07/07/2017
You are looking down onto a feedlot steer's right ear. See that small bump? That is a growth promoting hormonal implant. You may have heard the terms "implanted cattle" or "added hormones" or "growth implant" and this is a very average example of just that. This specific implant is Revalor S and is made by Merck Animal Health. Each implant consists of 6 small yellow pellets. Each pellet contains 20 mg of trenbolone acetate and 4 mg of estradiol as active ingredients and it also contains 6.25 mg of cholesterol, 0.5 mg of magnesium stearate and 1.25 mg of ethyl cellulose N200 as non-medical ingredients.
Total hormone supplied is therefore 120 mg of trenbolone acetate and 24 mg of estradiol (an average grain of sand weighs 4.4mg, so about 33 grains of sand in weight).
Together these hormones have a moderate duration of effect for about 80-120 days, and positively influence the animal's metabolic system allowing for higher rates of gains and improved feed efficiency.
A typical implant such as this, costs the farmer between $2-4/dose but can increase average daily weight gain by 7% to 17% and improve feed efficiency by 4% to 12%. The ROI can be in the order of $100 due to these increased gains.
Beef that is implanted does have higher levels of hormones vs. non-implanted beef. A typical a six-ounce serving of implanted beef contains approximately 3.8 nanograms (ng) of estrogen, which is about 1 ng more than non-implanted beef. By comparison, a normal adult human male produces 136,000 ng of estrogen every day (a pregnant human female 90 000 000 ng). The vast majority of scientific literature has deemed implanted beef to have no ill effects on human health. From a sustainably perspective, implants have been praised because less natural resources are needed to produce the same amount of end product, and thus is better for the environment.
Regardless of your opinion (I love you all 😘) at least now you know what they are and what they look like.
Question of the day: Do you eat beef and what kind (conventional/organic/natural/home raised)?
