Glossary © Nol Ward

Aged beef (early 20th century definition) - Meat that is produced out of cattle that have reached maturity and are no longer growing additional carcass and are fattened on grass. Aged beef (late 20th century and early 21st century definition) - Meat that, after slaughter and prior to processing, has been held in storage for 10 to 28 days or more at a specified temperature and humidity. The meat may be grassfed or grainfed and out of cattle of any age, weight, or size. Adapted cattle - Cattle most suited to their environment. Animal unit - A 1,000 lb. (450 kg) beef cow with or without a nursing calf and having a daily requirement of 26 lbs. (11.8 kg) of dry matter forage. Animal unit equivalent - The calculated difference an animal of a different weight would exceed or fall below the standardized measurement of an animal unit. Breed (used as a noun) - A population of domestic animals (cattle, horses, sheep, goats)that are maintained by controlled propagation and have common ancestors and certain distinguishable characteristics. Breed (used as a verb) - Causing to reproduce, especially by controlled mating and selection. May also mean to mate with. Business cycle - The economic upturn and downturn in the economy driven by demand and supply. Characterized by recession or depression, recovery and expansion followed by another round of either recession or depression. Capital - The properties in natural resources, buildings, equipment, and other materials needed to develop and distribute goods and services. Carcass merit - Those qualities reflecting a carcass that produces a high percentage of red meat that is desirable in palatability. Two measures are generally used to predict merit. Red-meat percent, which is predicted by USDA yield grade, and palatability, which is predicted by USDA quality grade (determined primarily by marbling). Yield grade is highly accurate for its purpose. Quality grade is not. Carrying capacity - The maximum number or weight of grazing and browsing animals that a particular parcel of rangeland can sustain indefinitely. Cattle cycle - The period from one peak (or valley) to the next peak (or valley) in cattle numbers and prices. Cattle cycles in the U.S. average about 10 years. Number cycles and price cycles tend to be negatively related. Closed population - A herd or goup of herds that are totally closed to outside genetic influence, both males and females. Closed breeding system - A breeding system where the dam and sire replacements for a breeding unit comes from the cattle raised within that breeding unit. Genetic types for a closed breeding system should generally be moderate in production characteristics, without extremes. Composite - A population created by crossing cattle according to a predetermined breed percentage. The purpose in most cases is to create a favorable genetic combination that can be perpetuated without further crossbreeding and to maintain some degree of hybrid vigor. The percentage of breed influence in a composite may be intentional changed from time to time for the purpose of maintaining a certain desired level of hybrid vigor and/or for the purpose of responding to changes in genetic objectives. Commodity - A massed produced, unspecialized product for commercial trade. Contemporary group - A set of cattle of the same sex and of approximately the same age managed under the same conditions. Comparisons of performance are most accurate when made within a contemporary group. Cooperative - A confederated ranching enterprise organized for the purpose of improving the profitability and sustainability of cooperating producers. Cross-breeding - A mating system in which two or more breeds are combined. Deflation - A decrease in the average level of prices of goods and services. Depression - A period of several straight years of reduced output and or income. Drought - A prolonged period of dry weather sometimes defined by a precipitation less than 75% of average. Economy of scale - Reductions in minimum average costs and improvements in biological viability that comes about through increases in size of operation. Environment - In beef cattle management terminology, refers to any non-genetic influence on phenotype, such as climate, nutrition, disease, etc. In ecological terminology, refers to a composite of physical, chemical, and biotic factors (as climate, soil, and living things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival. Extensively managed native pasture - Any pasture land consisting of indigenous plant species that do not require input in irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, fossil fuel, and farm machinery to be productive. (Opposite of intensively managed tame pasture) Extensive ranching - A method of ranching in which large areas of land is utilized with minimum outlay in capital and labor. Sometimes referred to as low-input ranching. F1 - The first generation of progeny from the crossing of two breeds. Feedyard - An enclosure where livestock, sometimes in the thousands, are intensively held for feeding and other husbandry reasons. Fixed costs - Refers to expenses that do not vary with the level of production. Foundation herd - A group of cattle that are selected for use as breeding stock in the initial development stage of a strain. May also refer to cattle that form the genetic base of a long-term breeding program. Forage - Refers to plants fed on by livestock and wildlife. Functionally superior cattle - A term used to characterize cattle that have the ability to go about their assigned task without requiring special care or pampering and perform their assigned task in a highly acceptable manner. General-purpose - Any cattle of any strain or cross that are selected on the basis of traits that relate to reproduction and maternal ability -- in a balanced relationship -- with traits that determine body size, growth, visual appearance and carcass merit. General-purpose cattle are the most suitable type of cattle for a continuous breeding system. Hardiness - Refers to an animal's ability to be productive under or withstand adverse ranching conditions. Inbreeding - A mating system in which mates are more closely related genetically than the average of the population in which they belong. Industrial agriculture - A process of maximizing the production of food, feed, and fiber. The process is highly dependent, directly or indirectly, on governmental subsidies to producers and the availability of inexpensive oil to make pesticides and fertilizers and run machines which to grow and harvest crops. Other characteristics of the process include High intensive use of land, plants, animals, and water Altered natural landscapes Highly specialized operations High risk to unforeseen changes in economic, biological, and climatic conditions Hybridization of plants and animals High use of recombinant DNA technology High investment in infrastructure Oligopsonistic (industry controlled) markets Low financial returns to producers High financial returns to input suppliers Temporary cheap food for consumers Natural resource degrading Environmentally polluting Inflation - The annual rate of increase in the average price level. Infrastructure - The underlying foundation or basic framework of a system or organization. Intensively managed tame pasture - Any pasture land consisting of non-indigenous plant species that require input in irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, fossil fuel, and farm machinery to be productive. (opposite of extensively managed native pasture) Intensive ranching - A method of ranching that is designed to increase productivity by the expenditure of more capital and labor. Sometimes referred to as industrial ranching. Libido - Characteristics that relate to an animal's sexual drive or desire. Light stocking - Stocking a parcel of rangeland land at 60 to 70% of its carrying capacity. Line-breeding - A mating system that allows maintaining a high relationship to outstanding ancestors while keeping inbreeding as low as possible. Maternal - Characteristics of the brood female that affect the well being of her offspring, such as birthing ease, milking ability, and protectiveness. Maternal breed - A breed which is selected for its reproductive and adaptive traits. Native pasture - Any pastureland primarily consisting of indigenous plant species. (Opposite of tame pasture) Oligopsonistic market - A market in which a handful of buyers, in collusion or not, set prices. Out-crossing - The mating of animals less related genetically than the average of the population. Organic meat - Meat that has not been contaminated with growth hormones, antibiotics, and other additives perceived by consumers as being unhealthy. Overgrazing - Reducing forage supply by grazing and browsing animals to the point where key forage species production is threatened or is at too low a level to sustain beneficial use. Overgrazing is a function of numbers and time. Overstocking - Running, raising, carrying or maintaining more animal units of grazers and browsers (cattle, horses, sheep, goats, wildlife, etc.) than existing forage resources can support without degrading range conditions and reducing carrying capacity. Overstocking is a function of numbers. Pastoral - Relating to or functioning as an agricultural enterprise or community devoted to or based on livestock raising. Population - All the cattle included in a breeding community, which could be a herd, a group of herds, or more commonly, a strain or breed. Prepotent - An animal's ability to transmit its traits to its offspring. Ranch - The home (headquarters) of the rancher. Also refers to an establishment engaged in raising livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, horses). Rancher - One who owns or operates a ranch. Range management - The manipulation of grazing by large herbivores so both plant and animal production can be maintained or increased. Rangeland - Any expanse of land that is suitable for grazing and is not fertilized, cultivated, or irrigated. Rangeland agriculture - A form of agriculture based on grazing livestock on indigenous rangelands. Ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep and goats are used to convert solar energy captured by native grasses and other types of vegetation into meat, leather, wool, and other valuable products for human consumption. The grazing of livestock on indigenous rangelands is one of the most sustainable forms of agriculture known. Rangeland agriculturists - One who is engaged in raising livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, horses) using native grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, and shrubs as the primary resource. Range-raised, grassfed meat - Grassfed meat produced out of livestock (cattle, goats, sheep) that are fattened on unfertilized native pasture (as opposed to livestock that are fattened on intensively managed tame pasture). Risk management - The total process of identifying, controlling and minimizing the impact of uncertain events. In ranching, the objective is to prevent unforeseen changes in economic, social, climatic, or political conditions from having a negative effect on the financial future of an operation. Rotational grazing - The management of cattle from one grazing pasture to another on a scheduled basis. Self-supporting - An independent or federated enterprise that is capable of providing for its owns needs by its own output and ingenuity. Stocking rate - The number of animals allocated to a pasture during a month or grazing season. Straight-breeding - A mating system that perpetuates the genetic influence of a single breed, strain, or population. Strain - A collective group of animals that are the descendants of a common ancestor, ancestry or lineage. Supply - The ability and willingness to produce and sell specific quantities of a good at alternative prices in a given time period. May also refer to the quantity of goods at the marketplace. Sustainable ranching - A method of ranching that is economically viable and biologically sound, that is socially acceptable and environmentally responsible, and that can be maintained over an endless period of time. May also refer to a method of ranching that can generate enough income to cover fixed and variable operating expenses and provide a reasonable standard of living for producers without degrading rangeland resources. Synthetic - A collective group of cattle that is created by combining certain breeds or breed influences in a non-predetermined manner without regard to breed percentage and with no planned effort to retain hybrid vigor. The original intent in most cases is to form a closed population containing certain genetic combinations that will be determined by multiple trait selection. Tame pasture - Any pastureland primarily consisting of non-native plant species or domesticated cultivars of native species. (Opposite of native pasture) Terminal breeding system - A commercial breeding system where females and bulls produced within the breeding unit are not retained as replacements for that breeding unit. Replacement cows and bulls must be periodically introduced from outside the breeding unit. For maximum efficiency of this type of breeding system, specialized genetic types that are superior for maternal ability are bred to specialized types that are superior for growth and or carcass merit. In most cases, these two contrasting types are not suitable for a continuous closed or open breeding system. Terminal - Any cattle of any strain or cross that are bred and selected primarily to appear on only one side of a terminal breeding system. There are both sire-side terminal types and cow-side terminal types. Example of a sire-side terminal type: Bulls that are selected primarily on the basis of their size, growth, visual appearance, and or carcass merit. Example of a dam-side terminal type: Cows that are selected primarily on the basis of their milking or mothering ability. Terminal-cross cattle are sometimes referred to as the type of cattle that best suits the needs of industrial agriculture. Variable costs - Expenses that vary with level of production. Vertical integration - The act of combining various phases of a production and marketing system.

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