Live cattle value based on phenotypic characteristics as related to hide quality

Members of the leather industry have historically attempted to acquire high quality hides for leather. Several industry groups have encouraged cattle producers to alter management practices to accomplish this goal. However, progress toward this objective has not been realized. There has been some speculation that producers do not receive any financial signals that should motivate them to increase the quality of the hide. The objective of this study was to determine if monetary incentives exist for branded vs. non-branded, and homed vs. polled cattle in current cattle markets. Random pens of cattle were sampled at four area livestock auction facilities located at Roswell and Clovis, New Mexico, and Amarillo and San Angelo, Texas. Data were collected on phenotypic characteristics considered to influence live cattle values. Data analysis indicates that a premium, of $1.72 per hundredweight, is paid for cattle with native as opposed to branded hides (P<.001). Results of this research also demonstrate that the premium paid to producers for polled animals rather than homed is $1.42 per hundredweight (P=.0001).

Live cattle value based on phenotypic characteristics as related to hide quality Academic Article