Beef Quality

At the “Wagyu Olympics” in northern Japan last fall, Wagyu cattle from across the country competed for supreme standing among Japan’s most coveted cattle breed.

When you look back in the past 10 to 15 years at the data trends, Choice-graded beef has been on the rise.

Every five years or so, most of the major beef processors in the U.S. are audited, sampling 10 percent of a fed or non-fed beef plant’s kill and funded by the Beef Checkoff.

Results of the most recent beef checkoff-funded 2016 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA) for steers and heifers was released during the 2017 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in July.

U.S. cattlemen have long recognized the importance of the proper care and handling of their livestock.

As I write this, most of my part of the world is in the midst of the fall gather. It’s a fun time of year as it always means lots of time on horseback, bugling elk providing a symphony as you pull cattle from the high country and lots of sorting.