USDA to Host Educational Webinar Series on CME Specifications, Live Cattle and Beef Carcass Grading and Certification

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2020 —The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will host a series of four webinars with guest speakers from three regional USDA Cattle and Carcass Training Centers (CCTCs), the CME Group, and USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). These free webinars begin Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, and are targeted to cattle producers, feeders, and others in the U.S. fed beef supply chain who want to better understand the reporting, delivery, and grading of feeder cattle, live cattle, and carcasses, particularly relating to CME live cattle futures.

Over the course of four evening sessions, experts from USDA, academia, and the CME Group will share their knowledge and offer information that covers a wide range of topics including CME live cattle specifications; the biological and physiological factors influencing cattle quality; the fundamentals of “on the hoof” yield and quality grading; the U.S. beef carcass standards and USDA carcass grading process; and more.

“This outreach is part of our continuing effort to work with cattle producers and others to ensure fair and competitive markets for the livestock, meat and poultry industries,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach. “Participants in this engaging webinar series will gain an understanding of—and greater appreciation for—the interconnected processes that support the production and marketing of high-quality U.S. beef all over the world.”

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill) directed USDA to establish the CCTCs in order to conduct activities that will limit subjectivity in the application of beef grading standards, provide producers with greater understanding of the value of their cattle, and provide investors more confidence in the cattle delivery system. AMS signed agreements in 2019 to establish the CCTCs at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Tex.; Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.; and at the USDA, Agricultural Research Service’s U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Neb.

More information about how to pre-register, and the dates, times and topics of each webinar in the series are on the AMS website.