News

CAB says Certified Angus Beef specs won’t be noticed at meat case

A production specialist with the Certified Angus Beef program says a change in qualification specifications will not be noticed by consumers.  “Those eating satisfaction criteria are being met with the carcass specifications that are applied to Angus influenced cattle,” said Mark McCully, production vice-president at CAB, in a Brownfield Ag News interview.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is revising animal specifications for Certified Angus Beef.  The change will affect less than one percent of the number of cattle qualifying for the Certified Angus Beef program, according to Dr. Bucky Gwartney at AMS.

“Making sure there’s no other color than black behind the flank or above the midline,” Gwartney told Brownfield.

To this point, the specification has been simply that the animals are 51 percent black.

“And that’s really never been the essence or the spirit by which that was put in place, it was really more to look for those cattle that are solid black-hided and that carry Angus characteristics,” said McCully.  “So it’s really just an evolution to reflect more accurately the spirit of the intent.”

At the same time, ownership of breed specifications transfers from AMS to the American Angus Association.  McCully says that clarifies that the breed association is the ultimate authority on breed claims.  The changes are effective July first.

AUDIO: Dr. Bucky Gwartney (6 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Mark McCully (5 min. MP3)