Quality Beef By the Numbers

Quality Beef By the Numbers is a new project to boost producer profits.

Quality Beef by the Numbers is the official name of a University of Missouri (MU) and industry joint project to boost the quantity of Prime and Choice grade beef produced in Missouri and neighboring states.

Details of the project will be presented Aug. 30 at a public announcement in Columbia, Mo.

The effort is in response to changing consumer preferences toward higher-quality products, said Scott Brown, research assistant professor at MU's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR). USDA statistics show that production of Choice and Prime beef during the past several decades hasn't kept up with market demand, he said.

According to recent studies, consumers are willing to pay more for USDA Prime than Select grade steaks. That willingness to pay has not gone unnoticed by packers or feedlots, which are taking advantage of grid pricing to source more quality cattle while passing on premium prices to producers for those cattle.

The Aug. 30 meeting will announce specifics of the program for producers to adapt to and profit from these new consumer preferences and feedlot opportunities. Quality Beef by the Numbers will describe a system in which cow-calf producers, stockers, feedyards and processors can work in coordination to produce high-demand products.

Brown said that segmentation within the U.S. cattle industry has hindered such coordination, as well as adoption of newer production and marketing strategies. David Patterson, professor of animal science at CAFNR and co-director of the project with Brown, said that the Quality Beef project will show how using best practices in genetic selection, artificial insemination (AI), recordkeeping, statistical analysis, and feeding and health strategies will result in more carcasses graded high quality at harvest.

"Today there is often a disconnect between Missouri cow-calf producers and profits when their product is graded," Patterson continued. "Most producers today sell calves for an average price. Their calves may be of very high quality, but they reap none of the financial rewards that result from their health, reproduction, genetic and management decisions."

Partners for the project

Working with MU on the project are Irsik and Doll Feed Services Inc., Garden City, Kan.; Pratt Feeders LLC, Pratt, Kan.; Accelerated Genetics, Baraboo, Wis.; Genex Cooperative Inc., Shawano, Wis.; and Select Sires MidAmerica with offices in Louisville, Ky., and Logan, Utah. Tyson Foods and Sysco Foods, companies involved in marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hotels and inns, and other foodservice and hospitality businesses, will participate in a panel discussion during the Aug. 30 program.

In the project, CAFNR will contribute scholarly expertise in reproductive and genetic technologies, statistical analysis, and measurement tools for evaluating economic outcomes. The AI industry will bring their experience in breeding management and improvements in reproductive efficiencies. Feed service companies will add best practice techniques in feeding and management of high-quality cattle. Cattle associations will furnish expertise in the development of informational and marketing pieces.

The implications for higher profits in the cattle industry could have a significant impact on Missouri, which ranks third in beef cow inventory at 1.865 million head. Missouri cattle and calf receipts totaled $1.4 billion in 2010, ranking third among all Missouri commodities.

"The state's total economic impact is five or six times more than the direct cash receipts," Brown said. "A program that increases value in this market will promote positive growth in the state, particularly in rural areas in need of an economic boost."

Brown said the Quality Beef by the Numbers program could help Missouri producers better recover from the Midwestern drought by replenishing depleted herds with stock having better-quality genetics.

CAFNR has been researching Quality Beef by the Numbers techniques for several years at its Thompson Research Center, near Spickard, Mo. Last year there, 31% of steers graded Prime, and all graded Choice or better. The national average for Prime grades at processing plants runs just more than 3%, Brown said.

Details about the Aug. 30 announcement are available at: www.quality-beef.com.

Editor's Note: This release was provided by the University of Missouri.