Marketing Systems For Livestock and Poultry Objective: Define cutability, degree of lean, marbling, and quality features used to market beef and swine

What is Cutability? The term ‘cutability’ describes the proportion of an animal which is sellable meat. Dressing percentage Percentage of the live animal which forms its dressed carcass Sellable meat yield or retail yield Percentage of the carcass which is sellable meat.

What is Cutability? No two animals are the same Cutability varies widely between individual animals This variation affects financial returns to producers, wholesalers and retailers.

High Cutability

High Cutability Wide stance Convex shoulders and hindquarters Trim brisket Wide over the shoulders Convex rump

Low Cutability Animals with low cutability do not look muscular, indicating a low ratio of muscle to bone. a narrow stance, especially through the lower hindquarters; a prominent gut that is the widest point of the animal when it is viewed from behind; flat forearms and shoulders; narrow, poorly developed loins sloping down from the backbone.

Low Cutability Animals that are overfat and have an uneven distribution of fat have: lumpy deposits of fat in the brisket, flank and tailhead a smooth appearance; a level underline; a deep body; flatness over the top of the rump; a smooth tail setting; a soft, spongy feel

Grading Meat Beef and Swine are graded using Quality Grades The worthiness of the meat produced Tenderness, juiciness, and flavor Yield Grades The amount of meat produced from a specific carcass

Grading Meat 1. Quality Grades Determined by the class or kind of animal (steer, heifer, cow, bull), age or maturity, firmness and marbling of the carcass.

Quality Grades Prime Choice Select Standard and Commercial Utility, Cutter, and Canner

Grading Meat Prime grade Choice grade Produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in restaurants and hotels Choice grade High quality, but has less marbling than Prime

Grading Meat Select grade Very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades Fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades

Grading Meat Standard and Commercial grades Frequently are sold as non-graded or as "store brand" meat Utility, Cutter, and Canner grades Are seldom, if ever, sold at retail but are used instead to make ground beef and processed products

Grading Meat 2. Yield grade Percentage of the carcass that is boneless, closely trimmed retail cuts from the round, loin rib, and chuck Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Grading Meat 3. Marbling Intermingling of fat among the muscle fiber Measured in the ribeye between the 12th and 13th rib

Grading Meat Swine 1. Quality grade is determined by quality of lean meat and yield. 2. Quality of lean is determined by firmness of lean, firmness of fat, and distribution of external finish (fat). 3. Yield is evaluated by thickness of backfat and degree of muscling. 4. Degrees of muscling are thick (score of 3), average (score of 2) and thin (score of 1).

Grading Meat Swine (continued) 5. Thick muscling helps offset backfat thickness. 6. Cutability is the yield of closely trimmed, boneless retail cuts that come from the major wholesale cuts of carcass. 7. United States No. 1 should yield 60.4% or higher. USDA grade=(4 x Last Rib Backfat thickness (in inches)) –1 x muscle score

Pop Quiz 1) What are the degrees of muscling in swine? 2) What places highest: Choice, Select, or Commercial? 3) Where is marbling assessed on each beef carcass? 4) How are quality grades determined in beef?

Cuts of Beef and Swine Objective: Identify the wholesale and retail cuts of beef and swine

Cuts of Beef Wholesale High value Low Value loin, rib, rump, round chuck, brisket, flank, plate or navel, shank 1

Wholesale Cuts of Beef

Cuts of Beef Retail High Value ribeye from the rib tenderloin from the loin sirloin from the loin rump from the rump T-bone form the loin

T-Bone

Ribeye

Tenderloin

Cuts of Beef Ribeye Tenderloin Sirloin T-Bone Ground Beef Stew Beef

Cuts of Pork Wholesale High Value Low Value loin, ham, picnic shoulder, Boston shoulder or butt Low Value spareribs or belly, feet, jowl, backfat, spareribs or side, bacon

Wholesale Cuts of Pork

Cuts of Pork Retail High Value Low Value ham, loin, tenderloin, pork chops, Boston butt, picnic ham (shoulder) Low Value hocks, spareribs, belly, bacon, jowl, fatback

Cuts of Pork

Cuts of Pork Pork Chops Boston Butt Picnic Shoulder Country Ham The Ham, Loin, Picnic Shoulder and Boston Butt make up 75% of the retail value of the carcass

Poultry Carcass Evaluation Objective: Define terminology used in poultry carcass selection and evaluation

Why Grade Poultry Carcasses? To insure quality before it is sold Prevent the selling of an unwholesome product Did you know? Grading is voluntary and paid for by the meat packer?

Grading Poultry Carcasses USDA Grades indicate quality not sanitation Ready-to-cook means that certain parts have been removed head feet and feathers blood viscera (soft internal organs)

What are the Grades? Poultry Carcass Grades: Grade A Grade B Grade C Sold in stores Grade B Often not a grade sold in stores Grade C Usually used for processing into other food products

Evaluation Factors confirmation disjointed and broken bones fleshing Poultry carcasses are graded on the following factors: confirmation fleshing fat covering exposed flesh discoloration disjointed and broken bones missing parts freezing defects

Evaluation Factors Confirmations Fleshing Fat covering normal breastbone, back, leg and wings Fleshing well fleshed or muscled is ideal Fat covering well covered is ideal

Evaluation Factors Exposed Flesh Grade A (2 pound to 6 pound birds) Breast and leg can not have over 1/4 inch Other parts can have a maximum of 1 and 1/2 inches

Evaluation Factors Exposed Flesh (continued) Grade B Grade C No more than 1/3 of the total flesh of each particular part can be exposed Meat yield cannot be affected (i.e. no cuts into the meat) Grade C No limit

Evaluation Factors Disjointed and broken bones Grade A Grade B (2 pound to 6 pound birds) Grade A 1 disjointed and no broken Grade B 2 disjointed and no broken or 1 disjointed and 1 broken non-protruding

Evaluation Factors Disjointed and broken bones Grade C (continued) No limit Protruding bones automatic Grade C

Evaluation Factors Missing Parts Grade A Grade B (2 pound to 6 pound birds) Grade A Wing tips and tail (removal of the preen gland Grade B Wing tips to the 2nd wing joint Back area not wider than base of tail and extending half way between the base of tail and hip joints

Evaluation Factors Missing Parts Grade C (continued) Wing tips, wings and tail Back area not wider than the base of tail extending to area between the hip joints

What Grade is this? Grade A No Defects

What Grade is this? B Grade Back is cut out halfway between the base of the tail and the hip joints

More than 1/3 of flesh exposed on breast What Grade is this? C Grade. More than 1/3 of flesh exposed on breast

Parts of wing removed beyond the second joint What Grade is this? B Grade. Parts of wing removed beyond the second joint

What Grade is this? C Grade. Entire wing removed

Over 1/3 of the drumstick flesh is exposed What Grade is this? C Grade. Over 1/3 of the drumstick flesh is exposed

Trimmed more than halfway between base of tail and hip joints What Grade is this? C Grade Trimmed more than halfway between base of tail and hip joints

Protruding broken bone in wing tip What Grade is this? C grade Protruding broken bone in wing tip

Marketing Livestock and Poultry Objective: Describe the methods used to market livestock and poultry

Methods of Marketing Terminal Markets Central markets on public stockyards Livestock are consigned to a commission firm to bargain with buyers for a certain fee

Methods of Marketing Auction Markets Public bidding Sell to the buyer that bids the highest

Methods of Marketing Direct selling No middle person Producer sells straight to the buyer No commission or fees

Methods of Marketing Electronic marketing auctioning on-line using computers Futures marketing and hedging legal document calls for the delivery in the future prices are locked in to a futures price

Vertical Integration Definition Two or more steps of production, marketing and processing are linked together usually by a contract between the producer and feed manufactures or between producers and processors including all three

Vertical Integration Holly Farms, Case, Purdue Poultry Farmer or producer Grain producer Hatchery

Vertical Integration About 99% of all broilers and a very high percentage of turkeys, laying hens and swine are grown and marketed through vertical integration contracts

Animal Welfare and Rights Objective: Define animal welfare and rights issues

Animal Welfare Humane treatment of animals Most animal producers and researchers believe in animal welfare support animal nutrition oppose cruel treatment

Animal Welfare Scientific information should be the basis for decisions, laws, and regulations related to animal welfare It is difficult to assess animal comfort because they do not talk and there are no universally accepted measures to use

Animal Rights Animal should not be used by humans The issues of animal welfare and animal rights date back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks

Welfare vs Rights Welfare Rights No use whatsoever Involves good treatment of animals Less radical Supported by most animal producers and researchers No use whatsoever Radical activities including violence Usually vegetarians