Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays contacted Dr. Jessica Lancaster, NCBA Senior Director of Product Quality Research, to talk about the increasing carcass weights and what it means for beef production.
Lancaster says carcass weights have experienced an annual 5-pound increase over the past thirty years. Carcass weights are now at levels that earlier experts would have never thought possible, and NCBA is working hard to ensure that the quality of the product being produced isn’t lost with the increased weights of the carcasses.
“All the cuts are getting bigger, so it’s figuring out how the products are changing,” Lancaster said. “For example, how does seam fat change if we have cuts that are too large for the center of the plate? How do we go about merchandising those, so that we can ensure that we are still meeting our consumer needs?”
She said that the yield grade is the best determinant of the overall product yield, but the challenge lies in the fact that today, it doesn’t align with the cattle population, so NCBA is working to provide a feedback mechanism to help them target product yield. The goal is to better understand how the current cattle herd and the herd of the future can be represented for the true yield and value that they are providing for the industry.
Lancaster said that prior to the COVID pandemic, the beef supply would have been managed fresh rather than frozen. “Once freezing became an aspect, it was important for us to understand how freezing and thawing would impact product quality knowing that consumers have the demand for high-quality beef, so we have some really cool research and the nice thing is, when managed properly, our consumers still really enjoy beef that has been frozen and thawed.”
She said that previously, she would have said that consumers wouldn’t want frozen beef, but research has shown that frozen beef can still deliver the quality eating experience that consumers seek.
The studies covered beef that was frozen at several different stages, such as primals, cut steaks, or even after the consumer purchases it.
Lancaster cautioned that safety when thawing meat is very important. Consumers must give their product enough time to thaw in a cooler environment, but it is also possible to cook from frozen.
