USDA meat graders will be allowed to review and grade beef carcasses remotely under a pilot program Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday.
The Remote Grading Pilot for Beef aims to expand grading certification to producers and processors that struggle with the costs associated with paying graders.
"Right now, about 90% of graded beef in this country is done in large packing houses," Vilsack said in a speech at Colorado State University. "We'd like to change that percentage."
Under the program, plant workers will take images of animal and beef carcasses and submit them to a USDA grader in another location, according to a press release. The grader would review the images as well as "plant records and product data" before grading with identifiers like "Prime," "Choice," or "Select."
The program will be "limited to domestic beef slaughter facilities operating under federal inspection and producing product that meets the eligibility criteria for the USDA grading program," according to the release.
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Patrick Robinette, chairman of the United Cattlemen's Association's independent beef processing committee and owner of Micro Summit Processors, said in a release he previously would have had to pay an average of $410 per head of cattle to pay for grading services. With the pilot program, he said that cost would instead by $4.56 per head.
"Now, the producers I serve will be able to access value-added programs that were previously unavailable to them," Robinette said. "With the free ribeye grid device that will be provided to participating processing facilities, independent producers and processors can qualify for programs like Certified Angus Beef."
Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said quality grades are "an important way for cattle producers to be rewarded for raising high-quality beef."
"This will increase marketing opportunities for cattle producers and help them capture more value from their product," Lane said.
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