cross_7":8n071yiv said:
How does the certification process work?
Cattle undergo two evaluations before becoming CAB brand:
Step one: Live evaluation – Employees at licensed processing plants are approved by CAB and monitored by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to identify predominantly black cattle (at least 51 percent of the hair coat is black) or AngusSource® enrolled cattle. Typically half of the cattle entering licensed packing plants, meet the live specification and are eligible for further evaluation. Carcasses from these are marked with an "A" stamp to maintain identity throughout processing.
Step two: Carcass evaluation – "A" stamped carcasses are then presented to a USDA grader* for further evaluation based on the ten established quality specifications that must be met:
1."Modest" or higher degree of marbling – Marbling, or intramuscular fat, appears as the small white flecks of fat finely interspersed throughout the lean and serves as the main contributor to beef flavor and juiciness. Most USDA Choice graded beef contains only the "Small" minimum marbling requirement.
2."A" maturity for each, lean and skeletal characteristics– "A" maturity cattle, tend to produce beef that is superior in color, texture and firmness of the lean.
3.Medium or fine marbling texture –Marbling must be finely and evenly distributed throughout the lean muscle tissue for consistent beef flavor and juiciness.
4.Ribeye Area (REA) of 10.0 to 16.0 in2 – Ensuring more consistent sizing of boxed product.
5.Hot Carcass Weight (HCW) less than 1,000 lb. – Eliminating extremely heavy carcasses.
6.Fat Thickness (FT) less than 1.0 inch –Eliminating excessively fat product.
7.Moderately thick or thicker muscling – Eliminating thinly muscled, narrow carcasses and those with significant dairy breed influence. Superior muscle thickness implies a higher proportion of meat to bone.
8.Practically free of capillary ruptures – These small blood spots detract from the product's eye-appeal.
9.Free of "dark cutting" characteristics – Animals that are stressed prior to harvest may produce carcasses known as "dark cutters", where beef takes on a dark brown to purplish color that is not attractive in the meat case. Sometimes it may have an "off" flavor as well.
10.No hump exceeding 2 inches in height – Eliminating cattle with significant Brahman (Bos Indicus) influence. Research indicates this breed of cattle tends to produce beef that is inconsistent in tenderness.
Only carcasses meeting these ten stringent quality requirements are marked "Accepted as Specified" by the USDA grader*. These carcasses are then processed as CAB brand and distributed by CAB licensees.
Very interesting. Thank you.
However if we really look at these criteria for "CAB" it really comes down to two main points that would differentiate such "CAB" from any other beef breed:
The COLOR:
"predominantly black cattle (at least 51 percent of the hair coat is black)" to get an "A"
and MARBLING: #1 & #3: "
"Modest" or higher degree of marbling" & "Medium or fine marbling texture"
The rest of the supposed exclusive criteria for CAB are really just good quality logic for quality beef breed boxed beef: such as no dark cutters, no dairy influence, no excessive fat thickness, good REA etc.
If we could say that really the first of those two, hair coat COLOR is in itself not really relevant to the end product quality but being used as an artificial qualifier, then the essence of "CAB" comes down to MARBLING, amount and texture.
And about marbling, this has been traditionally used as a measure of carcass quality because it could be seen on the rail as the carcass moved down the line. More recent research has said that it is possible to have similar taste and tenderness but without the extreme marbling. There are other tests now available to measure tenderness in other ways. Marbling may be one indicator of taste and tenderness but it is not necessarily the only indicator nor even required for taste and tenderness.
It is just that in the past this was the only thing that could be easily and visually judged on the line.
My bias in this discussion is as a Hereford person. Hereford can meet every one of the above criteria except one: "predominantly [51%] black hair". They can also marble with the right genetics and if fed enough corn. I feel if harvested young I can get very good taste, tenderness and reasonable marbling from many of my Hereford steers with very little corn.
The title of this old and long running thread is "pros and cons of Angus". As far as I can tell the only Pro that can not be met by straight Herefords is the "predominantly [51%] black hair". A BWF can meet this. However this really has no relevance to the end product. Marbling in beef breeds is largely a matter of how much corn/ration design they are fed in finishing.
And in fact marbling may be augmented or replaced by newer technology at the packers to measure taste/tenderness in other ways.
There are a lot of other "pros" to Herefords in other areas of cattle raising. I don't like negative advertising nor negative posts so I will stay away from "cons". Nor am I qualified to compare Angus and Herefords.
My feeling is that "CAB" is a very good marketing program. But as a consumer, do I have to buy CAB to make sure I am not buying an old Brahman cull cow dark cutter? I think not. Any place that sells or serves beef and wants repeat business could sell quality beef from a number of beef breeds and have a quality product.
When it comes right down to it as far as I can see, the main difference between CAB and say CHB is "predominantly black hair".
I am looking forward to the day when I can take straight Hereford steers or calves to the sale barn and they will be judged by their quality and not by their color. As the number of calves available to put on feedlots continues to decline I see a time not too far away where buyers will look for quality calves of any color to feed out and pay based on that quality rather than color.
Jim
