Cattle
(Continued from Pago AID)
ary. Calf inventory was 39.6 mil
lion head, down 2 percent.
National growth in the economy
of a steady 2-3 percent should help
keep economic woes at bay. This is
the third longest period of econom
ic growth in U.S. history, Moore
said, though overall growth, pro
fits, and inflation for most eco
nomic sectors will be the same as
last year.
Natural disasters could effect
the economy negatively, such as
the snow out in the Dakotas that
has literally buried hods of cattle.
Moore indicated that
13,000-100,000 beef animals
could be found dead under the
snow.
Overall, however, more of our
farm income “is coming from off
farm sources,” Moore said.
'That’s good or bad, depending on
how you look at it How many of us
have to work off the farm to sup
port our farm habit?”
For beef producers in general,
it’s time to also look closely at
other agricultural sectors to see
what impact this could have on
them. As an example, Moore
pointed out that Perdue is planning
to build 200 broiler houses on
Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Additionally, more and more
grain is being used for the beef and
swine industries. Com use for beef
stands out front, with use totally
nearly S billion bushels last year.
Com exports are totally about 2
billion bushels and com food for
additives and seed stood at 1.6 bil
lion bushels.
Record com use again could
have carryovers low for the second
straight year. USDA projections
for com carryover in 1997 are 1.1
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billion bushels, which Moore
believes are too high. USDA is still
looking at the “psychology of sec
ond or third-largest com crops”
when making estimates, as com
use increases. Also, “we’re getting
to the point right now where we
have to produce big crops to keep
prices of livestock lower.” accord
ing to the economist
Overall, there will be fewer ani
mals on feedlot in the future than in
the past few years.
Moore pointed out that some
producers complain that when the
price drops at the farm, it doesn’t
drop at the retail level.
That’s not true, Moore noted.
Even though the process starts
slowly, the price does decrease at
the retail level. The price at the
retail level was an average 6 cents
per pound lower than the previous
year, however, the price did not
drop to reflect all the drops the
industry took.
Beef Grading
Review, Changes
Martin E. O’Connor, agricultur
al marketing specialist with the
USDA Agricultural Marketing
Service, Livestock and Seed Divi
sion. spoke about the USDA beef
grading programs and recent
changes to the system.
hi grading, an important factor
that the specialists look for is mar
bling. Marbling “is the highest
degree of accuracy (regarding)
taste, juiciness, and flavor of
meat,” and is an important aspect
in the grading program.
An important segment of their
work is the branded programs for
the different beef organizations
that utilize the USDA service.
“The branded program is
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becoming very popular for diffe
rent segments of the industry,”
said O’Connor. These are prog
rams developed under total quality
management to allow the organi
zations to market different cuts of
beef and to serve as a product iden
tification and records system.
For one such organization, out
of eight million head of cattle that
went through an evaluation, only
'A of the total qualified for the
branded program, or about 1.8 mil
lion head. That translates into
about 1.34 billion pounds of beef.
Producers should understand
the difference between inspection
and grading. Inspection involves
examining the safety and health of
meat processing plants and grad
ing simply looks at the quality of
beef.
The service provided by USDA
is entirely voluntary. Beef slaught
erhouses receive USDA’s help to
the tune of 100,000 head of cattle
per day for grading purposes.
In fiscal year 1996, USDA
graded 20.4 billion pounds of beef
and certified 12.1 billion pounds.
Revenues were $lO.l million for
the grading program and $7.9 mil
lion for certification to the proces
sors. Grading costs are $36.60 per
hour, which work out, on average,
to about 37 cents per carcass.
Grading factors include overall
maturity, skeletal and lean maturi
ty and physical evaluation of the
skeleton. Lean quality, including
texture, firmness, and marbling,
are also examined. Carcass cuta
bility is figured into the grading
process.
O’Connor indicated that he
travels to many parts of the country
to evaluate the uniform standards
of graders in various plants.
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O’Connor also spoke about the
“B” maturity grade changes taking
place now, which will “prevent
mote than 200 million undesirable
eating experiences per year” for
consumers, he said, based on
surveys.
This means that 1.58 percent of
all cattle on average would fall into
the change area, affecting aged
steers and heiferettes.
About 1.49 percent of the cattle
would change from a low choice or
select grade to standard.
Matt Perrier, promotions direc
tor for the Pennsylvania Beef
Council, said that in the next 4-S
years, there will be changes to
meat cases in supermarkets to
reflect the changes in consumer
preferences.
There will be three sections in
the case, Perrier indicated.
One case will house steaks and
chops, one chicken breasts, and the
other ground beef.
The good news is that, while
retailers are losing market share of
beef sales to food service providers
and restaurants, new items will
help the industry overall. One such
item under test from an Atglen
based company is called the “bcef
fita,” used as an appetizer that
makes use of small strips from the
beef shoulder, seasoned Tex-Mex
style and deep-fried. Another item
is the “home meal replacement,”
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Beef Council
Update
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commonly known as the HMR
prepared full-serving meals that
the consumer merely needs to
reheat They are working on pala
tability of the meat after it is
reheated.
Another item, “rotisserie beef,”
similar to the same style of chicken
in some restaurants the slow
roasted, slow-cooked meat is
under development according to
Perrier.
Consumers want more “per
ceived convenience” in the food
they prepare for families.
The council, according to Per
rier, applauds the work of steak
houses around the country to
attract many consumers and to
improve the marketing of beef
items. Nearly 90 percent of all
restaurants still serve beef on their
menu.
Tammy Weaver, industry
relations/compliance manager
with the Pennsylvania Beef Coun
cil, spoke about the council’s dedi
cation to improving beef market
ing, now in existence for 10 years.
“It’s a good program,” she said.
“We’ve been building demand for
a decade.”
Weaver emphasized the impor
tance of advertising to promote the
sale of beef at the supermarket.
“Our society is in this rage of con
venience,” she said, and that fac
tors into consumers’ beef buying
decisions.
She asked producers to continue
to communicate their needs for
marketing to the council.
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