Tightening of beef grading explained

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 14

Tightening of beef grading explained

The packaging of cuts from dairybred animals with cuts from traditional beef breeds has been responsible for complaints from overseas buyers of New Zealand beef. This has necessitated a tightening in grading.

In an address to a recent meeting of the Dominion meat and wool council of Federated Farmers Mr A. C. Wright, who was formerly chairman of the Meat Board grades committee, said that some 60 per cent of this country’s beef went to the United States, where much of it was used for manufacturing into hamburgers and similar products, and for this purpose the less fat this beef was carrying the better. But on the other hand 40 per cent or so—and it was increasing each year—which could not enter the United States because of quota restrictions had to be sold on markets which were generally well supplied with lean manufacturing beef but which did require primal cuts suitable for hotel, catering and in some cases retail purposes. “Our exporters are finding that the quota in the United States of 104,000 tons is easily filled with bobby veal, boner cbw and bull and forequarter meat from steers and heifers, and therefore it is important to convert every hindquarter that is suitable into

primal cuts for sale to the markets of the Pacific, Singapore, West Indies, Canada and the United Kingdom,” said Mr Wright. He recalled that the y.a.q. grade had been introduced to place beef of mainly dairy origin which in the board’s view was young (under two years) and tender, but lacking in maturity, cutability and finish into a separate grade instead of muting it with old cull cow in the boner grade. The idea was that this grade could find its own level on the market but at the same time allowing the tops of steer and heifer beef of dairy origin to be placed in the g.a.q. and f.a.q. grades providing it had sufficient finish (fat cover) and cutability. This, however, had not always worked in practice. Theincreaseinthenumbers

of beef of dairy origin coming forward meant that an increasing weight of primal cuts from these animals was being packed with cuts from traditional beef breeds. This had resulted in both the board and the trade receiving an increasing number of complaints from overseas buyers. It had quickly become apparent that unless more attention was paid to policing the grading of beef it would not be long before all New Zealand's markets, which had traditionally received primal cuts, would pay a discount price, which would have extended to, not only the dairy bred beef cuts, but to those from the conventionally bred beef as well. Last August Mr Wright said he had made a statement to the electoral committee of the board that more emphasis was going to be placed on beef grading, particularly mentioning this trouble with the g.a.q. and f.a.q. cuts. The board had searched for reasons for these complaints and it had been found that some carcases

that appeared to have the required amount of fat cover to grade g.a.q. or f.a.q. on passing the scales depreciated under chilling. In other words the apparent

fat cover over the loin and rump shrank and the meat was not finished to the required standard laid down by the board. To overcome this, after a good deal of research it had been recommended that a minimum of four millimetres, or slightly under 3/16in, of fat cover over the rib eye and sirloin be used as a guide. This level of fat cover was only about two thirds of that which received maximum points in beef competition judging, and a good g.a.q. carcase probably carried a fat cover on the rib eye of six to seven millimetres. Mr Wright said that time did not permit detailed measurements of fat cover and no instruction had ever been given to graders to do this. At the same time frequent cutting tests were made to ensure that grading standards were consistent and as a basis for these a level of fat cover of four millimetres was used as a general requirement for gji.q. and f Ji.q. grades. This, however, was tempered by other factors, and the four millimetres was only a guide line. Mr Wright said that beef of dairy origin was in the main later maturing that the traditional beef breeds and farmers not wanting to carry their beef through the second winter were killing them before they were mature and this was a contributing factor in the higher numbers of y.a.q. and boner cattle being slaughtered. Many farmers, encouraged by some animal scientists, were turning to a beef production per acre type of management programme and it was for the farmer to make up his mind as to which practice would produce the best return. At a meeting in Palmerston North recently at

which Mr R. A. Barton, reader in sheep husbandry at Massey University, called for a major and detailed investigation into all aspects of carcase grading, weight ranges and schedule prices and criticised the board because producers had not been informed of grading changes this year and the reasons for them, Mr A. E. Frazer, an executive officer of the board, said that towards the end of last season the board began to

receive reports from exporters of complaints from their overseas customers. These concerned the wide range of cuts that were starting to appear in New Zealand export packs of g.a.q. and f.a.p. beef cuts. “The buyers were concerned about the smallness of some of the cuts and the very low level of fat cover which made them unsuitable for steaking. “After cutting tests on various classes of beef it

became clear that the board’s graders were, in terms of market requirements, erring too far in favour of beef of dairy origin. “We found that some of the borderline carcases which had been receiving the benefits of the doubt

and given a f.a.q. grading were not setting at all well in the chillers. “Since then we have requested our graders to give closer attention to beef grading and to re-lnspect borderline carcases in the chillers on the day after slaughter,” he said.