Each bull has the following information:
- Fat - actual scanned fat thickness measured over the ribeye (inches)
- REA - actual scanned ribeye area (square inches)
- 365-day Adjusted Ribeye Area - age adjusted ribeye area
- % Intramuscular Fat - percent intramuscular fat calculated from scanned image
- 365-day Adjusted % Intramuscular Fat - age adjusted percent intramuscular fat (IMF)
The adjusted ribeye area and adjusted % IMF measures put the bulls on an equal age basis. The actual values are not as meaningful when comparing bulls of different ages.
For test groups larger than 10 head, the top one-third of the bulls for adjusted % IMF are starred (*) on the report. Currently, adjusted % IMF values (intramuscular "marbling" scan) should only be used to group bulls into the top one-third and bottom one-third classifications. Individual comparisons among bulls within testing groups are not as meaningful. If a bull does not have % IMF measures, the image was unreadable or the amount of marbling could not be accurately detected.
OBI bulls are scaned as requested by OBI testers and their breed test rules. Groups will only be scanned if adequate numbers of bulls are available to be scanned at the appropriate age (325-405 days of age). Generally, a minimum of 50 bulls is needed to request the service from a certified technician. If a large group of bulls cannot be arranged for scanning, no scan data will be collected due to the cost per bull being too large.
