USDA is testing a new tool for cattle producers and meat processors, making it more accessible for smaller operations to obtain beef quality grading and certification.
The Remote Grading Pilot for Beef project allows USDA meat graders to assess beef carcasses and assign the official quality grade from a remote location. Through the pilot, processors will be able to take photos of an animal and carcass and submit the images to a USDA grader who is located elsewhere in the country. The grader will evaluate the images and accompanying plant records and data and assign the appropriate quality grade and carcass certifications.
A feasibility study was conducted on the remote grading process in the second half of 2023. Through the pilot program, USDA will expand testing to more beef packers and gather additional information on actual costs and the level of surveillance needed to keep the program consistent.
The pilot program is limited to domestic beef slaughter facilities operating under federal inspection and producing product that meets USDA grading program eligibility, USDA said.
The pilot was announced during a panel discussion with producers and independent processors at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO.
“On average, a beef carcass that grades as USDA Prime is valued at hundreds of dollars more than an ungraded carcass, but costs for this voluntary USDA service often prevents smaller scale processors and the farmers and ranchers they serve from using this valuable marketing tool,” Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
USDA quality grading services are offered to producers on a user-fee basis. Because most users are large beef packers processing large quantities of cattle, meat grading and certification services are underutilized by smaller processors due to the cost, USDA said. Paying for a USDA grader to travel to perform in-person work for a relatively small number of cattle is not cost effective.
“Experience with remote grading so far has shown it dramatically reduces travel-related expenses, which makes the service more accessible to smaller processors,” USDA said.
For more information on the pilot, visit ams.usda.gov/remote/beef/grading. USDA hosted a webinar to provide additional information on Jan. 25 that was recorded and will be available for viewing.
Industry reactions
Cattle groups applauded the news.
The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association said it worked with USDA to provide technical guidance on the program, as the group presented the concept in a 2020 policy resolution.
“Before today’s announcement, it was simply unaffordable for an independent producer or processor to participate in providing quality-graded beef to the marketplace,” USCA Independent Beef Processing Chairman Patrick Robinette said in a statement.
Robinette continued that the cost for his operation to receive grading services would be $410 per head, but through the pilot program, the cost would be reduced to $4.56 per head.
“USCA brought forward a producer pinch point in the marketplace and USDA provided a competitive and producer-driven solution, bringing a process developed in 1916 into the modern era,” he praised.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) said the program will help increase marketing opportunities and capture more value for cattle producers.
“This pilot program will help ensure that smaller processors have access to USDA grading too, which in turn benefits the cattle producers who sell to these smaller processors by ensuring that their beef receives a quality grade as well,” NCBA said in a news release. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
