By Elli Burris
The smell of fresh pine shavings, a rush of adrenaline as you crouch down and drive the pig you have worked all year to raise into the show ring. Those final 10 minutes with your show animal define a project that has helped you grow as a person and as an agriculturist. But what happens after you step foot out of the show ring with a market animal for the final time?
Over the last two years I have had the privilege of judging over a dozen carcass shows across the state of Illinois. Judging these shows offers me the unique experience of explaining the judging process to exhibitors and their families to help them better understand meat quality and carcass yields, both of which are an integral part of the meat industry. I am surprised at every show to find that this knowledge is not as common as the knowledge of what it takes to have the grand champion market animal in the show ring.
Carcass shows, much different than live shows, take place at the processing plant where I bundle up and work to collect various measurements in a chilly 36-degree environment. My day starts by exposing the loin eye of each carcass so that I can assess the color, marbling and firmness of what will become pork chops from that animal. I am also able to take back fat and loin eye area measurements. All of these measurements are then put into a file where I calculate the percent of fat free lean of the carcass. The percent fat free lean tells us an estimate of how much product that carcass is going to yield. When you think about enjoying pork products that we love there is a good balance of lean and fat. As processors we want these products to be leaner but still have some fat that can be utilized for a product like sausage. Color, marbling and firmness values tell us about the overall quality of the fresh products like pork chops that will be consumed. Fat free lean percentage alongside loin quality ultimately determine the makeup of a grand champion pork carcass.
When it comes to pork production, you must have your eyes on the end goal. When you make breeding decision for gilts, you choose genetics based on mothering abilities and offspring potential. A similar concept should apply when the end goal for a barrow is meat. You must think back to the basics of the makeup of a grand champion carcass. A high percentage of fat free lean combined with superior meat quality is a recipe for success in a carcass show or in the packing plant. The lessons learned in the show ring are certainly important. The lessons learned in the meat cooler are important to remember and will also be quite tasty at your next barbeque.
Elli Burris is a graduate research assistant and meats judging coach at the University of Illinois.
