Day 069 - 19 Dec 94 - Page 51


     
     1
     2   Q.   How old did you say the cattle were when they got sent to
     3        feed lots?
     4        A.  The feed lots?
     5
     6   Q.   Yes.
     7        A.  It would change.  It depends; in every country, it
     8        depends on the condition of the animal, again, under the
     9        same conditions.  They go to the feed lots to be what they
    10        call "finished", to put up a wider fat that will give you a
    11        slightly different taste.
    12
    13   Q.   To fatten them up?
    14        A.  That is your interpretation as to "finish".  The right
    15        technical term is to "finish them up".
    16
    17   Q.   So you explain to me exactly what happens in terms of the
    18        meat when you are "finishing them up"?
    19        A.  You want an explanation?
    20
    21   Q.   Yes.
    22        A.  OK.  The animal grows.  It is fed a high energy diet.
    23        It would depend on every country, so I am going to use the
    24        US as an example.  Animals would come and they are
    25        selected.  They will not represent just a regular farm.
    26        They are selected for a specific weight, breed, size; and
    27        they will come from certain conditions in the US, from
    28        areas where they have been fed a high quality grass.
    29
    30        It comes into the feed lot weighing about 650lbs.  It will
    31        stay in the feed lot for about 110, 120, and you can have
    32        plus or minus a few days, depending on the needs of the
    33        feed lot and the supply of the market and the price, and so
    34        on and so forth.  It will end up at about 1,000lbs, the
    35        finished weight.  Obviously, the animal grows at a faster
    36        rate, just like it would have taken a longer time on the
    37        grass or a high energy diet, under grass conditions.  The
    38        purpose of the feed lot is to speed up that process.
    39
    40        In the US, the normal age of an animal that is selected to
    41        go to a feed lot is about two to three years -- the
    42        majority.  Then you have all kinds of ages, but majority is
    43        about that age.
    44
    45        The quality of the meat, it is the deposit, you would see
    46        it as a marbling.  Marbling is fat that is distributed
    47        throughout the meat.  Under those conditions, it will
    48        deposit a fat, as well as lean and weight, in general,
    49        because the animal continues to grow on a nutritionally
    50        balanced diet. 
    51 
    52   Q.   In proportion to the protein, the fat content would 
    53        increase?
    54        A.  Would what?
    55
    56   Q.   Increase?
    57        A.  It would depend.  Yes, it will increase, just as well
    58        as you would increase all animals with age, tend to have a
    59        tendency to increase the fat proportion -- including
    60        humans; we gain weight with age.

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