Holy Cow! I've been dry-aging this post for so long that I'm ashamed to admit it. During college spring break sometime in April of 2009, I was treated to a seminar on beef cultivation and harvesting at UGA, sponsored by the Georgia Beef Council. Shortly after attending the event, I posted the photo album you can view in the left gutter of my blog. Somehow, I've managed to put off writing the actual article for far too long. That's just what happens when you don't have an editor. In just a single day of hands-on education at UGA, I learned more about beef than I ever hoped or expected. Since so much time has passed, I'm going to skip the blow-by-blow blogging and distill things down to some very useful facts and Internet links that you can use to educate yourself on beef cultivation, harvesting, and grading.
So, here are the facts as they were presented to me.
- There are roughly 1.12 million cattle in Georgia.
- Weaned calves, weighing between 400 and 700 lbs. are Georgia's primary beef product.
- Weaned calves are shipped to Midwestern states to be raised to full weight because it is cheaper to raise them elsewhere.
- The quality of beef is determined by the following factors: Marbling, Age, Texture, Firmness, and Color. All of these add up to palatability.
- The average age of restaurant beef is between 9 and 30 months.
- Tenderness is measured by the shear force of the meat. Prime meat equals 1.91 kg of force. High Choice equals 2.58 kg. Low Choice equals 2.94 kg of force.
- 82% of consumers prefer their meat medium to very well done.
- For a farmer raising cattle, the meat product only offsets the cost of incubation. The profit on the animal is made from the hide and offal.
- A cow's worth is measured in what is called yield grade. Yield grade measures the percentage of lean beef against fat (waste). The scale runs between YG1 (yield grade 1) and YG5 (yield grade 5).
Here is a photo of a PowerPoint slide illustrating the difference in different yield grades in two heifers. The heifer on the left has a much higher yield grade because of the balance between lean beef and fat. The heifer on the right, while appearing to be richer, is actually worth less because of the predominance of waste (fat).
