7/21/99

Contacts:
Doyle Wilson, Animal Science, (515) 294-6914
Gene Rouse, Animal Science, (515) 294-5641
Susan Thompson, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-0705

SCANNING BUILDS BETTER BEEF

INDIANAPOLIS -- The use of ultrasound on live animals to predict meat quality has become widely accepted. Now Iowa State University researchers have teamed with three breed associations to make the collection of ultrasound data more valuable to beef producers.

Real-time ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves to "see inside" a living animal. In the past, a computer monitor and keyboard were needed to collect and display the image. But ISU animal scientists Doyle Wilson and Gene Rouse and engineer Viren Amin developed a hand-held keypad called the "Black Box" that transfers the image directly to a disk.

Rouse and Wilson presented results of their work at the annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Science ASAS in Indianapolis, July 21-23.

The American Angus Association provided partial funding two years ago to establish the Centralized Ultrasound Image Analysis Processing Center at ISU. Field technicians do the ultrasound scans, and use the ISU-developed technology to load the information onto a disk.

The disks are shipped to the processing center on the ISU campus. In 1998, the center processed ultrasound images from 7,000 yearling bulls, replacement heifers and progeny steers from Angus herds.

This year the North American Limousin Foundation and the American Simmental Association joined the project. So far in 1999, Wilson said 33,000 images have been processed, and he expects that total to reach 50,000 by the end of the year. "We're projecting we'll process 70,000 to 100,000 images annually in the near future," he said.

Once the ultrasound scans are processed and evaluated, the information is sent to the breed associations. Beginning this fall, the associations will begin to incorporate the ultrasound scans into carcass expected progeny differences (EPDs). Cattle producers rely on EPDs for information on predicting the genetic merit of animals, including growth and maternal traits.

Wilson said the benefit of ultrasound for producers is the speed with which genetic information can be obtained. ISU researchers compared ultrasound information gathered on live yearling bulls with information gathered from the carcasses of half-sibling steers. "Our research shows the marbling, ribeye and exterior fat in the steers was very similar to what we expected based on the ultrasound scans," he said.

"This means breeders can gather important genetic information in one year instead of four, which is the norm for progeny carcass testing programs," Wilson said. "With the ultrasound scans, we've gathered and processed more information in one year than we did over the past 20 years using actual carcass data."

The centralized processing center has two full-time employees and several part-time student workers. With the two-year pilot project coming to an end, discussions are underway on the center's future. Wilson said those involved are leaning towards a non-profit service organization similar to the Dairy Herd Improvement Association, which provides milk quality information to dairy producers.

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