AMES — The 5th annual Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA) carcass challenge is off to a good start. A total of 55 steers, donated by cattlemen and friends of the industry across the state, were delivered to Amana Farms on Nov. 10 .
The steers were vaccinated with booster vaccines, retagged and weighed. The carcass challenge steers will be allowed a two-week warmup to help remove the shrink factor from the haul to the feedyard and to allow the steers time to acclimate to the new feed ration and environment. Official on-test weights and carcass ultrasounds were taken on Wednesday.
All steers will be ranked in two categories: efficiency and carcass quality. Steers will be ranked on the “retail value per days on feed” category, which scores the steers on their profitability in the feedyard based on carcass characteristics and feed conversion. The “carcass merit” category ranks steers solely on grid price per pound, with discount allowances for small ribeye areas, low average daily gain and excessive trimming. The top five in each category receive an award and recognition during the awards banquet.
In addition, individual awards will be given to the steers with the highest average daily gain, largest rib eye area and the top marbling score. The chef award will recognize the 12- to 14-inch ribeye with the highest marbling score.
ICA thanks this year’s carcass challenge steer donors and sponsors. The proceeds from their generous donations help drive educational and leadership opportunities for ICA members, such as the Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program and ICA feedlot and cow-calf forums.
To view photos of this year's steers, visit the ICA Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/IowaCattlemensAssociation.
Some of the donors and sponsors were from the local area and include Adams County Cattlemen; Madison County Cattlemen – Dan Hanrahan, SP Genetics and SJS Cattle; and Ryan and Alle Bailey of Diagonal.