Beef Quality

When Roy McCallister arrived on the scene of a major traffic accident involving 90 head of feeder calves, his Bovine Emergency Response Plan (BERP) training immediately kicked in.

You, as a beef producer, never want to receive a phone call that one of your beef carcasses has drug residues and is not fit for human consumption. That call implies the producer did not read the label correctly, overdosed the animal or did not comply with the required withdrawal time.

Beef and dairy cattle have steadily grown larger for the last 30 years, thanks to improved genetics and nutrition. This sounds like great progress, but bruising in finished cattle causes a substantial $35 million loss to the beef industry annually.

Just missed it. Just missing a flight, a deadline for a major rebate or watching your child’s winning shot at a ball game. The feeling is much the same.

The 10-ounce ribeye steak on your plate looks quite a bit different than what your grandparents ate. Through the years, the cattle industry has taken large strides when it comes to genetics and feeding, and these innovations have led to a different class of carcass.

Ag economist Ted Schroeder of Kansas State University discusses how premiums filter back from beef consumer to beef producer.