Steer Classification

Every steer is classified at the check-in chute before the show starts. The classifier looks only at the animal: color, horns, and Bos indicus (Brahman) character. Registration papers and breed percentages on the pedigree are never considered. A registered purebred can class out, and a commercial steer can class into a breed division if it looks the part.

How a classification is decided

Each division has its own standard. Every finding falls into one of three buckets:

Meets the standard. Counts in the steer's favor.
Discriminatory. A fault the classifier notes. One or two are tolerated. Three or more discriminatory findings classify the steer out in combination.
Absolute disqualification. Any one of these classifies the steer out on the spot.

A steer with no findings against it classifies clean. A steer with one or two discriminatory findings still shows in the division, with the notes recorded.

The American Breed Character scores

The cattle page shows an American Breed Character block for any animal with visible Brahman influence: Ear, Sheath (Navel on females) and Crest (shown as Hump at 70 and above), each on a 0 to 100 scale. These are set at birth and never change. They are what the classifier reads for the American divisions, and they count against a steer in the British, Continental and most other breed divisions.

Score	Label on the cattle page
75 and up	Pronounced
55 to 74	Strong
30 to 54	Moderate
10 to 29	Slight

What happens when a steer classes out

American breeds drop to ABC. A steer classed out of Brahman, Brangus, Santa Gertrudis, Beefmaster or another American breed is tried in the American Breeds Cross (ABC) division first, if the show has one.
Then Black, then Red. If that fails, or the steer was in a non-American breed, it is tried in the Black division, then the Red division. Each fallback checks the steer against its own standard.
Then the catch-all. If no fallback takes it, the steer moves to the show's catch-all division (such as All Other Breeds) when there is one.
Otherwise scratched. A steer with nowhere to go is scratched from the show.

You get a Check-In alert either way, telling you where the steer ended up and why. If a division is linked to several breed standards, the steer stays as long as it qualifies under any one of them. Divisions with no classification standard accept every steer.

About white markings: the game records how much white an animal carries, not exactly where it sits. Where a real standard allows white only in certain spots (the navel, the switch), any white pattern is treated as white in the wrong place.

Borderline steers

Real classifiers do not all draw the line in the same place, and a steer right at the edge of a standard can go either way. SteerJock models this in two ways.

Brahman-cross steers and the hump

To show in the Brahman division a steer must have a hump. For steers, the minimum Crest score is not fixed. Each time a steer is classified, the classifier draws a new cutoff somewhere between 40 and 45.

Crest of 45 or more: always clears the disqualification.
Crest below 40: always disqualified for an inadequate hump.
Crest from 40 to 45: borderline. The same steer can class into Brahman at one show and out at the next.

Clearing the cutoff is not the same as a clean hump. Anything under 70 is still a discriminatory finding ("hump lacks prominence"). That means a Brahman-cross steer with a modest hump is one more weak spot away from classing out. A weak ear or a tight sheath adds the rest.

Bulls and females shown in a Brahman division use a fixed cutoff of 50.

Two strikes

Any steer carrying two discriminatory findings is borderline in every division. It classifies in with notes, but one more fault classes it out. Know your steer's scores before you pick a division.

American breed divisions

Brahman

Any color or color pattern is acceptable.
Hump: Crest 70 or more is a prominent hump. Below that but above the cutoff is discriminatory. Below the cutoff is a disqualification. The cutoff for steers varies between 40 and 45 (see Borderline steers).
Ear: 60 or more is an adequate Bos indicus ear. 40 to 59 is discriminatory. Below 40 is a disqualification.
Sheath: 35 or more represents Brahman character. A lower sheath is discriminatory only when the ear is also under 60.

Brangus (also UltraBlack)

Must be solid black. Any other color, any white spotting, or any brindle is a disqualification. Brown dilution is discriminatory.
Must be polled. Scurs are acceptable. Horns are a disqualification.
Ear: 55 or more meets the standard. Below 35 is discriminatory.
Crest: 25 or more shows some evidence of a crest. Below 25 (a slick neck) is discriminatory.
Sheath: below 20 is discriminatory only when the ear is also under 55.

Santa Gertrudis (also STAR 5)

Smokes, silvers and grays are disqualified. Brindle and excessive white are discriminatory.
A steer with Ear, Sheath and Crest all under 25 has no Bos indicus character and is disqualified.
Ear: under 40 is discriminatory.
Crest: 25 or more is a moderate crest.
Sheath: under 20 is discriminatory.

Beefmaster (also Advancer)

Classified on the same standard as ABC below. Any color is acceptable.

American Breeds Cross (ABC)

Also used for UltraRed and for the ABC Black, Red and Other sections.

Any color or color pattern is acceptable.
The only disqualification is straight Bos taurus character across the board: Ear under 30, Crest under 25 and Sheath under 25, all at once.
Ear: 55 or more meets the standard. Anything less is discriminatory.
Crest: 25 or more is a crest or evidence of hump. Below 25 is discriminatory.
Sheath: below 20 is discriminatory only when the ear is also under 55.

British breed divisions

All British, Continental and most other breed divisions also apply reverse breed character: Brahman influence counts against the steer. Each of these is a discriminatory finding:

Ear over 35 (non-breed-type ear set)
Sheath over 35 (large navel and angular sheath)
Crest over 40 (evidence of Brahman influence)

A half-blood steer that tops all three classes out of the division on combination alone, even with perfect color.

Angus

Must be solid black. White above the underline or on the legs, feet or tail, brindle, and any diluter pattern are disqualifications.
Must be polled. Horns or scurs are a disqualification.

Red Angus

Must be solid red (shades may vary). A black-based animal is disqualified, as are white markings and roaning.
Diluted color (smut or gray shading) is discriminatory.
Must be polled. Horns or scurs are a disqualification.

Hereford

Red body with the white face and underline. Any black-based color, a diluter pattern, or brindle is a disqualification.
Lacking the traditional Hereford white pattern is discriminatory, and so is excess white beyond it.
Any horn status is accepted.

Polled Hereford

Same color rules as Hereford.
Horns are a disqualification. Loose scurs are acceptable.

Shorthorn (also ShorthornPlus and Durham Red)

Red, white, roan, or any red and white combination. Roan is characteristic, not a fault.
Black hair anywhere (blacks, blue roans, grays), a diluter pattern (yellow or yellow roan), and brindle are disqualifications.

Continental breed divisions

Charolais

Must show the diluter gene: white, yellow, gray or silver. A black, red or dark smut steer is disqualified.
Brindle and roan are disqualifications. Heavy painting or spotting is discriminatory.

Limousin

Black, red, or any shade between.
Roan, gray, silver and white are disqualifications, and so is any white spotting.
Light brindle is acceptable. Heavy brindle (down past the mid-rib) is a disqualification.
A single diluter gene (yellow) is discriminatory.

Maine-Anjou

Solid red or black, or red or black with white. White pattern is acceptable.
Roan and a diluter pattern (yellow, orange, gray) are disqualifications.
Slight brindling on the topline is discriminatory. Heavy brindle onto the rib is a disqualification.

Simmental

Solid black or red, or with white pattern.
Silver, smoke, white, gray, solid yellow or orange, brindle and roan are disqualifications.
Very heavy spotting is discriminatory.

Chianina

Must show a white to steel gray coat (dilution). An undiluted red or black steer is disqualified.
Brindle and roan are disqualifications.

Piedmontese

Must show a white to pale gray coat. An undiluted red or black steer is disqualified.
Brindle and roan are disqualifications. Double muscling is a breed virtue, not a fault.

Other breed divisions

Texas Longhorn

Any color or pattern, including speckled, brindle, roan and spotted.
Must carry horns. A polled or scurred steer is disqualified.

Belted Galloway

Must have the white belt. No belt is a disqualification.
Brindle, roan and horns are disqualifications. White outside the belt is discriminatory.

Red Poll

Must be red. A black-based steer is disqualified.
Some white is discriminatory. Heavy white is a disqualification. Roan and brindle are disqualifications. Pale or yellow-red is discriminatory.
Must be naturally polled. Horns or scurs are a disqualification.

Watusi

Any color or pattern.
Must carry horns. A polled or scurred steer is disqualified.
As Sanga cattle, moderate crest and ear are normal. Reverse breed character does not apply here.

Highlander (also Sovereign)

Red, yellow, dun, black, brindle and white are all acceptable. This is one of the few divisions where brindle is fine.
Roan and heavy broken spotting are discriminatory.
Horned or polled are both accepted.

Salers (also Optimizer)

Solid mahogany red or solid black.
Brindle, roan and a diluter pattern are disqualifications. White markings are discriminatory.
Horned or polled are both accepted.

Braunvieh (also Beef Builder)

Solid brown to gray-brown with lighter points. Dilution shading is normal for the breed.
White spotting, brindle and roan are disqualifications.

American Aberdeen

Same rules as Angus: solid black, no white, no brindle, no dilution, and polled with no scurs.

Color divisions

The Black, Red and Smoke divisions judge color only. Ear, sheath and crest are not scored, so Brahman influence is not held against a steer here.

Black

Must have a black body. Any diluter expression (smoke, gray, white) is a disqualification. Those steers belong in Smoke.
Roan and heavy white are disqualifications. Minor white (feathering, flank white, small spots) is fine.
Slight brindling is acceptable. Heavy brindling below the flanks is discriminatory.

Red

Must have a red body. Black hair outside the body (points) is fine.
Otherwise the same rules as Black: no diluter, no roan, no heavy white, slight brindling acceptable.

Smoke

A smoke is one diluter gene expressed over a black base, the classic Charolais cross.
Dilution over a red base (reads yellow) is discriminatory. A fully white steer, or one with no dilution at all, is disqualified.
Roan and brindle are disqualifications. Heavy white spotting is discriminatory.

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