MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF LIVESTOCK / 
with the purposes for which they are to be used. (See schedules of 
market classes and grades for the various kinds of livestock.) 
GRADE FACTORS 
The grade of an animal is determined by a careful appraisal and 
evaluation of three grade factors, singly and in combination: confor- 
mation, finish, and quality. Each factor is inherent or exists in some 
degree in every animal and requires careful appraisal and evaluation 
separately and in combination when determining the true grade. For 
example, the degree of excellence of one factor may indicate one grade 
but one or both of the other two factors may be so superior in excellence 
or so inferior as to change the grade of the animal from that indicated 
by the first factor or probably by two factors, to the next higher or 
lower grade. 
Conformation is the form, shape, outline, or contour of the animal 
and includes its degree of symmetry. A desirable conformation implies 
a high degree of symmetry. The degree of conformation is deter- 
mined by the proportionate relationships of width, depth, and length 
of body to each other. It varies both with the outline of frame and 
fleshing. Although breeding is chiefly responsible for variations in 
conformation, the sex condition and the quantity and distribution of 
fat also often affect the build of the animal. 
Animals that are wide and deep in proportion to their length, are 
smooth, are even in outline, and are symmetrical in build have a high 
degree of conformation. Animals that are very narrow and shallow 
in proportion to their length, are coarse, and are uneven in body outline 
have a low degree of conformation. 
Conformation in a slaughter animal influences to a considerable 
extent (1) the percentage of carcass weight in proportion to the live 
weight of the animal; (2) the percentage relationship of wholesale 
cuts to the carcass, and (3) the percentage of lean. fat. and bone of 
the carcass. The conformation of a feeder or stocker animal usually 
indicates the shape the animal will have when it is finished. 
Finish refers to the degree of fatness of an animal, including the 
quantity and distribution of fat in all parts of the body. Variations 
in finish are most easily detected by the covering over the different 
parts of the body and, especially in Cattle and Sheep, where there are 
no muscles or where the muscles are thin, such as the top of the shoul- 
ders, over the back bones, ribs, and pin bones ; and by fat deposits on the 
brisket, around the udder, in the cod, and in the rear flanks. Such 
fat deposits are closely associated with those over the thicker muscles. 
inside the thoracic cavity, between the muscles and through the 
muscular tissues. Finish is dependent somewhat upon inherited tend- 
encies or breeding and, to a certain extent, on sex condition but in the 
main it depends upon the quantity and kind of feed the animal has 
consumed during the fattening process. 
Degree of finish in a slaughter animal is important because it in- 
fluences the dressing percentage, the proportion of edible meat to bone, 
the distribtuion of fat through the muscular tissues (marbling), and 
the relative desirability of the meat. A thick covering of fat evenly 
distributed over the body therefore is indicative of a high degree of 
finish, and a thin covering of fat or its absence indicates a low degree 
of finish. An uneven distribution of fat or "patchiness" indicates 
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