BABY BEEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20779, 23 January 1931, Page 18

BABY BEEF

ECONOMIC PRODUCTION. \ well-known authority on the meat trade says: "There is dearly much to be said in favour of baby beef production: it eliminates the. long store period when food consumed is very little more than that required for maintenance, so tha practically no return is made lor it and it means that during the animals itc a lower proportion of its food intake is used merely for maintenance. At the same time, the economic possibility ot DaDy beef depends on the work of the breeder, for it cannot be produced with unsuitable animals: it necessitates the demands for maintenance, growth and fattening being met at. the same time, and this is on y possible with animals which have early maturity 'carefully bred into I hem. Kven with these it -leeds much concentrated food, which is expensive, so that success nt the present time probably depends on getting an increased price for the product'. ° "Wood and Newman calculated that a three-year-old bullock should give 8001b. of saleable meat, while a baby beef aiimial at 13 months old should provide 60011 1. The amount of lood (dry weight) that would he consumed in the tormer case no ,dd be 22Jlb. for every lib. of meat, while in the latter it would be only Jl;,lb. This shows a very distinct advantage in favour of baby beef- in tact, almost a bO per cent, saving. II• e same authorities, however, also pointed cut that the tood pec lb. of meat would have to include 2Mb. of concentrates in the case of baby beef compared with ljlb. for the three-vear-old bullock When it is considered that much of the concentrated part of the ration is usually purchased (principally to include sufficient protein) it will be realised that the case for baby beef is markedly weakened. Much coarse food must be'produccd on farms and the present methods of bullock feeding provide a means of utilising it, but cheaper concentrates and better pastures would mucn stimulate baby beef production. "Baby beef is, of course, more tender than that obtained from older animals, but it is apt to lack flavour and an attractive colour tor selling purposes. On the other hand, with a. falling human birth-rate, the Miialler families ot today and to-morrow need smaller joints, and this demand is admirably met bv baby href, Compared with the not too distant, past the present, day beef animals of two and a-half to three years are baby beeves, and it is not very rash to prophesy that the. baby beeves of to-day will be the normal supply of meat in the--future."