Page 20 - MWC 3-10-2022s

BEEF CARCASS YIELD GRADESARCASS YIELD GRADES
BEEF C The Midwest Cattleman · March 10, 2022 · P20

What do they mean and how are they calculated?an and how are they calculated?
What do they me

By Christina Bakker, Assistant Professor and SDSU Extension Meat Science Specialist
Beef carcass yield grades •Ribeye area is reported to measure backfat thick-
(YG) are used to estimate cut- in square inches and is mea- ness is ¾ of the length up
ability, which is the amount sured on the ribeye muscle the ribeye from the back-
of boneless, closely trimmed that is exposed when a car- bone end, perpendicular
retail cuts from the round, cass is ribbed. (Ribbing a car- to the outside surface of
loin, rib and chuck a carcass cass is the process of cutting the carcass.
will yield. The system uses a through the backbone of the •Kidney, pelvic and culator on hand, YGs can be
numeric scale of 1 to 5; YG 1 side of beef between the 12th heart fat is an estimation calculated using a series of
carcasses have the highest, and 13th rib. This cut sepa- of the percentage of HCW adjustments based on BF,
most-desirable cutability and rates the forequarter from the made up by the fat in the kid- REA, KPH and HCW.
YG 5 carcasses have the low- hindquarter of the carcass.) ney, pelvic and heart areas.
est, least-desirable cutability. The REA can be measured This is the most-subjective Step 1
There are four carcass char- using a ribeye grid, which is measurement factored into Backfat is converted into a
acteristics that factor into made of a transparent plas- a yield grade, but most car- preliminary YG (PYG) value.
a YG equation: hot carcass tic and has 0.1 square-inch casses in the Midwest have
weight (HCW), ribeye area boxes with dots in the mid- between 2-3.5% KPH.
(REA), backfat thickness dle. To measure the REA, Calculating Yield Grades
(BF) and kidney, pelvic and place the grid on the ribeye Yield grades can be calcu-
heart fat (KPH). and count how many dots are lated based on the following
Yield Grade Equation touching the ribeye muscle. equation:
Factors Make sure you don’t count •Yield Grade = 2.5 + (2.5 ×
the dots touching the mus-
•Hot carcass weight is BF) + (0.2 × % KPH) + (0.0038
the weight of a carcass as it cles surrounding the ribeye, × HCW) - (0.32 × REA)
and that you are counting
is leaving the harvest area, Calculate the values with-
before entering a cooler to dots, not squares. Every ten in the parenthesis first and
dots equal one square-inch.
be chilled. This number can then add or subtract as nec-
•Backfat thickness is
usually be found on the iden- measured in inches using a essary.
tification tag of the carcass. If you do not have a cal-
small ruler. The proper place

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