Very interesting editorial and article in the Jan/Feb issue of Drovers magazine on the financial losses due to liver abscesses in cattle slaughtered for beef.

Referring to a Texas A&M study and new follow-up research at Kansas State, Texas Tech and A&M, of the  271,436 carcasses evaluated, livers were condemned due to abscesses in:

   - 26% of Beef Breed Steers

   -  29% of Holstein Steers and

   - 68% of Beef on Dairy Cross Steers

One obvious question is "why do abscesses matter" and another is "why the difference?"

The editorial was followed (on page 8) by the excellent article 'One Black Mark' which describes how liver abscesses can rupture and contaminate other tissue on the slaughter production line causing expensive ("$3,000/minute") line stoppages to clean/sanitize equipment.

The article says current practice is to add antibiotics to feed to try to minimize these abscesses, but that prophylactic use of antibiotics has its own issues such as the issue of microbial resistance due to antibiotics in food animals.

The article talks about how researchers believe the abscesses are related to an "acidosis-rumenitis-liver abscess complex". Acidosis being caused by "inadequate roughage in the [feedlot] diet" and "long duration at the feedlot stage".

The article also states research is planned to confirm this and find non-antibiotic alternative treatments.

The article does suggest that the "2 to 3 times more abscesses" in Beef-on-Dairy crosses compared to Beef breed crosses seems to be due to the beef-on-dairy being fed differently and longer.

Here in Wisconsin many small farms convert from dairy to beef when they sell the dairy cows. At the same time many large dairies are breeding their Holstein cows to Angus bulls, to try to increase the value of those bull calves (and maybe try for that Holy Grail of the CAB premium at the sale barn?).

It would seem likely that in many cases these steers are likely being fed more aggressively & lower roughage diets. And for the Angus-on-Holstein crosses especially, for longer duration, to try to produce a beef breed type of animal that the processors want.

Thanks to Drovers magazine for their Jan/Feb 24 issue.