Agricultural News
OSU's Deb VanOverbeke Says Industry Showing Notable Improvement in Latest Beef Quality Audit
Tue, 21 Nov 2017 10:16:29 CST
Earlier this year, the authors of the most recent National Beef Quality Audit released their findings on a study conducted to better understand where improvements can be made in the industry, and ultimately raise the bottom lines for those in the beef supply chain. Oklahoma State University's Dr. Deb VanOverbeke is one of those authors, and has been involved in many of the past audits. She shared some of the highlights of this report with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Associate Farm Director Carson Horn during the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention in Kansas City recently.
According to VanOverbeke, the audit is conducted in three phases that include face-to-face interviews with packers, purveyors, retailers and restaurants to gain an understanding of what quality issues end users might have; a review of holding pen and harvest floor quality; and strategy workshops in which the information collected is condensed and summarized. Altogether, the most recent audit yielded some enlightening results.
"One of the things we took from the face-to-face interviews was that our end users sometimes define terms differently than we do as producers," VanOverbeke said. "When we say genetics in production, that means something different when you say genetics to an end user - so some of those definitions don't carry forward."
This finding suggests an opportunity for producers to develop better ways in which to communicate with consumers and become more transparent about how beef is produced. In terms of quality, though, VanOverbeke says carcass weights have continued to improve and are grading with more prime and upper two-thirds choice than ever before. She says, too, that some of the hot button issues from the 90s, such as excess fat and injection site lesions, are no longer an issue at all in today's marketplace. In her view, producers have been fully accepting of the information in these reports, released every five years, and have witnessed the huge impact that small changes can make.
Listen to VanOverbeke and Horn discuss the details of this report more in-depth, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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