37 Like Us on Facebook: BetterFarmingON Better Farming | May 2024 says Schmid. “If cattle are growing faster and converting feed more efficiently, they require less resources to produce more beef. So, there’s an environmental stewardship component that can be realized as well.” The one aspect of production that can be negatively impacted by implants is carcass quality. This can affect carcass grade but can be mitigated through strategies such as lower potency implants, aging after slaughter, or ensuring adequate nutrition during time on feed. Misconceptions There is still some hesitancy from both consumers and producers in the adoption of growth-promoting implants in beef production. Many companies have relied on advertising that there are “no hormones” in their beef, which has fostered concerns about safety. “The largest misconception is the consumer thinking that eating meat from implanted animals will have negative consequences on human health,” says Schmid. “There’s no such thing as hormone-free beef. Hormones, in various forms, are present in nearly all the foods we eat.” Schmid points out that hormones in food have low oral bioavailability, meaning they are less readily absorbed by the blood stream and thus have little biological impact. It is also important to look at the relative amounts of hormones in the human body compared to the differences in implanted and non-implanted beef. “In the adult female body there are 480,000 nanograms (ng) of estrogen circulating and a young boy will have 40,000 ng. That one 75 g serving of implanted beef has 1.9 ng of estrogen, and non-implanted beef has 1.1 ng,” says Schmid. This indicates that a serving of implanted beef has less than 0.0005 per cent of the estrogen already found in the adult female. Mitchell says there are also some misconceptions within the beef industry itself. “Within the food animal industry, a misconception is that applying implants too early will affect the growth of animals later,” says Mitchell. “That’s only true if they don’t have proper nutrition. Cattle need the right energy to match the implants. Implants don’t make up for lack of nutrition.” There is also still a mindset in the beef industry of natural versus unnatural production. Some producers market into natural-based programs, while others avoid implants for philosophical reasons. “It is more values-based, rather than pure economics,” says Schmid. Choosing a program Each beef operation and their goals are Livestock
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