The CUP Lab®, LLC is the largest third-party unbiased interpreter of carcass ultrasound images in t What used to take weeks, now takes hours!
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THE CUP LAB®, LLC IS THE ORIGINAL UGC APPROVED CENTRALIZED ULTRASOUND PROCESSING LAB. Originating from the CUP Lab at Iowa State University we currently provide carcass ultrasound interpretation for progressive beef producers in the United States, Canada, and South America. Rooted in research, we have become the "Gold Standard" for interpretation of carcass traits using ultrasound. The CUP Lab®, L
LC is the largest third-party unbiased interpreter of carcass ultrasound images in the world. Always ensuring customers superior service and the most reliable and accurate ultrasound information available. We have spent years working to improve all aspects of the technology and have become the standard in carcass data collection on live beef cattle. UGC certified field technicians capture images and barnsheet information chute side; using The CUP Lab® UICS software which is then transmitted to the lab via the internet or postal mail. Once we receive the payload of images and barnsheet information, our highly experienced UGC certified lab technicians interpret the ultrasound images. The interpretation data is cross checked before it is combined with the barnsheet information and ultimately reported to our customer. The entire process is accomplished using our exclusive state of the art database program and interpretation software. Unmatched accuracy, superior service every time! The lab is managed and directed by people who are dedicated to the future of the livestock industry with a Board of Directors that have a broad spectrum of industry experience which includes professionals from all sectors of livestock and meat production. The CUP Lab® is truly "The Gold Standard" in the ultrasound business.
🚩REMINDER🚩
Registration forms are due TOMMORROW, August 4th!
Be sure to snag our last remaining spots for this years training in Ames, Iowa | September 4th - 8th |
If you have any questions feel free to call our office or send us an email, our registration form can be found below!
https://www.cuplab.com/Files/content/2023%20Beef%20Registration%20Form.pdf
Yes, that is correct! Registration forms are due in just 11 days‼
Be sure to snag our last few spots for this years training in Ames, Iowa | September 4th - 8th |
If you have any questions feel free to call our office or send us an email, our registration form can be found below!
https://www.cuplab.com/Files/content/2023%20Beef%20Registration%20Form.pdf
Make plans to join us this fall for the 2023 Beef Carcass Ultrasound Training. Spots are filling FAST, so be sure to check out our website for more information and reserve your spot! If you have any questions please reach out to the lab, we look forward to seeing you in September!
Website : https://www.cuplab.com/Training.aspx
Registration form found here :https://www.cuplab.com/Files/content/2023%20Beef%20Registration%20Form.pdf
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CUP Lab will be closed Monday and Tuesday July 3rd and 4th in Observance of Independence Day.
CUP Lab staff wish you a safe 4th of July weekend!
‼️Mark your calendars‼️
Join us this fall for the 2023 Beef Carcass Ultrasound Training that will be held September 4th-8th in Ames, Iowa. Spots are filling fast be sure to check out our website for more information! If you have any questions please reach out to the lab, we look forward to seeing you in September!
Website : https://www.cuplab.com/Training.aspx
Registration form found here :https://www.cuplab.com/Files/content/2023%20Beef%20Registration%20Form.pdf
CUP Lab is closed on Monday, January 2nd in observance of the New Year! Best wishes from our crew!
Discounted items for anyone interested.
1. Aloka 500 SSD 500V skins for keyboards 2 upper and 1 lower. Original price $50. Now $25.
2. Aloka 5044 17 cm beef transducer cord strain reliever. Originally priced at $175. Now $100.
If you take both we will ship for free inside US and reduce the cost to $100 for both items.
Call or DM
Join us for the 2022 Beef Carcass Training!
Sept 6-10th in Ames, Iowa
Find the registration form through the link below.
https://www.cuplab.com/Files/content/2022%20Beef%20%20Registration%20Form.pdf
CUP Lab is currently closed- Monday, May 30th through Friday, June 3rd. Normal business hours will resume on Monday, June 6th 2022.
Happy New Year's from us at The CUP Lab. Can't wait for another exciting year!
Merry Christmas from everyone at The Cup Lab. Enjoy this time with your loved ones!
Our offices will be closed Thursday, December 23rd, Friday, December 24th in observance of Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and Friday, December 31st in observance of New Year’s Eve. Normal business hours will resume the following Mondays
Happy Holidays!
CUP Lab will be closed on Monday July 5th in Observance of Independence Day
Sale! Discontinued Standoff Pad Style!
If you have a 17cm Ibex Evo, Ibex Pro, OR Aloka machine this guide will work for you. This is a snug fitting frame (no wiggle room up and down) with a PIE contour (rounded contour, with a larger end)
*See Image below*
Regular Price: $515.00 Sale Price: $300.00
We have limited quantity and this style will no longer be manufactured, take advantage of this close out price!
Contact CUP Lab with any questions.
Summer is here! Warmer temps, females kicked out to pasture and CUP Lab in full Carcass Training Mode. Registration is open on our website: https://www.cuplab.com/Training.aspx for the September Carcass Ultrasound Training Class. Spot are limited so get your forms in quickly to hold your spot! Please contact the lab with any questions you may have. See you September 7th-10th!
How are you screwing up your customers ultrasound data? (Read this as a bit of tough love as intended. We all need a kick in the butt sometimes.)
1. Taking IMF images that are basically the same image 4 or 5 times: This doesn't sample the muscle. The longissimus dorsi isn't marbled exactly the same in every area. So, the idea is to sample in some different areas. While you may have limitations on depth, it is still critical to take images that are different.
2. Blurring IMF images: This is simple to explain. First, you are wasting our time and yours by collecting a blurred image. We have to remove them from the set of 4 or 5 which reduces the values used to create the average. Plus, we need 3 to make an average. Blur 2 in a set of 4, or 3 in a set of 5, and your breeder gets no data. With The EVO, ExaGo, Ibex, and Aquila, you can scroll back to an unblurred image. Sorry Aloka users, you have to start over. So STOP TAKING BLURRED IMAGES!
3. Taking ribeye images that are marginal or rejected: This one is obvious as rejected images are of no value and we report only the fat thickness if we can make it out. Marginal images that are close to a rib, reduce the size of the ribeye. When a producer has some marginal and some acceptable images in their data, the marginals will have a slight bias small, thus affecting ratios and EPDs. This is your responsibility to find out why you are getting marginals or rejections. Give us a call so we can help you get more clarity on what you are doing wrong. Then, improve. We can help anyone improve.
4. Competency Bias: If you think you are one if the best technicians for image quality, you probably aren't. Just like a year or so back when I was exposed to this idea of competency bias, I thought I was an above average driver. Feedback told me otherwise. (A ticket and a dumb accident were my feedback to tell me I wasn't as good as i thought i was.) If you are the tech that thinks you doing okay but can still improve, it is actually more likely that you are one of the best technicians. Use your image quality reports like I had to use my driving record to geound myself. Now i am fsr improved. If you think it doesn't apply to you, then you are likely a victim of competency bias.
5. You are using an Aloka, Classic, or Aquila: The data is in and it is very convincing. We have zero doubts. The new systems: ExaGo, Ibex, and Evo are superior in performance when it comes to IMF. They all have more spread, better correlation, and improved accuracy. Every single person who has switched to the ExaGo from Aloka has remarked about ribeye images being easier to see and collect. From the lab side, we agree. Everyone who switched, ExaGo in particular, has improved their image quality. And, their customers have seen much more accurate IMF data with values that have opened their eyes to new lows and highs. That is a WIN-WIN!
Take this info to heart. We know some of you can't or won't be able to upgrade and that's okay for now. However, your competition has or soon will. The word is getting out that the old systems and models are not as accurate. Ultimately it is your choice.
Below is a graph if IMF values before and after a technology switch. The higher average of IMF values is NOT the message. Look at the standard deviation of the heifer data. STDEV. Look at the high value in the heifer group. We are seeing so many more values on heifers higher than ever before. That is due to the new technology.
Ever wonder what how your Angus compares to other breeds? One of the benefits of the EPDS, is not only being able to compare within the breed, but also across the breeds. In the February 2021 Angus Beef Bulletin, a great article was written with a helpful table which provides the most recent MARC adjustment factors.
https://www.angus.org/Nce/AcrossBreedEpdAdjFactors.aspx
Hey field techs and customers. It is time to share stories about the wins & successes you have seen as the result of scanning your heifers! Why and how has it helped?
Hey folks! This scanning season has been a good one. Yes, it has had frigid cold snaps, snow and rain. But the scanning has gone on. Congratulations to all the techs and thanks for your hard work so far. Time to get those heifers scanned! If you have customers on the fence, feel free to reach out to us for ideas. But seriously, if they can't see the value in scanning their future cow herd, it might be a tough sell.
To those of you that have made the investment in the latest technology, your customers are seeing it in their data. More accuracy and spread with IMF in almost all cases with heifers. Bulls are really a mixed bag. If there is not a lot of marbling in the bulls due to genetics or environment, we are seeing data looks very similar to the old technology. However, with higher marbling genetics and bulls that have been fed to express more marbling, we are seeing much larger spreads from low to high.
We understand that not everything is about marbling, so, we also see much improved ribeye image quality with the ExaGo vs. Aloka or Pie systems. You guessed it, that makes for more accurate data.
Keep on chugging. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to improving beef quality. As a beef buying customer, I really appreciate it!
Over the past few months we have gotten a lot of interest in carcass ultrasound for sheep. If this is of interest to you, here is a free event that The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is putting on that may be worthwhile sitting in on.
https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2021/03/15/sheep-carcass-ultrasound-webinar-set-for-march-24/
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present an Ultrasound for Carcass Traits in Sheep webinar March 24 from 2-4:30 p.m.
Keep in mind that carcass ultrasound and carcass data are the answer key that genomic markers are built on. No scan data means no marker discovery in your herd. Not the other way around. To discover outliers on both ends of the bell curve, you need ultrasound because you can't harvest your sale bulls and replacement heifers. Look closely at the IMF variation within this herd. The bottom heifer has 1/4 the IMF of the top female. Finding them will help you reach your goals!
These pictures demonstrate is why we are pushing our techs so hard to change to the newest equipment. The difference in accuracy and spread (low-high and standard deviation) has been proven time and time again. If your cattle don't have marlbing you will not see this boost, but if they do, using the machines of the past are clipping your data on the ends and compressing it. You are missing the outliers on both ends that lead to genomic marker discovery and increased EPD accuracy. Heifers will show more spread than bulls due to testosterone being much lower.
This is a perfect example of why we scan heifers. Same herd with nearly exactly the same number of bulls and heifers scanned, same fat thickness, and nearly identical ribeye area/cwt. Using the newest hardware and IMF software technology available, you can see how different the heifers scanned vs. bulls. This is due to testosterone. A lot to see here, but look at the average of the heifers was about equal to the high value on the bulls. Variation was over double from low to high and in the standard deviation. This is the reason why we believe it is critical to scan your heifers. They are the future of your herd and if IMF is important to you and your customers, their future bull calves will reflect their sire and dam. These are foundational EPD builders. Contact CUP Lab today to find out how to take advantage of the newest and most accurate IMF predictions in the industry. 515-232-9442.
Breeders proving genomics and genetics through beef seedstock carcass scanning. We've seen millions of these, but still love the work and understand the importance.
Is "better" ultrasound data about marketing or about selection? We have taken more breeder calls than usual over the last 2 weeks requesting an explanation for the change in their data. In the past they had used another lab and/or scanning technician that had old scanning technology. Most times it goes something like, “we had better data last year.” After a quick conversation, most if not all of them appreciate the changes and know they are improvements. The word “better" has many meanings and they always reflect perspective. From a marketing standpoint most agree bigger ribeyes and higher IMF are “better”. But, from a breeding and selection perspective, "better" means more accurately described animals.
I equate accurate data to a good friend, who tells you the truth. In contrast, lower accuracy “better” data is the compliment that makes you feel good. While the compliment may be well intended, it’s a lie. It makes you feel better but doesn’t force you to change. The friend telling you that your zipper is down, sure does. As breeders of seedstock, you spend way too much time and money to improve your cattle to pay for hollow compliments. You need the truth so you can pull up your zipper. Accuracy matters.
A little over three years ago CUP Lab implemented brand new models for IMF interpretations using 5 different ultrasound machines. Two models used old scanning technology while three were brand new to beef carcass ultrasound. From those, the three new technologies are shining in ways never seen before. Regarding IMF we have seen lower lows and higher highs than ever before. They have also shown more accuracy by finding the true outliers on both ends that were lost in the middle before. If you are truly a seedstock breeder (we know you are) seek out those technicians with the ExaGo, CUP Lab Evo, and Ibex in order to get a dose of truth from a true friend.
Thank you K**a, and all the technicians who work hard for their customers. CUP Lab's values drive to one end goal. Accuracy for our customers' data so they can make correct and informed breeding decisions. While the data certainly is a marketing tool, it is first and foremost about accurately describing cattle. K**a and many other technicians in the US and Canada have committed their business to accuracy by working with the newest technology. "Build it and they will come." is a fitting quote that breeders of seedstock understand. Yes, we certainly want good numbers to sell bulls, but what good is that if the accuracy is subpar? Make them good so they perform.
2021 scanning season is right around the corner! Please make sure you are ready and let us know if you need any scanning accessories, including standoff guides, freeze switches, or any cord connections. We have the capabilities to repair your broken freeze switches and exchange connection ends if you have upgraded hardware.
Happy Holidays from everyone at CUP Lab.
We will be closed December 24 & 25 for Christmas. We will open back for regular business hours Monday December 28.
We will also be closed Friday, January 1 for New Years. We will open back for regular business hours Monday January 4.
Running across technician's accomplishments outside of ultrasound is exciting to see. We would like to congratulate Mark Goes for earning The Nebraska Beef Industry Endowment award! Mark is an instructor at Southeast Community College in Beatrice where he has spent 26 years working with the college's herd and educating young agriculturists.
https://kneb.com/agricultural/nebraska-cattlemen-foundation-honors-industry-professionals-donors/
CUP Lab will be closed December 24 & 25 for Christmas. We will open back for regular business hours Monday December 28.
CUP Lab will also be closed Friday, January 1 for New Years. We will open back for regular business hours Monday January 4.
Paul Dykstra, has written a fascinating article looking specifically at select carcasses in fed cattle. As an increase has been made in choice and prime over the last couple of years, select has taken a decline. He goes into detail looking at select and how different aspects are affecting it.
https://www.drovers.com/article/cab-insider-select-carcass-value-pressure
CattleFax projects the rate of expansion to slow from 510,000 beef cows added in 2018 to 180,000 cows in 2019 and another 100,000 cows in 2020.
To follow up with last weeks article about Prime beef continuing to surge, another article written by Nevil Speer, a month earlier indicates that “consumers will begin to have higher expectations for beef quality and consistency when purchasing beef at retail.” If the beef industry can continue the push for quality, consumers will continue to utilize beef as a good source of protein.
https://www.beefmagazine.com/beef/prime-beef-leads-pack
The premium for Prime beef is defying gravity as consumers look for the best beef of the bunch in the meat case.
“It’s clear the beef industry has made great strides in terms of quality grade and that’s paid great dividends through the most challenging times,” a quote taken from an article written by Nevil Speer. This article gives the beef industry a positive note to look at considering everything this year has brought and could bring.
https://www.beefmagazine.com/marketing/prime-beef-continues-surge
Consumers continue to enjoy top-quality beef.
2610 Northridge Pkwy, Ste 105
Ames, IA
50010
| Monday | 8am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 8am - 5pm |
| Friday | 8am - 5pm |
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