Carcass Quality and Genetic Selection in the Beef Industry

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.