The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is celebrating 100 years of its beef standards and grading service. With more than 90% of cattle graded annually, equating to 21 billion pounds of beef graded last year, AMS grading services deliver consistency, trust, value, and transparency across the marketplace. The USDA grades (Prime, Choice, Select) enable producers to get higher value for their beef products.
Established in 1916 and fully adopted in 1926, USDA’s Beef Standards are an internationally recognized model. Graders assess marbling, ribeye area, fat cover, yield, and defects. AMS keeps these standards current through regulatory reviews, retail monitoring, and collaboration with industry. Notable updates to the beef grades occurred in 1987 (“Good” renamed “Select”) and 2017 (updated cattle maturity definition).
Improvements in feeding, genetics, and husbandry practices have expanded cattle numbers and the overall level of quality for U.S. beef. Today, about 89% of cattle evaluated by beef graders grade Choice or higher. And USDA’s Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, will increase the value of U.S. beef even further.
With the launch of the Certified Angus Beef Program in 1978 —the first certified beef program —AMS established a foundation for certifying breed and carcass quality attributes that support branded initiatives. AMS graders now apply these verification services to more than 90 different Certified Meat Programs that help producers earn higher premiums while maintaining consumer trust in product quality.
Key advancements including the Instrument Enhanced Grading (IEG) Program, which uses approved cameras and trained plant personnel to apply the beef standards with USDA oversight, have lowered customer costs and preserved value for producers. Using the Remote Grading Program for Beef, small processors across 33 states have gained access to a previously unaffordable service, new market opportunities, and an estimated $3.3 million in total added value. Producers also benefit from other grading modernization efforts including strengthened camera approval processes, expanded carcass data capture, new verification tools, and development of predictive grading tools, which lower costs, support decision making, maintain shield integrity and product value.
AMS marks 100 years of beef standards with new technology, smarter tools, stronger data, and continued collaboration across the industry. Here’s to the next 100 years of quality you can count on – just look for the USDA shield!