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Meat quality a primary driver of strong domestic demand

An ag economist says quality continues to be a primary driver as domestic demand for meat increases.

Jim Robb with the Livestock Marketing Information Center tells Brownfield that’s especially true for beef.

“The quality of this product just continues to increase, we can see it in the grading data.  We have many weeks where over 70 percent of the cattle grade choice.  That’s much higher than just a couple of years ago.  And that quality profile (along) with the strong incomes in the United States has been one of the reasons the grocery stores and restaurants want to feature beef products.”

He says pork and poultry are at a disadvantage because those markets don’t feature a similar grading system.

Moving forward, Robb believes cost of production will be key as animal proteins compete in the U.S. and around the world.

“But, we don’t want to give up the quality profile as we’re chasing this market.  It’s about growing consumer incomes.”

Robb says the average American will consume about 220 pounds of red meat and poultry this year, the most since 2007.