This discussion relates to Certified Angus Beef certification. My family has raised over 4,000 head of fat cattle per year for over seventy years. Since 2002 we have established that we would feed out as many Source Verified Natural Angus Beef available as calves. It has been difficult but as of now 2007 we have over half of our cattle are Source Verified Natural Angus Beef and the other half are conventional cattle. As you are aware Certified Angus Beef requires adhearing to many USDA specifications of which the first two are Genotypic and Phoenotypic. Since the USDA established Certified Angus Beef as a certified product, about ten years ago, we have never been asked to provide evidence required to be certified by Genotypic methods. In fact, since 2002 we have sold over 12,000 head of Source Verified Angus Beef to the likes of Creekstone Farms, Tyson, Conagra, Swift and Natioanl Foods. Not once has the packer called and asked that we provide certification that fulfills the first Specification. So this means that the Industry is relying on the Phenotypic specification. That second specification only requires that the animal be 51 percent black hided not 51 percent Angus type cattle. The Specification rejects milk cow and brahma cattle. However, these breeds can be fed to meet the remaining specifications and can and do pass for Angus. This tells me that Certified Angus Beef could be as low as ten percent Angus with the rest being some other breed.
Is anyone out there that can refute this statement meaningfully? Leave the junk answers out. I am only interested in answers that have scientific proof.
However, perhaps you can clarify what your beef is with the article? Or are you making a related comment/question?
Edited to add: I mean, if what you’re saying is that some folks are unethically ignoring the genotype classification and providing cattle that are only slightly Angus…well, I won’t disagree with you that it likely happens to some extent, just as in any industry.
If a few simple puns that aren’t directed in the least negatively towards the OP are all it takes to scare someone away, then it wasn’t meant to be.
Try reading the rest of the board sometime if you want to see Guest questioners get actual abuse. Or Cecil’s column for that matter.
I and others are happy to chew the fat with the OP when they return. There are no sacred cows here. Hopefully they’ll see we aren’t ribbing them, and be intrigued enough to be roped into joining the herd as a full Member.
Old California campaign warning that using a gun in the commission of a crime is an automatic jail sentence. Incidentally, ‘Angus beef’ can be rearranged to spell ‘Be gun safe’.
So back to the OP – let me start by saying I’m not an expert in the field, so forgive me if I ask some questions to try pinning down the issue more precisely.
Can you provide some information on how you establish meeting the Certified Angus criteria to your customers? Also, are you saying that your customers HAVE required you to document that you meet some or all of the other criteria, but not this specific one?
Does this USDA Certification apply to your farm business, or to the cattle? IOW, are you certifed as a “provider of Angus beef” whose practices meet certain criteria, or do you have some kind of certified herd, with the certification being renewed generationally, or even by the individual head?
I see some possibilities for your situation.
When you first established your business relationship with each of these customers, you provided the necessary documentation. Their policies simply don’t require the documentation to be re-examined as frequently as one might expect.
You have some kind of USDA certification form that they accept as evidence that you meet ALL the criteria.
They really don’t give a shit. They collect the information when you first sign a contract, more to cover their own asses for libility purposes than for any genuine reasons of quality control, and once they have the paperwork on file they could care less. If some problems arise, they will simply point the finger of blame at you and hope that is the end of it.
These are off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts. Hope they are helpful.
I used to know an Angus bull named Fred. Nicest bovine you’d ever want to meet. His kids probably tasted delicious, too. Their names were probably something like 12548-B. I don’t have a problem with eating animals with names. I just prefer not to know it. I’m dainty like that.