Table 9.
NBQA: marbling score frequencies (%) observed in cows and bulls surveyed
| Type of animal | Marbling score1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | PD | TR | SL | SM | MT | MD | SLAB | MAB | AB | |
| Beef cows | ||||||||||
| 20072 | 1,057 | 16.8 | 27.8 | 26.2 | 15.1 | 6.5 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.2 | nd |
| 2016 | 1,129 | 16.0 | 22.3 | 33.6 | 18.2 | 5.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Dairy cows | ||||||||||
| 2007 | 538 | 8.0 | 17.2 | 26.5 | 22.8 | 12.2 | 5.8 | 3.6 | 1.7 | nd |
| 2016 | 1,129 | 11.3 | 16.3 | 34.7 | 23.8 | 7.3 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Beef bulls | ||||||||||
| 2007 | 168 | 19.2 | 58.1 | 15.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | nd |
| 2016 | 138 | 23.9 | 50.7 | 20.3 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Dairy bulls | ||||||||||
| 2007 | 15 | 13.3 | 53.3 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | nd |
| 2016 | 33 | 19.2 | 30.8 | 46.2 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
nd, not determined. 1USDA (2016): PD = practically devoid, TR = traces, SL = slight, MT = modest, MD = moderate, SLAB = slightly abundant, MAB = moderately abundant, AB = abundant. 2National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit – 2007 (Nicholson, 2008).