AI-driven camera grading technology is giving beef producers new opportunities to collect data on carcass quality and use that information to make breeding and management decisions. In todays beef buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays features comments from Dr. Logan Johnson, assistant professor of food science at Oklahoma State University, who spoke with Associate Farm Reporter Carli Davenport during the American Wagyu Association’s annual conference about how the technology is changing the way carcass quality is evaluated.
Johnson said the technology is advancing rapidly and can quickly collect detailed information from beef carcasses. “These systems can take the images and really gather a lot of data about that carcass really rapidly and quickly assign quality grades and value to those carcass systems.”
He said the technology is also changing how the industry thinks about assigning value to beef products. “A lot of the technologies that are being used are really reshaping kind of how we think about assigning value and maybe ways that we can classify value.”
Collecting More Data for Breeding Decisions
For cattle producers, Johnson said one of the biggest opportunities created by camera grading is the ability to collect high-quality phenotype data. “In the world of big data, it’s really important in collecting high quality phenotype data.”
He explained that images and other carcass traits can give producers and researchers information that may not have been available or considered important in the past. “Getting these images and other traits allows us to have new ways of gathering data and collecting new phenotypes about these animals and selecting for some of these traits that maybe haven’t been selected for or recognized as maybe relevant.”
Johnson said combining that information with genetic data could provide additional opportunities for cattle selection. “I think the more that we’re collecting this high-quality data and kind of integrating that with these genetic traits, I think will allow for a lot of further selection and refinement of opportunities for producers.”
Faster Feedback on Cattle Performance
Another potential benefit for producers is gaining more information about how cattle perform after they leave the ranch and arrive at the processing facility.
Johnson said camera systems can rapidly detect marbling and other carcass traits, providing producers with feedback from the rail. “These systems, like I said, can really rapidly detect marbling content and a couple other traits as well.”
He said there are still limitations to the information the systems can provide, but the technology continues to create new possibilities for sorting and classifying beef products. “It can get them pretty instant feedback. There’s still some nuances in maybe the type of data that it can generate, but it’s opening up, like I said, new doors of classifying and sorting products.”
As the technology develops, Johnson expects producers will have access to even more information. “As these technologies advance more and more, there’ll be more data and more things that are unlocked for those producers than are currently maybe available today.”
USDA and Processor Use
Johnson said camera grading systems are being used by both local processors and larger packing plants. Before the technology can be used to assist with USDA grading, the systems go through testing and performance requirements. “A lot of these systems are used by either local processors or maybe large packing plants, and a lot of these cameras that are implemented, they’ve gone through some rigorous testing and kind of performance criteria with USDA ahead of time.”
The cameras are not replacing USDA graders. Instead, Johnson said the technology provides additional information to assist the grading process. “These images are captured and assigned the USDA quality grade. So they’re really supplementing what these USDA graders can do.”
Expanding Access for Smaller Producers
Johnson said the technology is also becoming more accessible to smaller producers through remote grading programs offered by USDA. “A lot of these smaller plants are using this, and through some remote grading programs that USDA has as well.”
Those programs can allow producers to submit images or video of ribeye areas to USDA for grading, giving them access to information that historically may have been more readily available to larger processors. “It’s allowing some smaller producers more access to these types of grading systems that they haven’t had before.”
Johnson said producers can use images or videos of the ribeye area to help obtain value from the grading system. “They’re able to take images or videos of these ribeye areas or ribeyes and send that to USDA, so they can actually gain value out of that system that they haven’t maybe had access to before.”
While larger processors have used camera technology more routinely, Johnson said expanding access could give smaller producers more information about their cattle and carcass performance. “A lot of these larger processors have used cameras and much more routinely graded. But a lot of the smaller producers are now having more access to that type of data and information.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR above for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
