A plate with beef and salad is shown, dividing the screen: the right half displays the beef plate, while the left introduces the video titled "The Beef Industry: Conception to Consumption." It transitions to images showcasing various beef products in a store, such as steaks, roasts, and hamburgers etc.
Millions of people around the world use and consume products from the beef industry every day. When you think of beef, you probably think of steaks, hamburgers, roasts, and other meat products. But where does beef come from?
Cattle graze in a field, then are depicted consuming animal feed. Text notes that beef cattle production in the U.S. is a $44 billion per year industry.
Beef cattle are raised all over the world on every continent except Antarctica. Here in the United States, beef cattle production is a forty-four billion dollar a year industry.
Beef production zones across the United States are highlighted on a map.
The majority of beef cattle production and meat packing plants in the United States is centered in the middle of the country, primarily from South Dakota to Texas.
The screen is divided into two halves: the left side displays hanging beef, and the right side displays the slide titled “Beef Industry Segments” in various segments like Cow/Calf, stocker, feeder, feedlots, harvest and processing, and retail outlets. It transitions to images of cow herds grazing in different fields, emphasizing Cow and Stocker segments.
The beef industry can be broken into several segments, including Cow/calf operations, Stocker operations, Feeder operations, Feedlots, Harvest & processing facilities, and Retail outlets.
Images depict “Feeder Cattle,” showcasing herds grazing in fields and consuming animal feed on a farm.
But the complex industry all starts with farmers and ranchers who maintain herds of breeding stock. Bulls and cows produce calves, most of which move on to other segments of the industry. Some are kept as replacements for older breeding stock. The average herd size in the U. S. is about 40 head, but that number can easily reach thousands or even tens-of-thousands on larger ranches.
Stocker cattle grazing the grass. A text box at the bottom of the screen indicates, "Stocker cattle: graze from 6 months of age to a weight of 600-800 pounds.
Stocker operations purchase weanling calves and place them into a pasture grazing system where they will grow and gain weight. Stocker cattle are put into pastures at 6 to 10 months of age where they graze on grasses or roughage until they reach a weight of six to eight hundred pounds. Next the stockers are ready to be finished and are classified as feeder cattle.
A montage of various cattle in pastures, eating, and on various lots.
Feeder cattle are not ready for market because they don’t have enough finish, or fat cover, to enhance the meat quality. Most feeder cattle are shipped to feedlots where they are fed a high energy ration to finish or fatten them for market. As cattle grow and add fat, they are more likely to quality grade USDA Choice or higher, and thus produce a more desirable final product. Cattle grading Choice or higher are also worth more to the producer.
Feedlots are large facilities where cattle are fed and cared for until they reach the desired market weight. Market weight is usually between 1,000 and 1,300 pounds, depending on breed.
Hanging meat is inspected by a man, followed by a USDA grader assigning grades to the meat. The scene transitions to graded meat inside a facility, accompanied by a USDA quality grade sheet.
Once cattle are finished in the feedlot, they are shipped to the meat processing plant where they are harvested and processed into meat and by-products. The cattle are inspected for health and humanely harvested according to USDA regulations. After carcasses are chilled, they are assigned a “grade” by USDA graders. The carcasses receive both a quality grade and a yield grade. The quality grade is a combination of the degree of marbling or intramuscular fat in the ribeye muscle and the age of the animal at slaughter.
Back-to-back images of beef meat appear.
The most widely known quality grade is USDA Choice, but the highest grade is USDA Prime.
Beef and salad on a plate transition to images of hanging beef inside a production facility, followed by a yield grading chart from Yield Grade 1 to 5.
Quality grades were designed as a predictor of tenderness and flavor in the meat. If a carcass doesn’t have enough marbling to grade Choice, it typically doesn’t receive a grade at all and is sold as “no-roll beef”.
Images compare Yield Grade 1 to 5 carcasses, transitioning to boxed beef kept inside a facility.
The Yield grade is an indicator of the percentage of trimmed retail cuts the carcass is expected to produce. The highest yield grade is 1, which is normally a very lean, heavily muscled carcass. The lowest yield grade is 5 and is given to carcasses with excess fat and light muscling. Most processing plants now have the ability to add value to their products by processing the carcasses into boxed beef.
Primal and sub-primal cut carcasses are shown, displaying beef stored in vacuum packaging, followed by images of boxed beef.
The carcasses are cut into primal and sub-primal cuts, vacuum-packaged, then marketed and shipped to retail outlets.
Boxed beef is displayed in grocery stores, meat markets, and restaurants, accompanied by a chef handling the beef.
The most common retail outlets for boxed beef are grocery stores, restaurants, and meat markets. Meat markets and grocery stores process the boxed beef into retail cuts, adding value to the product, and making it easier for consumers to purchase and cook.
Food items on kitchen slabs transition to images of roasted beef.
Restaurants take the value-added concept one step further by cooking and serving the retail cuts.
Beef cattle are shown in different facilities and at different stages of production.
Beef production is one of the largest segments in the agriculture industry.
The image transitions to hanging beef, and this slide shows roasted beef.
Beef accounts for about a fourth of the meat consumed all around the world because of its flavor and nutritional value.
Two beef cattle are shown looking into the camera.