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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2016
In September 1974, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it planned to make major changes in its grading of beef. The changes would redefine criteria for eating quality, particularly requiring less marbling for each grade.
The announcement was strategically timely: consumers had been restive over what they regarded as high prices for beef, while the poor 1974 corn crop made it economical to produce less fat in the beef carcass. Moreover, meat, packers and many cattle feeders had been demanding a grade revision which would permit shorter feeding, less waste fat and lower prodduction costs.