Link?

[Frankie]

I just saw an article on the front page of Cattle Today saying that the amount of Choice beef had increased dramatically in the last two years.

Does anyone have a link showing the % of Choice over the last few years? Thanks.....

 

[VanC]

This might help.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fet ... eatgrdcert

 

[RD-Sam]

Looks like overall, the quality of beef has gone downhill since 1989. I knew this, as the stuff you buy in the stores is total crap, and the very reason I decided to start raising cattle. At least I will know what I'm eating now. ;-)

 

[Frankie]

This might help.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fet ... eatgrdcert

Thank you, Van, that's what I am looking for.

 

[talldog]

Looks like overall, the quality of beef has gone downhill since 1989. I knew this, as the stuff you buy in the stores is total crap, and the very reason I decided to start raising cattle. At least I will know what I'm eating now. ;-)

Well Said !!!!!!!!I :wave: :wave:

 

[ga. prime]

Good work finding the stats, Van. Why the downward trend in beef graded choice as a percentage of total beef graded? What's behind that?

 

[VanC]

Good work finding the stats, Van. Why the downward trend in beef graded choice as a percentage of total beef graded? What's behind that?

I got lucky. I can't even begin to guess how much time I've spent trying to find such a thing before. This time it took about 2 minutes. Go figure. Those graphs are part of the website www.ams.usda.gov. It's a wealth of information.

As for the decline in beef quality, I'm sure there are many factors involved. I remembered something about the grading system being changed awhile back, and wondered whether that might have had an effect on the figures. I came up with this:

http://www.steakperfection.com/grade/

Pay close attention the the section entitled "Decline in beef quality". Not endorsing what they say, just throwing it out there for comment.

 

[Frankie]

Thanks for the "steakperfection" link, Van. It's an informative article. What it doesn't mention (and they may not know) is how the influx of Continental cattle affected the quality of beef. When packers and producers couldn't get enough high quality beef, they petitoned the USDA to change the standards.

According to a report, "After the USDA issues a grade, an Angus grader comes through and stamps the meat that fits their program. What they are taking is, by and large, the top level of USDA Choice." CAB and other programs market their beef without the USDA labels and pass off as the highest quality those cuts which are not quite Prime Grade but are nevertheless affordable

In my limited packing house experience, this isn't accurate. The AAA doesn't own any meat or employ any graders. They simply license the CAB name to packers, retailers, etc. IMO, to have two graders look at every carcass would be expensive. There are USDA graders qualified to stamp both the USDA grade and/or CAB on a carcass.

I can't get that HoustonPress article to open. Can you? I'd sure like to read it......

 

[VanC]

Frankie- I couldn't get it to open, either, so I googled it. Managed to get it off another site. It's an older article, and doesn't say much more than the other one did, but here it is:

http://www.houstonpress.com/2001-08-02/ ... r-of-fat/1

There's a link to a second page at the bottom.

 

[Frankie]

Frankie- I couldn't get it to open, either, so I googled it. Managed to get it off another site. It's an older article, and doesn't say much more than the other one did, but here it is:

http://www.houstonpress.com/2001-08-02/ ... r-of-fat/1

There's a link to a second page at the bottom.

Thanks, again....

 

[RD-Sam]

It's good to see I'm not crazy, I knew the meat in the stores was getting worse and worse all along. I ate at Outback a few weeks ago and ordered a Ribeye, I was expecting it to be good, like it was the time I went 4 or 5 years ago, it wasn't, in fact it was a big dissapointment. The beef industry has obviously gone down hill in the last 20 years or so.

Another thing I learned while talking to Robert a few weeks ago, is they aren't aging the beef anymore, that is a big part of the problem. The beef is cut right after it's killed, no time to age at all. Other than the artificial aging, and that obviously isn't working well at all.

 

[Brandonm22]

I am stir frying most everything (beef, pork, chicken, and sausage) with onions, garlic, bell peppers, and carrots (cook the veggies FIRST so as not to overcook the meat) then serving it wrapped in a tortilla with a lettuce, tomatoe, and cheese salad on top. If you cook it right, cut and grade become irrelevant.

 

[OLF]

Has the increased use of growth implants had an effect? More pounds but less marbling?