Carcass Quality and Genetic Selection in the Beef Industry

By: Vanek, Joseph K.; Watts, Myles J.; Brester, Gary W.
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Citation

Vanek, Joseph K.; Watts, Myles J.; Brester, Gary W., Carcass Quality and Genetic Selection in the Beef Industry, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Volume 33, Issue 3, December 2008, Pages 349-363

A lack of high-quality beef has been cited as one of the primary factors for the 50% decline in beef demand from the mid-1970s to the last 1990s. Cattle producers argue that appropriate price premiums are not sufficient to encourage the production of high-quality cattle. Although some improvement in carcass quality can be made by the cattle feeding and processing sectors, substantial improvements in quality must include genetic progress. A hedonic analysis of four major U.S. beef seedstock producers indicates that bull purchasers place relatively high values on a bull’s ability to produce progeny with improved carcass-quality traits.