The importance of knowing how to grade slaughter livestock

By Shane Brody | 5 October 2024 | 7:00 am

Whether you’re a big or small producer, knowing how to grade your livestock is essential for the profitability of your business, writes Shane Brody.

After 30 or so years in commercial farming and having been a buyer of livestock for abattoirs and for my own livestock speculation business and butchery enterprises, I learnt some valuable lessons about ascertaining the grade of livestock when it comes to what is desirable to the red meat markets.

Essentially, buying livestock that doesn’t make the ‘slaughter grade’ can be a costly exercise for you as a buyer who works on commission, and for the enterprises that you’re buying for.

For example, if a client wants 500 mutton carcasses with a fat grade of ‘2’ or ‘3’, which are the most desirable grades sought by consumers, and you as a buyer make a mistake by purchasing leaner ‘1’ grade animals that are less desirable to consumers as these animals don’t have sufficient body fat covering, the loss to your customer can be as much as R200 per sheep.

This, considering that 500 sheep were requested, can result in an overall loss of R100 000.

Worse is that your client was needing these sheep carcasses to fill their supermarket or butchery fridges, and you as the buyer let them down – this can detrimentally affect the customer’s business and give you a bad name as a buyer.

You may not be a livestock buyer, but as a farmer, you will still be paid considerably less if your livestock aren’t in good bodily condition.

Knowing how to grade livestock is essential for the profitability of your business – whether you’re a big or small producer.

Sheep

Often, sheep put up for sale may have some wool covering and this makes visual appraisal a bit trickier. Under such circumstances, you need to run your four fingers horizontally across the animal’s back (in the centre of the back), and if the spine is clearly felt, this animal will more than likely not make the slaughter grade.

You should also run your fingers horizontally across the ribcage – if you feel rib protrusions, the sheep is probably not ready for slaughter. The same for hip bones – if you palpate these bones and distinct knobs are felt, the sheep isn’t ready for slaughter.

A broad and ‘full’ brisket bone (the protrusion between the front legs) is an indication that a sheep is fat and will make the desired slaughter grade.

Cattle

Cattle are easier to grade than sheep with wool covering, and here you can rub the body to feel for the above-mentioned pointers if you wish. But certain things are easily noticed by visual inspection.

Again, clearly visible ribs, protruding hip bones, a thin rather than a broad brisket bone, and a visible spine bone are pointers that a cow or ox isn’t fat enough to make a desirable slaughter grade.

Oxen are more difficult to grade than cows because cows have more female hormones and, therefore, may have more evenly distributed subcutaneous (under the hide) body fat. This makes them more predisposed to accumulating valuable body fat coverage.

Sometimes an ox looks fat because it may have a full and extended stomach, and having more male hormones allows the animal to look bulkier than a cow.

For rating cattle, a full and broader brisket bone (rather than a thin flap) and broadness and bulkiness at the base of the tail (where it protrudes from the hindquarters) is a tell-tale sign of the desired fat grade.

Very fat oxen may also show fat and bulkiness, not unlike a heifer’s udder, in the sack that once held the testicles prior to castration. A fat animal should look generally ‘rounded’, without any clear bone shape showing under the skin.

Very fat animals often seem to have what seem like lumps and swellings on their sides and hindquarters, and usually they will show no protrusion of bones whatsoever.

I have listed general aspects to look for when grading slaughter stock, but some breeds can be deceiving. You should also remember that bulls sell at a totally different price to oxen and cows because their meat is generally tough, and because of excessive male hormones, they seldom have good fat covering.

Bull meat is mostly used as ‘factory beef’ and will primarily be used for cheaper cuts such as mince, stewing beef, or processed meat products.

Generally, fat and slaughter-ready animals will also ‘look’ good and will often have shiny coats in the case of cattle and sheep.

Slaughter-ready goats will generally look healthy without having any wool or skin imperfections.