Beef Cattle Terms

As a beginner in the 4-H beef project, you may not know the meaning of some words that are used by older 4-H'ers and beef cattle producers in talking about their cattle. The following definitions should help you have a better understanding of some of these terms.

Abomasum: The fourth compartment of the stomach of a ruminant animal.
Annual: Plants which live for only one year.
Artificial Insemination: Placing semen into the reproductive tract of the female with the purpose of producing pregnancy.
Average Daily Gain (ADG): The weight gain during a feeding period divided by the number of days of the feeding period. For example, if a steer gained 300 pounds during a 100-day period, then its ADG is 3.0 pounds per day.
Backgrounding: The growing of calves after they are weaned until they are ready to go into a feedlot for finishing. During backgrounding, calves gain approximately 300 pounds. The calves' feed during this time should be either pasture, silage or hay.
Baldy: A dark-colored calf with a white face. A black baldy is typically the result of crossing Angus and Hereford cattle.
Bloom: The general appearance of a healthy, clean, lustrous hair coat.
Bovine: The species to which cattle belong.
Branding: Identifying cattle permanently with a hot brand or a cold brand.
Breed: A group of cattle with similar external characteristics (color markings, size, body and shape, horns, etc.) that are passed on from generation to generation.
Breeder: The owner of the cow (dam) of a calf at the time she was mated.
British Breeds: Hereford, Angus, Shorthorn introduced to the United States in 1800s and of British origin.
Brucellosis: An infectious, contagious disease that can cause abortions and reproductive failure in cattle, sheep and goats. It is commonly called Bang's disease. It also causes undulant fever in humans. See the NYS Department of Agriculture for more information about cattle diseases.
Bull: A male bovine with testicles intact (see steer).
Calves: Young cattle of either sex, less than one year of age.
Carbohydrates: These are the elements in a feed that provide energy for the animal.
Carcass: What is left after the head, hide, feet and internal organs have been removed from the animal.
Castrate: The surgical removal of the testicles of a young male calf.
Cattle: Animal belonging to the bovine species.
Characteristics: A trait, property or marking that distinguishes one breed from another.
Choice Grade: Slaughter grade of beef cattle which is desired most by people. It tells us that the beef should be tender, juicy, taste good and have little waste fat.
Clostridial diseases: These are acute infectious diseases which usually kill cattle. Unvaccinated cattle six to 24 months of age are most susceptible. There are four types of bacteria that cause these diseases. Clostridium chauvei causes blackleg; Clostridium Movyi causes black disease; Clostridium Septeceium causes malignant edema; and clostridium sordelli causes a severe muscle disease.
Concentrates: Feeds that are high in energy and low in fiber. Grains such as corn, wheat and barley are good examples of concentrates as well as most protein supplements.
Conformation: The general build of an animal influenced by muscling or structural shape.
Controlled Grazing: Any system that controls grazing patterns.
Cow: Female cattle that have produced one or more calves.
Creep-fed (creep-feeding): Providing feed to calves before they are weaned.
Crossing Breeding: The mating of two breeds to produce an offspring that has some characteristics of each of the parent breeds.
Crossbred: An animal with parents of different breeds.
Dam: The mother of a calf.
Dehorn: The removal of the horns of horned cattle.
Demand: Refers not only to a buyer/s desire to possess a certain volume, but also refers to willingness and ability to buy. Demand is good when buyers are more aggressive than usual, or when large or increased supplies bring prices that are the same or higher. Demand is poor when buyers are less aggressive than usual, or when decreased supplies are selling at prices that are the same or lower.
Deworm: Using a product to remove internal worms from cattle.
Disposition: The temper or mood of an animal.
Double Muscling: A condition in animals where all muscles in the body are enlarged. Double muscled animals usually have a low reproductive efficiency.
Dressing Percentage: Percentage of the live animal weight that becomes the carcass weight at slaughter. It is determined by dividing the carcass weight by the live weight then multiplying by 100.
Dry Cow: Refers to a non lactating female.
Dual Purpose Breed: A breed that is used to produce both milk and meat.
Dystocia: Difficult calving.
Ear Tag: Any of several types of tags which are clipped or anchored into the ears of cattle; may be used for identification or for insecticide application.
Electric Fence: Fencing which gives livestock an electric shock when they touch it.
EPD: Expected Progeny Difference. Predicts the performance of future progeny, the difference between the average in comparison to the caves of all other bulls evaluated in a breed summary.
Estrus: See (heat).
Exotic breeds: Breeds of cattle introduced into the United States in the mid l900s. Most had increased size and growth characteristics. Examples are Charolais, Chianina, Simmental, Limousin, and similar others.
External: Outside of the animal's body.
Feed Efficiency: The number of pounds gained per pound of rations fed.
Feedlot: A confinement unit, generally for finishing cattle.
Fiber: That part of a feed not easily digested by cattle.
Finished: A term indicating the animal is sufficiently fattened and grown out for slaughter.
Finishing: The phase of cattle production where cattle are fed high-concentrate diets to fatten them before slaughter.
Fly tag: An ear tag impregnated with an insecticide that controls certain kinds of flies.
Forage: A high fiber feed with relatively low nutrients for livestock, often made up of coarsely chopped stalks and leaves of corn mixed with hay, straw, and other plants.
Frame: This refers to the skeletal dimensions of cattle. The size and height a steer possesses. For example, large-framed cattle are taller than small-framed cattle.
Free-choice: Allowing cattle to consume as much as they desire of a particular feed or supplement.
Gene: A biologic unit of heredity contained in the chromosome, each of which controls the inheritance of one or more characteristics. It allows parents to pass their characteristics to their offspring.
Grade: A beef animal of unknown breed or breed combinations.
Grass Tetany: A mineral deficiency of grazing cattle that causes symptoms of muscle spasms.
Grooming: Washing and brushing to train a steer's hair coat in preparation for a show.
Grubs: The larvae of the heel fly; the fly lays eggs on cattle which hatch into larvae. The larvae burrow under the skin and eventually erupt along the back.

Heat: Also called estrus. The period of time when female cattle are receptive to breeding.
Heifers: Female cattle under 2 years of age, that have not calved.
High-tensile Fence: Smooth wire fence that is designed to be utilized in a fence that is maintained under relatively high tension.
Heritability: That part of a cow's performance that is influenced by the genes she received from her parents. The higher the heritability of a trait, the greater the rate of genetic improvement will be for that trait.
Identification tags: Ear tags with numbers or other symbols used to identify cattle.
Intensive grazing: Highly managed grazing.
Internal: Inside the animal's body.
Limit-fed: Feeding a measured amount of a feed or supplement.
Marbling: The intramuscular or flecks of fat that are distributed throughout the muscle. Marbling is the primary factor that influences quality grade.
Medicated feed: A feed or supplement which has an added ingredient such as an antibiotic or a dewormer.
Minerals: Feeds that are needed to build bones and teeth and are necessary for many chemical reactions to take place in the body. Some examples of minerals are limestone and calcium phosphate.
Nutrient: Any group of food components or parts that have the same general chemical composition and aid in the support of life.
Offspring: The young produced from the mating of a male and female animal.
Omasum: The third compartment of the ruminant stomach located between the reticulum and the abomasum. It grinds feedstuffs into smaller particles and absorbs water.
Paddock: An individual fenced unit within a grazing area.
Parturition: Another word for giving birth.
Pedigree: A paper that gives the name of the animal and its parents and grandparents. An ancestral family tree.
Perennial: A plant which lives for more than two years.
Phenotype: An animal's physical appearance.
Polled: Naturally hornless.
Polywire: A wire-polypropylene mesh wire that is designed for temporary electric fencing; often used for dividing paddocks in controlled, intensive grazing systems.
Preconditioning: A health and management program where cattle are weaned and worked through a health program prior to leaving the farm of origin, or before starting in a backgrounding or finishing program.
Price: The specific dollars and cents paid for a given grade and weight selection.
Probiotic: Microbial cultures which are administered to livestock to stimulate production or to speed recovery following stress or sickness.
Progeny: The offspring of an animal.
Prospect Steer: A 400- to 700-pound weanling calf selected for future show purposes.
Protein: Part of feed used to build muscles and hair and provides for necessary body processes.
Protein Supplement: A feed that contains a large amount of protein. Cottonseed meal and soybean meal are high in proteins.
Purebred: An animal whose parents are of the same breed and are recorded with the breed registry.
Quality Grade: An evaluation of eating quality based upon carcass marbling and maturity. Example USDA quality grades are Prime, Choice, Select and Standard.
Ration: The feed an animal eats in a 24 hour period, that provides optimum nutrients to the animal.
Registered: An animal that is offspring of registered parents, is recorded in a herd book of a recognized breed association and has a certificate that says the animal meets registration requirements.
Registration: The process of writing information about an animal in the official record book of a breed association.
Registry: An association of one pure breed of cattle designed to keep of official registrations of cattle and to regulate breed activities.
Reproductive Efficiency: A measure of a beef cow herd's ability to have calves. It takes into consideration rebreeding on schedule and number of calves weaned compared to number of cows that were in the herd during the breeding season.
Resistance: The ability to keep an animal from having a disease.
Reticulum (honeycomb): Another compartment of the ruminant stomach that retains foreign materials that could injure the digestive system. Functions are similar to the rumen.
Rotational grazing: A grazing system with pastures divided into sub units.
Roughage: Feeds high in fiber and low in nutrients that provide energy such as hay, grass or silage. The term "forage" has similar meaning.
Rumen: A compartment of the ruminant stomach where bacteria and protozoa break down. Also known as the fermentation vat.
Ruminants: Animals such as sheep, cattle, and goats which have stomachs divided into four parts and chew cuds.
Scours: Persistent diarrhea.
Self-feed: The practice of allowing an animal to run to a finishing feed all the time.
Semen: Fluid that contains sperm, the male reproductive cells.
Set-up: To position a steer’s feet properly with a show stick.
Show Stick: A metal or wooden stick about 4 1/2 feet long with a hook on the end used to position a steer's feet in the show ring.
Sire: The father of a calf.
Skeletal System: The supporting structure of an animal, made up of bones and cartilage.
Stag: Male cattle that were castrated after secondary sex characteristics developed. Stags appear "bullish". They are coarse at the head, crest and shoulder. Stags do not make good show steers.
Steers: Male cattle that are castrated before reaching sexual maturity.
Subcutaneous: Under the skin. Some injections are given under the skin.
Supply: The quantity available for current day’s market, including the carry over from the previous day.
Tattoo: Colored numbers or letters inside the ear for permanent identification.
TDN: (Total Digestible Nutrients) A value that indicates the relative energy value of a feed. The greater the value, the greater the energy content of the feed. The part of the feed that is digestible or usable by the animal.
Ultrasound: Using high-frequency sound waves to show visual outlines of internal body structures like organs, muscle and fat.
Uterus: Where the fetus, baby calf, develops during pregnancy.
Wean: To take a calf from its mother so it can no longer nurse. Calves are usually weaned at seven to nine months of age.
Weaning Ratio: A percentage figure for each calf, designed to help compare the adjusted 205-day weight of each calf to others in its group. A ratio of 90 means a calf is 10 percent below average, while a ratio of 110 would be 10 percent above average.
Weanling: A young calf of either sex, usually 6 to 9 months of age, that had been separated or "weaned" from its mother.
Weight Per Day of Age (WDA): The weight of the steer divided by its age in days.
Yield Grade: A number grade from 1 (best) to 5 (poorest) that is used to identify the amount of muscle the carcass contains in comparison to the amount of fat.
Vaccination: An injection of medicines which help prevent beef cattle from catching specific diseases. For example, cattle are often vaccinated for Blackleg, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, IBR=infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, BVD=bovine viral diarrhea, PI3=parainfluenza3 and BRSV = bovine respiratory syncytial virus. For more information, contact your regional or State veterinarian.
Vitamins: Food substances that are necessary in small amounts to assist in metabolic processes in the animal’s body.
Yearling: Heifer steer or bull between one and two years old.