ACCU-TRAC® > What is ACCU-TRAC®?

What is ACCU-TRAC®? | The ACCU-TRAC® Process | Benefits |
Systems Users & Comments | Consumers and Beef

ECM® Manages Live Diversity Into Carcass
Uniformity by Marketing Individuals at Their
Optimum Rather than on the Average

In the feedyard, the ECM system optimizes performance on individual animals by managing the six kinds of cattle found in every group to their own sale date compared to selling the whole group on an average date.

To accomplish this, the ECM system utilizes multiple objective measurements multiple times during the feeding period on every individual animal in order to match individuals to their own optimum marketing group. At arrival and reimplanting, the ECM system uses video imaging for external measurements, automatic weighing, automatic electronic identification, and ultra- sounding for internal tissue characteristics such as back fat thickness all on an individual basis. Some longer fed cattle are measured a third time to ensure accurate, long-term projections.

The computer system establishes a record on every animal that contains individual identification, pre-feedlot history, objective measurements, feedyard performance data, an optimum marketing date, and carcass data. The ECM system uses this information to measure, sort, and manage every animal for full feedyard pen utilization and for optimum profit.

Following slaughter, an animal's identification in the computer system is used to correlate the live animal physical characteristics and performance data to the measured and evaluated carcass characteristics data obtained during the slaughter process. Also, the animal's identification is used to build a data base to more accurately identify and measure value-based characteristics in subsequent animals produced and fed for a more effective value-based selection and manage- ment of these animals. No other measurement, sorting, and projection system does this. In this way, the feedyard can optimize performance on every single individual animal to its maximum potential.

A research study was conducted when the system was initially introduced to evaluate the economic benefits of the ACCU-TRAC® Electronic Cattle Management System. The study indicated that animals managed to individual marketing dates rather than average marketing dates yielded an advantage of $23.69 per head and that no significant decrease in feeding performance or carcass characteristics occurred for animals sorted and remixed every twenty-eight days compared to animals sorted and mixed at arrival, reimplanting, and thirty days prior to slaughter.

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