More US hides are coming to market free from brand m - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

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More US hides are coming to market free from brand marks

14/08/2017
The US Hide, Skin and Leather Association (USHSLA) has welcomed a new report issued by the country’s cattle industry, highlighting continued improvements in hide quality in recent years. The report, which tracks US cattle and beef industry quality statistics over time, found that in 2016, nearly 75% of all steer and heifers arrived at slaughterhouses with no branding marks. Of those that were branded, the majority of marks were on the butt of the animal, which is the hide and leather industry’s preferred location for branding.

A similar survey in 2011 revealed that only 55% of cattle came to slaughter free of branding marks. The statistics also show that while 9.9% of cattle had multiple brand marks in 2011, by 2016 the figure had fallen to 1.6%.

USHSLA president, Stephen Sothmann, said this development showed the success of “concerted efforts to improve producer value and returns to all sectors of the beef industry”. He described the change as “a major shift” in the management of the US beef herd, with livestock farmers becoming more aware that their branding decisions can have an impact on the overall economic value of the animal.
 
The organisation has calculated that butt-brands can reduce the value of a hide by between $1 and $2 while brands on the side can knock as much as $12 off the value of a hide.




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