Influence of Phenotypic Hide Color and Sex Condition on Beef Carcass Grading Performance and Value

The influence of hide color and sex on carcass grading performance and value was evaluated on 18,575 carcasses. Cattle exhibited color frequencies of black (50.0%), black-white face (10.6%), red (10.6%), red-white face (5.8%), gray (4.9%), yellow (4.7%), white (3.5%), Holstein (2.7%), striped (2.4%), yellow-white face (2.2%), gray-white face (1.4%), and spotted (1.3%) and sex frequencies of 83.5% steers and 16.5% heifers. Black cattle (black and black-white face) had greater (P < 0.01) s.c. fat (1.46 cm), hot carcass weight (HCW; 362.4 kg), KPH (2.38%), calculated YG (3.30), and marbling score (Small29) with less (P < 0.01) LM area (83.9 cm2) than did nonblack cattle (red, red-white face, gray, gray-white face, yellow, yellow-white face, white, striped, spotted, Holstein) (1.24 cm, 357.2 kg, 2.34%, 2.89, Small02, 86.9 cm2, respectively). Steers had less (P < 0.01) s.c. fat (1.18 cm), KPH (2.22%), calculated YG (2.83), and marbling score (Slight98) with greater (P < 0.01) HCW (372.3 kg) and LM area (89.4 cm2) than did heifers (1.37 cm, 2.47%, 3.11, Small19, 344.0  kg, 83.4 cm2, respectively). Black cattle had greater (P < 0.01) HCW discounts (-$1.32), YG discounts (-$2.46), and market value ($122.93) with less (P < 0.01) QG discounts (-$2.07) than did nonblack cattle (-$1.10, -$1.73, $122.49, -$3.46, respectively). Steers had less (P = 0.02) HCW discounts (-$0.97) and (P < 0.01) YG discounts (-$1.33) with greater (P < 0.01) QG discounts (-$3.68) than did heifers (-$1.43, -$2.30, -$2.56, respectively). The results suggest that the incentives to pay premiums for feeder cattle based on hide color diminish once the finished animal is in the carcass form and that steer and heifer carcasses have differing carcass characteristics that could warrant independent value-based marketing methods.