Market Cattle Judging 1-0-1 children's book

1. Market Cattle Judging
1-0-1
Children's Book
BY: Addison & Bailey Grant

2. Table of contents
Page 1: Intro to market cattle
Page 2: Muscling
Page 3: Coverage
Page 4: Balance
Page 5: Stout Structured
Page 6: Finish

3. Intro to market cattle
Cattle (Bos taurus) are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved,
herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the
subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the
genus Bos. Adult females that have had a baby are referred to as
cows and adult males that still have their testicles are referred to
as bulls while females who have not had a baby are referred to
as heifers and males that have had their testicles removed are
steers.

4. Muscling
It typically refers to the amount of product an
animal typically covers its skeleton with, but can
also refer to how much product a market animal
may hang on the rail. Look for it down an animal's
top, from blade to hip, and in the animals hip from
top to bottom. One of the MOST overlooked places
to evaluate muscle is in the animals forearm.
Sometimes too much muscle will affect an animal's
balance or structure in a negative way but the right
kind of mass and expression of muscle is usually a
good thing. Be sure to look for expression and
definition to differentiate between true muscle and
fat cover.

5. Coverage
Cover is just another term for “finish” or the amount
of fat “cover” an animal has deposited over their
skeletal framework. Animals tend to deposit fat from
front to back- and top to bottom. While each
species has an optimum degree of cover, we
certainly can have situations where they don't have
enough- or, have too much. If you know where to
look, you can make a determination about that
animals degree of cover. The neck, upper rib, chest,
middle (belly, flank), loin edge, and pins are usually
where fat is easiest to find - and easiest to read on
the body.

6. Balance
Balance can be confusing to understand. Most
people think of it as being nearly equal in their
skeletal 1-3’s, but we see it more as how
proportionate an animal is and how all those pieces
fit together to paint a picture that displays quality
and is complete. Length and depth of body, length
and cleanliness of front, and length of hip all come
into play. To put simply, ask yourself a few
questions. Does that animal blend seamlessly from
front to rear? Is their body weight and condition
appropriate for their frame and maturity
(age/development stage). Is quality apparent in
that individual. If the answer to this is “yes” - that
animal has balance!

7. Stout Structured
This term essentially relates to heaviness of
skeleton or size of the bone column. While
foot and bone size does not necessarily
affect your basic, fundamental placing
emphasis, it is something that can improve
the balance and uniqueness of a piece of
livestock. Stout structured animals will
typically be bigger footed and have more
circumference of bone. Keep in mind that
bone should match body type and be
proportional. Frail animals may be poor
balanced.

8. Finish
This is a term to describe the amount of external fat cover on
a market animal. Cattle lay on finish from front to back, and
top to bottom. So when we evaluate finish look for a few
things to determine if that market calf has it. Finished cattle
tend to have a shorter necked look with a slight crest to the
top side. They have a “full” brisket (it looks like they are
hiding a volleyball in there). THeir top tends to be wide and
flat. These cattle tend to add depth to their flank and that
flank is soft. From behind look at the size of “pones”. Pones
are the fat deposits on both sides of the tail head. The bigger
the “pones”, the more finish they will have. Remember fat
wiggles and giggles, muscle ripples and pops - so on the
move see where they fall. Fat (finish) tends to fill in the edges
and smooth out the appearance of that calf. The more
“Finish” - the better chance that animal has to reach a choice
grade, and that is what drives the cattle industry.

9. Interactive Page… Place this class based
off of your knowledge
1 2
3 4

10. Interactive Page Answer Key… Placed (2314)
1 2
3 4

11. SOURCES USED
https://www.livestockjudging.com/