Grade Choice Choice U.S. #1
Live weight, lbs 1000 100 220
Dressed carcass, lbs 600 50 155
Retail cuts, lbs 420 35 125
By-products, lbs
Hide or pelt 80 15 --
Edible fats 110 9 35
Variety Meats 38 3 9
Blood 40 5 9
Inedible fats, bone,
and meat scraps, lbs 175 22 18
Unaccounted items
(stomach contents,
shrink, etc.) 140 11 26
Edible meat by-products
Raw by-product Principal use
Brains Variety meat
Liver Variety meat
Heart Variety meat
Kidneys Variety meat
Spleen (melt) Variety meat
Sweetbreads Variety meat
Tongue Variety meat
Oxtails Variety meat
Cheek and head trimmings Sausage ingredient
Beef extract Soups and bouillion
Blood Sausage component
Stomach
(a) Suckling calves Rennet for cheesemaking
(b) Pork Sausage container, ingredient
(c) Beef (1st and 2nd) Sausage ingredient, tripe
Bones Gelatin for confectioneries, ice cream,
and jellied food products
Fats
(a) Cattle, calves, lambs & sheep Shortening, candies, chewing gum
(b) Pork Shortening (lard)
Intestines, small Sausage casings
Intestines, large (pork) Chitterlings
Intestines, large Sausage casings
Esophagus (weasand) Sausage ingredient
Pork skins Gelatin for confectioneries, ice cream,
and jellied food products; french fried pork skins
Calf skin trimmings Gelatin for confectioneries, ice cream,
and jellied food products
Inedible meat by-products
| Raw by-product |
Processed by-product |
Principal use |
Hide
(cattle and
calves) |
Leather and glue |
numerous leather goods
paper boxes
sandpaper
plywood |
| Hair |
felts
plaster binder
uphostery |
| Pork skins |
Tanned skin |
leather goods |
| Pelts |
Wool |
textiles |
| Skin |
leather goods |
| Lanolin |
ointments |
| Fats |
Inedible tallow |
industrial oils
lubricants
glycerin |
Tankage
Cracklings
Stick |
livestock and poultry feeds |
| Grease |
industrial oils
animal feeds |
| Bones |
Dry bone |
glue
hardening steel |
| Bone meal |
animal feed
fertilizer |
| Blood albumen |
leather preparations
textile sizing |
| Cattle feet |
Neatsfoot stock |
fine lubricants |
| Neatsfoot oil |
leather preparations |
| Glands |
Pharmaceuticals |
medicines |
| Enzyme preparations |
industrial uses |
| Lungs |
|
pet foods |
Hides, Skins and Pelts
Origin Classification Weight, lbs
Unborn calf Slunk skin Less than 9
Calf Light skin calf 9 to 15
Heavy skin calf 15 to 24
Kip skin 24 to 31
Overweight kip skin 31 to 35
Cow Light cow hide Less than 53
Heavy cow hide Greater than 53
Steer Extra light steer hide Less than 48
Light steer hide 48 to 57
Heavy steer hide Greater than 57
Bull Bull hide 60 to 120 plus
Stag Accepted as steer or bull depending upon characteristics
Brands
Native Unbranded (most valuable)
Butt branded Branded on hip
Colorado branded Branded on side (least valuable)
Pelts
Classification Wool length, inches
Shearlings 1 1/2 to 1
Shearlings 2 1/4 to 1/2
Shearlings 3 1/8 to 1/4
Shearlings 4 less than 1/8
Fall clips 1 to 1-1/2
Wool pelts greater than 1-1/2
Tallows and Greases
Titer -- congealing or solidification point of the fatty acids in the fat.
Tallow -- fat having a titer above 40 C.
Grease -- fat having a titer below 40 C.
Dry rendering process -- fatty tissues are placed in horizontal, steam-jacketed
cylinders equipped with sets of internal rotating blades. Fat cells are ruptured,
and the melted fat is released from the supporting tissues. When sufficient
moisture has cooked out, the mixture is filtered or strained to remove the
cracklings from the rendered tallow or grease.
Animal Feeds and Fertilizers
Dried blood (blood meal) -- made by coagulating fresh blood with steam, draining
off the liquid, and drying the coagulum.
Meat meal -- made from the proteinaceous materials from the inedible rendering
process.
Steamed bone meal -- made by cooking bones with steam, under a high pressure,
in order to remove any fat and meat that may be left on them.
Gelatin and Glue
Gelatin -- made from skins or hides, connective tissues, cartilage, and bones
of cattle and calves. Cooking in water converts the collagen in these materials
to gelatin.
Glue -- made from the same items as gelatin, but is extracted from these
materials by successive heatings in water under specific temperature conditions.
Pharmaceuticals
Glands
Adrenal -- epinephrine is extracted from the adrenal medulla and adrinocortical
extract from the adrenal cortex.
Ovaries -- used as a source of estrogens and progesterone.
Pancreas -- yields insulin and trypsin.
Parathyroid -- parathyroid hormone extract is used to prevent large scale
muscular rigidity.
Pituitary -- source of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone).
Testes -- source of hyaluronidase.
Thyroid -- source of thyroxine and calcitonin.
Tissues and Organs
Blood -- source of albumin and amino acids.
Bone -- source of calcium and phosphorous.
Intestines -- surgical sutures and condoms.
Liver -- liver extracts and bile extract, which can be used to make cortisone.
Lungs -- heparin
Spinal cord -- source of cholesterol, which is used to manufacture vitamin D.
Stomach -- rennet (from calves), mucin (from pigs), and pepsin (from pigs).
Other by-products
Fetal calf blood -- used for cancer and AIDS research.
Aorta values -- for replacement of defective human heart values.
Fetal pigs -- used for biology teaching.
Gall stones -- sold as aphrodisiacs in the Far East.
© S.A. McCall