{"content":[{"text":"electrical instrument grading system began in 1980 and through several iterations of \n improvement and validation, instrument grading became a reality in September 2009. The two \n instruments approved for use today can assess marbling score, subcutaneous fat depth, ribeye \n area, ribeye width, ribeye depth, and lean color. Camera derived yield grade is calculated from \n the hot carcass weight, subcutaneous fat depth, ribeye area, and an algorithm predicted or \n assumed constant percentage of kidney-pelvic-heart fat. Research illustrating the agreement \n between USDA human grading and instrument camera grading (McEvers et al., 2012) suggests \n poor and variable agreement between human and camera grading yield grading outcomes. No \n industry standard exists concerning use of subjective human versus objective instrument grading. \n Instrument grading use ranges from no use at processors that have not purchased the technology \n to its utilization as the sole determinant of yield and quality grade; approximately 72% of fed \n cattle are graded for both quality and yield or for yield only using camera technology.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.093788,"width":0.765151,"height":0.23472300000000001}},{"text":"Economics of yield grading","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.343396,"width":0.216551,"height":0.015151999999999999}},{"text":"Value-based sales in which yield grade premiums and discounts may alter the final carcass \n value are an ever-increasing proportion of beef cattle/carcass marketings (Figure 1). The \n maximum premium offered for a yield grade 1 equals $8/cwt. whereas a yield grade 5 carcass \n carries up to a $20/cwt. discount (USDA, 2016a). When the maximum reported yield grade \n premium or discount is applied to a 900-pound carcass, carcass value is altered by +$72, +$45, - \n $135, and -$180 for yield grades 1, 2, 4, and 5, respectively. Application of the previous values \n to the annual fed beef population indicates the potential industry value for yield grade valuation \n is +$108 million, +$326 million, -$309 million, and -$61 million for yield grades 1, 2, 4, and 5, \n respectively (USDA, 2016a; USDA, 2016b). Producers may sell cattle on formula based marketing \n systems whereby each animal is eligible for premiums and discounts, however threshold grids \n are more popular. A threshold grid compares each pen or lot of cattle to a rolling plant average \n for the respective sex classification or in many cases breed type (i.e. dairy influenced vs native) \n or origin (i.e. U.S. vs Mexican vs Canadian). In this manner, discounts or premiums are not tallied \n until the percentage of hot carcass weight in the specific lot exceeds the plant average for each \n quality and yield component. Furthermore, this method of carcass valuation allows a discount \n to become a premium when the cattle are better than the plant average and a premium to \n become a discount when the cattle are worse than the plant average. Value-based grid \n marketing is now the industry standard – as such, a robust and reliable yield grade estimation \n system is paramount to ascertain true carcass value and report back to producers a better \n estimation of saleable yield supplied to the beef complex.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.373548,"width":0.765155,"height":0.3944200000000001}},{"text":"Inconsistencies and challenges","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.782854,"width":0.24815500000000001,"height":0.015152000000000054}},{"text":"The era in which the yield grade was developed was dominated by small-framed early \n maturing cattle which were primarily purebred Herefords. In contrast, the current fed beef \n population is a kaleidoscope of genetic diversity that is medium and large in frame; the greatest \n population of purebred animals is now represented by the Holstein breed. Moreover, cattle \n feeding technology including growth promoting implants, beta-adrenergic agonists, and genomic","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.813005,"width":0.7649570000000001,"height":0.09499500000000005}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}