Mississippi State Univ. researchers used a total of 210 feeder cattle consigned by 19 producers in a “Farm to Feedlot” program to evaluate the effect of temperament on performance, carcass characteristics, and net profit. Temperament was scored on a 1 to 5 scale (1=nonaggressive, docile; 5=very aggressive, excitable). Three measurements were used: pen score, chute score, and exit velocity. Measurements were taken on the day of shipment to the feedlot. Following is a summary of results.

• Exit velocity and pen scores were highly correlated. As pen scores increased, so did exit velocity.
• Breed of sire had a significant effect on all three temperament measurements and on feedlot performance and carcass traits.
• As pen score and exit velocity increased, treatments costs and number of days treated increased, while avg. daily gain and final body wt. decreased.
• As pen score increased, net profit per head tended to decline:
• 1=$121.89
• 2=$100.98
• 3=$107.18
• 4=$83.75
• 5=$80.81