The Changing Market Structure For The American Beef Industry

Abstract

First, we have the traditional beef system producing and marketing commodity beef. Second, we have a value-based beef system producing and marketing high quality beef designed to meet tight consumer specifications. A critical decision that today’s beef cow producers have to make is to decide which system – commodity beef or value-based beef – they are going to target their production towards. The beef industry’s transition into value-based marketing is generating rapid change in today’s beef industry.