it can certainly be considered to be strongly predisposing in that d i r e c t i o n.

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Clarence Robbins
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155 A DETA ILED ANALYS IS OF FACTORS TO CONS IOER I N ORGANIZING AND EXECUTING A MEAT RESEARCH PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF QUALITY AND FINISH ON THE ACCEWABI L l f Y OF BEEF The objective of t

1 155 A DETA ILED ANALYS IS OF FACTORS TO CONS IOER I N ORGANIZING AND EXECUTING A MEAT RESEARCH PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF QUALITY AND FINISH ON THE ACCEWABI L l f Y OF BEEF The objective of t h i s paper i s t o present f o r your consideration a breakdown of the various constituent elements which may be of importance i n arranging and carrying out an experlment t o determine the e f f e c t of q u a l i t y and f i n i s h on the a c c e p t a b i l i t y o f beef From the remarks of the preceding speaker we may presume t h a t there i s a need f o r such a study Your present speaker makes no claims e i t h e r as t o the o r i g i n a l i t y or as t o the adequacy o f the ideas which a r e expressed in t h i s paper The various points a r e r a i s e d t o focus a t tention on those which should receive consideration The factors which should be considered are quite interdependent and hence it i s rather d i f f i c u l t, i f even advisable, t o segregate them e n t i r e l y for t h i s discussion The order i n which these factors a r e discussed is not indicat i v e of t h e i r r e l a t i v e importance but follow more l o g i c a l l y i n sequence of organization and execution o f the project For some it m y appear t h a t there is an oversimplification in t h e presentation of fhmiliar ideas w h i l e t o others t h i s may not be an unmixed blessing The first f a c t o r 0: importance i s whether t h e project w i l l receive support a t the worker's Experiment Station If it does receive support the assistance may fall i n t o any o f the following categories: (1) that which i s l a r g e l y moral; ( 2 ) limited financial assistance; and (3) adequate f i n a n c i a l assistance I t, i s axiomatic that a project receive administrative support i f it i s t o be s u c c e s s f i l A favorable research atmosphere w i l l not long be maintained i f the need f o r financial assistance i s overlooked The f i n a n c i a l assistance may be very limited, thus allowing only some phase of the work t o be carried on in an often i n e f f i c i e n t manner While the adequacy o f the support i s sometimes not a good indication of the possible success o f the research e f f o r t it can certainly be considered to be strongly predisposing in that d i r e c t i o n The importance of t h i s project does not necessarily insure i t s support The t o t a l income of the S t a t e, including the a g r i c u l t u r a l and especially the livestock income, may have a marked influence on determining whether finds w i l l be made available t o the Experiment Station t o carry on such work The a t t i t u d e of the Experiment Station administrative o f f i c i a l s would presumably be r e l a t e d t o the importance o f t h i s problem when compared with other projects, the a v a i l a b i l i t y of f'unds (Experiment Station and otherwise), the relationship t o work already under way ( t h i s would include, f o r example, the beef c a t t l e breeding projects and the beef cattle marketing p r o j e c t s ), the nature of the contemplated investigations, personnel and f a c i l i t y requirements with r e l a t i o n t o w h a t i s already a v a i l a b l e, r e s u l t s of previous Investigations, the present s t a t u s of

156 the problem with regard to work a t other Stations and laboratories, and f i n a l l y, the p r o b a b i l i t i e s f o r accomplishing the objectfves which have been s e t f o r t h, It must

2 156 the problem with regard to work a t other Stations and laboratories, and f i n a l l y, the p r o b a b i l i t i e s f o r accomplishing the objectfves which have been s e t f o r t h, It must be admitted a t the onset t h a t Investigations of t h i s nature a r e complex and hence r a t h e r expensive The questton might be asked a s t o w h a t information o f value w i l l be forthcoming w i t h present experimental procedures and a t the same time w h a t a r e the a l t e r n a t i v e s? W i l l the work lend i t s e l f t o cooperative and regional e f f o r t s? If 8 0, t o w h a t extent should the work be RUPported by regional f unds? This involves a consideration of f unds now aesigned t o other projects and finds which may r e a u l t from an increase in both S t a t e and Federal appropriatfons Let us as~umef o r purposes o f discussion that t h i s important part o f the organization has been favorably decided Whether the support is f u l l y adequate or not may be a point of conjecture and a t the same time a question which is only o f academic importance, To f k c i l i t a t e the organization and execution of t h i s project several departments of the Experiment S t a t i o n staff may have a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n carrying out certain phases of the work Thus, an i n t r a departmental committee may be s e t up It i s l i k e l y that previously only a general outline o f the proposed work has been available The next l o g i c a l s t e p would be concerned w i t h the preparation of a prodect plan This would e n t a i l an up-to-date review of the l i t e r a t u r e w i t h p a r t i c u l a r emphasis on t h e present statua of the problem, the b e s t and most adaptable procedures and an Indication of methods which m i g h t be adaptable t o the experiment A c l e a r statement o f the objectives of the experiment should be m d e The objectives must not indicate simply what one wishes t o accomplish b u t must Involve a r e a l i s t i c consideration of the f a c i l i t i e s, personnel and operative expense The s p e c i f i c objectives w i l l necessarily vary with each individual worker s i n t e r e s t and t r a i n i n g, The following m i g h t be considered examples generally indicative of p r a c t i c a l objectives: 1 The obtaining of a g r e a t e r body of knowledge o r c r i t e r i a t o more adequately define quality, The development o f improved techniques, especially those which a r e objective, t o evaluate quality factors, 3 To determine the relatiw8hip o f c e r t a i n physical, chemical h i s t o l o g i c a l and organoleptic c r i t e r i a t o quality; the character and d i s t r i b u t i o n of f a t ; the color, texture and firmness of lean; and the e f f e c t o f age on the forementioned pointe An equitable evaluation of quality in terms which when combined w i t h f i n i e h and conformation may be expressed t o indicate measurable difference8 on the basis of standards which can be r e l a t e d t o consumer preference 5 To r e l a t e quality and f i n i s h w i t h such production factors as age, breeding, character of feed and various management practices

3 The geneml objectives which have been l i s t e d should l o g i c a l l y serve a s a b a s i s f o r more limited and specific objectives I n t h e execution o f the project the primary consideration i s w i t h the procedures which are to be followed This w i l l inevitably r a i s e a number o f perplexing questions Shouild, for example, c a t t l e of known breeding, feeding and management history be ueed? It would seem that the l o g i c a l answer here i s in the affirmative Cattle of t h i s description a r e, for a l l p r a c t i c a l purposes, limited t o the various Experiment Stations Most of the Stations have product i o n experiments now underway The new beef c a t t l e breeding projects should furnish additional c a t t l e f o r many of the S t a t i o n s While the number of c a t t l e a t any one S t a t i o n may not be a8 large as desired, nevertheless, when grouped together they may provide the material f o r accomplishing the objectives More d e t a i l e d questions are concerned with: 1 What grades, ages and weight c a t t l e should be used? What production systems should be followed? Should, f o r example, yearlings and two year old8 having maximum roughage and pasture, limited feed and fill feed be used? 3 Are the f ' a c i l i t i e s now available f o r the production of these cattle o r would ftmds also be needed f o r t h i s phase o f t h e work? Should c a t t l e of which we have only a l i m i t e d knowledge concerning t h e i r previous h i s t o r y be used? (Presumably some types of c a t t l e would not be available a t the Experiment Stations and thus these c a t t l e might be most useful in fbrnishing i n f o r mation ) 5 What should be the extent of the work? The experiments must be so designed that the r e s u l t s can be s t a t i s t f c a l l y analysed It i s not adequate t o say t h a t s u f f i c i e n t replications of the work shall be carried out t o insure differences t h a t can be s i g n i f i cantly determined, (The type o f analysis will depend t o some extent on the objectives Regression analysis may, for exanrple, be specified f o r s t r a t i f i e d samples This i s quite d i f f e r e n t From variance analysis which i s used w i t h proportionate sampling) 6 Should work ology p r i o r experiment, phases need be carried out on the various techniques and methodt o, o r a t l e a s t concurrently w i t h, the running of the It i s a l l too evident t h a t c e r t a i n developnentgl t o be undertaken Consideration should be given t o the various procedures of discuosion these may be l i s t e d as: A For purposes Physical 1 W i l l detailed notes be made on the visual indications of age, quantity and d i s t r i b u t i o n of fat including marbling, color o f lean, and texture? Should certain promising carcase measurements such a s length of body, length o f hind leg, thickness a t shoulder, thickness of round, length o f l o i n, depth of body, s i z e o f eye including proportion of fit and lean be included?

4 158 3 Should press f l u i d determinations be made of uncooked and cooked meat by means of t h e Carver press? 4, * Should shear measurements be made? 5 Should photographe of the r i b eye be taken for indications o f fat d i s t r i b u t i o n? B Chemical Should the following chemical analyses be made? 1 Proximate analyses Collagen, e l a s t i n and other nitrogenous fractions 3 Refractive Indices of the C at Spectrophotometric analyses of the lean Histoloff i c s l Should etudies be made of the histological c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e rib eye and the eye of the round f o r evaluation of connective and muscle t i s sues 1 D Consumer Acceptance 1 What is the variation i n consumer demand? be weighted? ana prejudice? What a r e the important quality factors and how should they 3 How much of consumer acceptance ideas ar0 based on custom other me& hods 7 What relationship is there between closed panel t e s t i n g and I n t h e f i n a l analysis there i s a question as t o how much work any single S t a t i o n can undertake? Is it a sound procedure f o r each of the various S t a t i o n s tm carry on whatever phasee seem most advantageow t o them? Should the work be cooperative between various Stations? Is it possible f o r the various S t a t i o n s t o share their samples, f o r example, o r is t h e regional set-up too slow, too unwieldy, lacking i n f l e x i b i l i t y, having a tendency t o suppress initiative, and thus discourage r a t h e r than encourage the work? These are some of the important factors which one m i g h t wish t o cons i d e r i n attaqpting t o organize and execute a meat research project t o determine the eiyec& of quality and f i n i e h on the acceptability o f b e e f

5 159 i Pdank ypu, very much Dr Brady, for CBAI*N TOMHA,?:, : the most i n t e r 4 s t h g dis'ser%fon ' ' I 8 Our next speaker w i l l be Dr, Hankins of the United State8 Department of Agriculture who W i l l discuss, "Observations and Comment on t h e SubJect Matter Presented on the Research Program" Dr Hankins ###

LABORATORY CHARACTERISTICS OF GRADED BEEF CARCASSES

LABORATORY CHARACTERISTICS OF GRADED BEEF CARCASSES 0. LABORATORY CHARACTERSTCS OF GRADED BEEF CARCASSES A M E R C A N MEAT N S T T U T E F O U N D A T O N *.**..**...*..*...*...*...*.*...* Mr. Chairman, Mr. Franklin, bkmbers of the Conference and Guests: