New USDA Grading Module Available
Cattlemen and consumers can learn how beef carcasses are assigned yield and quality grades.
The USDA meat-grading system sets standards of quality and cutability (yield of edible meat) used in buying and selling of meat. As a voluntary program administered by the USDA, the cost of the quality- and yield-grading program is borne by meat packers. Grading provides consumers an assurance that the product purchased conforms to an expected standard of palatability.
To better explain the procedures and technologies involved in quality and yield grading, the beef checkoff’s research team has developed a guided simulation and learning module. To access the module, visit http://bit.ly/1OOixZI.
“Beef quality continues to be one of the key demand drivers for beef, but many in the industry never have the chance to develop the understanding of how beef carcasses are assigned yield and quality grades,” says Bridget Wasser, checkoff executive director of meat science and technology. “The USDA Grading Module and Simulation includes educational modules such as grading’s history and teaches the carcass-grading process step-by-step. The simulation put words into action and allows users to yield and quality grade a beef carcass from start to finish as USDA Agricultural Marketing Service employees do on a daily basis.”
For more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit http://mybeefcheckoff.com.
Editor’s Note: Melissa Sandfort is the trade media manager for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.