Among all kinds of meat products, the yield of beef is actually relatively low, which is why the price of beef is so high. But today it is still more convenient for people to eat beef, and the improvement of beef production capacity is absolutely inseparable from a cattle breed called "shorthorn cattle".
If you consider the origin of the bloodline, the mainstream cattle breeds in today's beef export countries basically have the genes of shorthorn cattle. Typical examples include China's prairie red bull, The United States' St. Grudy's cattle, Australia's Yarui black bull, Denmark's red bull and Japan's shorthorn cattle. These well-known beef cattle, or combined cattle, initially benefited from the hybrid genes of shorthorn cattle.
The origin of the shorthorn cattle can be traced back to about 1590, more than 400 years ago. Later, around 1702, the people of England made further improvements to the shorthorn cattle, and through hybridization with a variety of excellent cattle breeds, the well-known beef cattle breeds that are famous today were born.
Although the shorthorn cattle do not look very powerful, the meat production rate is extremely high, and the average weight of adult male shorthorn cattle can reach more than 2,000 pounds, and the female can also reach 1,400 pounds.
Short-horned cattle for meat (there are also milk-meat combined shorthorn cattle today) are characterized by a wide and flat back, a straight back, and a relatively short horn, and if you touch the fur, you can obviously feel softer than other cattle breeds. Despite their large weight, the flesh is very tender and the marbled looks very beautiful. And the slaughter rate of shorthorn cattle (the weight of the ketone body excluding the weight of the internal organs and other places) can also be as high as 65%, and the output ratio is quite considerable.
Because of the excellent characteristics of shorthorn cattle, since the beginning of the last century, China has introduced this beef cattle breed. Fortunately, the shorthorn cattle are very adaptable to China's climate, and the dry cold of the Inner Mongolian grasslands does not make them feel uncomfortable. Therefore, under the premise of continuously expanding the number of purebred short-horn cattle, hybridization technology has also begun to use hybridization technology to improve the genes of beef cattle breeds in China. It can be said that short-horned cattle have made great contributions to China's animal husbandry.
The people of Inner Mongolia and Northeast China should feel this most deeply. In the past, cattle in the two places were relatively slow in terms of environmental adaptability and growth rate, but since the improvement of hybridization with shorthorn cattle, the feeding value has been significantly improved. Not only is production management easier, but meat production performance is not the same as that of local cattle. The value it indirectly creates is incalculable.
In addition to the meat type shorthorn cattle, people later bred short-horn cattle in addition to the milk meat combination. The advantage of this short-horned cow is that it can produce milk (the milk production is close to that of conventional cows, and the milk fat rate is as high as 3.9%, which is an excellent milk source with high nutritional value), and at the same time, it can also be slaughtered as a beef cow after elimination, and its meat quality is much better than that of ordinary cows, which can be said to be a real and perfect use of the value of a cow. Although this may be a little cruel for cattle.
epilogue:
Although it sounds a bit funny, the life of the shorthorn cow is worthy of the eight big words of "the greatness of life, the glory of death". They originally set out from England and crossed the ocean to promote the development of animal husbandry in various countries in the world, and made an indelible contribution to human access to meat protein.
The first need of life is survival, every species has the right to ensure its own survival, for each of us, starting from ourselves, respect for life is to respect human beings themselves.
The author is a contracted author of NetEase News and NetEase "Each Has An Attitude"