A lot of the terminology of these tables might not mean anything to you if you haven't dealt with it.  There are quite a few acronyms, abbreviations and obscure terms.  While I haven't reported it all, here are the terms used in the data available on our website.

DRI Carcass Data Summary Table (first 3 lines only):

*CAB acceptance % includes only those cattle meeting live specifications for CAB.  If you include all cattle graded, the percentage would be MUCH smaller!

The harvest date is when they went to slaughter.  The Feed Yard is where they were fed, in this case, Kniebel Feed Yard.  Other yards you'll see are HyPlains and Brookover.  The sex tells you if the group was heifers, steers or mixed.  The prime column tells you what percent graded USDA Prime, the highest quality grade.  Next is CAB (Certified Angus Beef) and above.  This would be the total of the CAB-qualifying cattle (see the CAB heading further down the page) and the Primes.  Choice or above brings in all of the Choice & Prime cattle.  YG stands for Yield Grade and is an attempt to indicate the amount of red meat in a carcass.  A YG 1 has more red meat and less fat than a YG 2 and so on.  YG runs from 1-5 with the 4's and 5's generally being subject to heavy discounts ($15-$20/cwt or more).  The carcass value/head is the average value per head for the pen.

I have included the USDA's reported averages for steers and heifers they graded in 2004 to give you something for comparison.

DRI Individual Carcass Data

If you clicked on a "yes!" in the Detailed Data column, you'd see a report for the individuals of the group.  Here is the first line from the heifers processed 1/12/05 out of Kniebel Feed Yard:

The first column is Hot Carcass Weight (HCW).  This is what's left after the head, hide, offal and lower part of the legs are removed.  This is the payweight for all grid cattle.  Typically, this weight is anywhere from 62-65% of their live weight.  Cattle sold "live" are paid for based on their live weight less some shrink (the natural weight loss that occurs during transport).  It is up to the packing plant buyer to estimate how cattle will "dress out."  Quality Grade tells you if the animal graded Prime (PR), CAB (Certified Angus Beef), Choice or Select.  Yield Grade is explained in detail to the right.  The Carcass Price column shows you what the animal brought per hundredweight (cwt) and for the whole carcass ($/cwt x HCW).

Marbling Scores & Quality Grades: (see photos)

Marbling refers to the flecks of fat you see when you look at a Strip or Ribeye steak.  This, along with physiological age are the primary determinants of quality grade. USDA Graders estimate marbling when they split the carcass between the 12th & 13th ribs.  This "face" would be a Ribeye steak.  Age is estimated by looking at the calcification of different bones visible in the carcass.

In general, USDA Prime cattle are younger cattle with the highest level of marbling, rated at "Abundant" or "Slightly Abundant" by the USDA grader.  Cuts from these carcasses go almost exclusively into the high-end restaurant trade.  Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is an example.  Next comes the USDA Choice grade.  Again, they are looking for younger cattle with quite a bit of marbling.  There are 3 marbling levels in Choice: "Moderate," "Modest" and "Small."  These could also be called "high Choice," "average Choice" and "low Choice."  For each of these marbling levels, the grader would report another number behind the score if requested.  Moderate 90 would be the highest in the Choice grade and would just about be into the Prime range.  Small 0 would be the smallest amount of marbling allowed in the choice grade and would be just about to fall into the select grade, which we'll talk about later.  Choice grading cattle generally are marketed to restaurants and high-end groceries.  Select cattle have marbling scores of Slight 90 down to Slight 0.  These cattle make up the bulk of what is found in the grocer's meat case.  Few white marbling flecks are evident.

Certified Angus Beef (CAB):

For a carcass to qualify for Certified Angus Beef, they must meet live specifications (no dairy influence, no Brahma influence, at least 50% black hided) and then they must meet some additional carcass specifications.  The marbling must be at least Modest 0 (the top 2/3 of the Choice grade or higher) and must be fine and evenly distributed.  Another way of stating the marbling requirements would be to say they must be Average Choice or above.  Prime cattle are eligible for the CAB program.  However, only 3 packing plants are selling CAB Prime as of April 2005.  Getting back to CAB requirements, the cattle must be young and the meat must be a bright cherry red color.  Formerly, CAB required carcasses to be USDA YG 1, 2 and 3; no 4's or 5's.  As of October 2006, they have removed that requirement and replaced it with a Rib Eye Area requirement of 10-16 sq inches.  This is an attempt to answer growing foodservice & retail concerns about the size of cuts.  You don't want an 8 oz rib eye steak to be so thin you can't cook it properly and so big it leaves no other room on the plate!  Finally, the grader will again look for muscle/fat patterns indicative of no Brahma or Dairy influence.

National Angus Beef (NAB): 

A house brand exclusive to beef sold by National Beef, the packing arm of US Premium Beef.  In general, they follow the live specs for CAB and the carcass specs too with the exception of marbling.  They take the top 1/2 of low Choice.  Got that?  Talk about splitting hairs.  That is everything with a marbling score of Small 50 - Small 90.  Above that, they would qualify for CAB which sells for more money.

There are legions of other beef brands, both national and packer or store related.  Some which might be familiar to you are Certified Hereford Beef  (another national breed-related program) and Sterling Silver Premium Beef, which is a house brand of Excel's (a packing house).  Each brand has it's own qualifications.

Still confused, or maybe even more confused than ever?  Pick up the phone, dial 785-456-8160, ask for Barb and I'll walk you through it!

Quick Terminology Guide:

Marbling: (see photos) Flecks of fat visible when cutting across a muscle, such as is visible when looking at a Ribeye or Strip Steak.

Quality Grade: A grade given by a USDA grader that attempts to rank eating quality by a combination of marbling, apparent age of the animal and muscle quality.  USDA grades (for young cattle) from highest to lowest are: Prime, Choice, Select and Standard.

Yield Grade: A number given by a USDA grader that attempts to rank red muscle yield of a carcass with YG 1's being having the most muscle and least amount of trimmable (not marbling) fat.  YG 5's are the fattest, lightest muscled carcasses.

Certified Angus Beef (CAB):  A program that attempts to identify carcasses with superior eating characteristics (flavor and tenderness) based on breed make up and quality grades.