Marbling is Critical in Consumer Satisfaction

Marbling is a influential trait ensuring a tender end product and a positive eating experience. However the National Beef Quality Audit’s data showed only 61 percent of U.S. beef carcasses actually graded Choice or Prime — which has higher marbling, or intramuscular fat. Colorado State University Associate Professor of Beef Production Systems Jason Ahola shares more about the importance of marbling and what cow-calf producers need to be aware of.
Ahola: “Marbling has been proven to be the most influential trait in the carcass on end-product palatability. So, the only way we can truly ensure a positive eating experience for a consumer is to have highly marbled beef. That is typically cattle that grade prime or upper two-thirds of choice. So there is big demand on the industry for more marbling. We can only do so much with genetics. Now it comes down to management and really it comes down to pre-feedlot management. What can a cow-calf producer to birth until weaning time to influence that marbling that our consumers are so desperate to get.”
Historically, the industry has always put the emphasis on a steer’s finishing phase as the most critical time for marbling development. However, research is showing that weaning is also an important time to consider marbling development.