in the formula, but it is based on multiple performance traits. I try to explain it as trying to find the steers that do best in multiple areas (gain, muscle development, marbling) for the current pricing structure instead of the animal that excels in only one area. We continue to get questions on whether this is the best formula for ranking cattle, but in 2009 ISU evaluated this formula against data from 410 feedout groups representing 29,389 head from the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity Cooperative. All feedout groups were calculated for feedlot profit using standardized feed and yardage costs, yet using their actual health treatment costs and miscellaneous costs. CVDOF is calculated using carcass weight gain per day during the feeding period and adjusting that for red meat yield using the percent retail product equation. This result is then put on a monetary basis by using a carcass price adjusted for carcass quality and yield grade. CVDOF, when tested for its relationship to feedlot profitability was highly significant and accounted for 74 percent of the variation in profit, so it does a great job at evaluating the profitability of each individual animal.
It is good for producers to compete in these contests as well to collect more information on your current genetics and management. Several counties have open class contests for producers included Benton, Clinton, Dubuque, Iowa, Jackson, Kossuth, Madison and Scott. Many of these are open to any producer, not just those in that county. Since we don’t have beginning weights on open class steers they are placed on a formula for Carcass Value per hundredweight of carcass weight.
If you are interested in competing in a carcass contest this summer, contact your beef specialist or any of the county cattlemen group listed above. If you are interested in more information for next year’s Carcass Challenge, contact Joe DeVries.
Watch for upcoming pasture walks and forage programs in your area. If you aren’t already receiving our Growing Beef newsletter sign up at https://go.iastate.edu/UIQJTM or by clicking the QR code.
If you aren’t already receiving Growing Beef, sign up at https://go.iastate.edu/UIQJTM or by clicking the QR code.
The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
