Beef Marketing and Economics

SDSU, NDSU Extension to Host Inspired by Annie’s Project ‘Meat Marketing 101’

July 13, 2022

Industry specialists from both South Dakota and North Dakota will discuss topics, such as consumer preferences, marketing plans, processing and product distribution.

Raising Freezer Beef: Meeting Customer Expectations

A variety of factors may lead consumers to purchase beef directly from a producer. When purchasing freezer beef, most consumers expect an eating experience that would be as good or better than buying beef from retail.

How Much Meat Can You Expect from a Fed Steer?

The yield of edible meat from a beef carcass often comes as a bit of a surprise, even to those that have had their own meat processed for years. A previous article covered dressing percent—the percent of the live animal weight that becomes carcass weight, which for fed beef is usually around 62-64%. In other words, from a 1200 pound steer, you can expect a 740 – 770 pound carcass.

Guide for Purchasing Freezer Beef, Pork and Lamb

Purchasing meat directly from farmers and ranchers has become a prominent consumer trend. This article focuses on purchasing a beef animal, pig or lamb to stock your freezer.

Beef Carcass Yield Grades: What do they mean and how are they calculated?

Beef carcass yield grades are used to estimate cutability, which is the amount of boneless, closely trimmed retail cuts from the round, loin, rib and chuck a carcass will yield.

Herd Inventory Centers on Feed Available

With drought conditions continuing across the state, livestock producers will be making hard decisions on livestock inventory numbers as pasture and feed availability become an even more significant factor.

Herd Management: Keep or Cull During a Drought?

Drought forces unexpected changes so it’s critical to have a strategy to keep only the “right” females that will benefit the operation.

Forage Resources Available to S.D. Farmers and Ranchers

Forages are a very important part of the South Dakota livestock and cropping industries. Often, producers have difficulties finding enough forage for their herd or locating a fellow producer to buy, sell or rent forages and grazing acres too. South Dakota now has two widely-recognized, free resources to aid in these connections.

Opportunities for Open Cows

It’s that time of year when driving along the countryside or sitting in the sale barn cows start to show up with an “O” drawn on her side as the Veterinarian called her open on pregnancy check day.