Meat quality

Definitions

Steer - A castrated male cattle

Heifer - A female yet to have her first calf, generally <24-months

Live weight - The animal's weight at the time of slaughter

HSCW - Hot standard carcass weight - This is the weight of the animal's carcass after it has been dressed (skinned, head removed, innards removed, leg extremities removed) - This is what is butchered into the cuts of meat we are familiar with

Dress % - This is the proportion that the HSCW is of the live weight. This should be between 55-63% with a higher proportion indicating higher amounts of usable meat. However, you have to keep in mind a higher dress % due to too much fat means the butcher will need to trim much more of the fat off and the usable meat may not be indicative of the dress %.

Score - When meat is assessed, there are certain market targets that the carcass must meet (i.e. average fat cover over the carcass, meat pH, and colour). A carcass is then given a % or score out of 100 for how close that carcass comes to being an ideal or absolutely perfect carcass.  

P8 - This is an area at the top of the rump of cattle that gives a good indication of prime cut and general fat cover. Different classes (i.e. ages, sex, weights) will require different fat depths. For yearling steers (12-14 months old), particularly in a heavyweight class, a P8 fat cover of 8-13/15mm is required. 

12/13 rib - This is another area indicative of good fat cover. Between 5-10mm is required for yearling steers. 

EMA - Eye Muscle Area - The Eye Muscle is a prime cut in cattle that extends along their back from their hip to their shoulder, and is given an area measurement in square centimeters. When interpreting this, it can be good to look at the animal's frame and live weight to understand the proportional yield of an EMA.  

RMY % - This is the Red Meat Yield or proportion of the HSCW that is attributable to consumable meat (often accompanied by a trimmable fat yield %, but in this case, the TFY has been accounted for in the RMY).

Meat pH - This is the measure of acidity in the meat. The pH makes a major difference to meat taste and quality and is affected by a number of dietary variables, particularly the amount of glycogen in their diet, and cortisol levels at the time of slaughter. A pH between 5.3-5.7 is required. too high a pH will give the meat a very dark, almost purple colour, and will mean the meat is much coarser and retains too much moisture. A pH too low will give the meat too light a colour and it will have an acidic taste.  

Colour and Taste (C&T) - The meat and fat are then given a subjective score based on all the above parameters + colour to give an idea of the taste quality generally of the carcass

The Meat Standards Australia has available a great tool kit to better understand how beef is scored for quality and taste.  

Feed - Cattle are generally grass-fed (that is natural pasture grazing and/or silage/hay fed to supplement bulk grazing requirements), and/or can be supplemented with grain-based pelletized feed (DDG = Dried Distillers Grain) for additional energy and nutrient requirements. It is not uncommon for commercial market steers and heifers to be finished on pellets over 100 days before slaughter to ensure adequate fat depth and cover, protein, and vitamin intake.