As the price of doing business in the beef industry trends higher alongside higher cattle prices, understanding the market signals for quality beef has become relevant to all segments of the supply chain. During the 2025 Cattle Industry Convention’s trade show in San Antonio, Texas, Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) President Kelli Retallick-Riley and Certified Angus Beef’s (CAB) Paul Dykstra discussed how recognizing these market signals and using genetic tools can open doors to greater profitability for cattlemen.

Dykstra summarized what market signals are telling cattlemen based on demand. The National Beef Quality Audit, funded by the Beef Checkoff program, was one such source he spent time applying to real-world data. Although several years away from the next National Beef Quality Audit, Dykstra said some of the quality targets for the next audit are already being met or are on pace to be hit.

“In 2024 we’ve already surpassed the goal for percent Prime,” he said.

Dykstra said the reasons for progress in quality grade trends as an industry can be traced to several areas, like genetic progress, the inclusion of distillers’ byproducts in feed rations, the adaptation of camera system quality grading and increased out-weights from the feedyard with longer days on feed.

“There are several factors that are very important there, lending to this wonderful trend line,” Dykstra said, showing a graph of USDA Quality Grade trends during the past 25 years (see Fig. 1).

Since 2006, which was the low in modern U.S. quality grade, the industry has seen increases in Choice, Prime and premium Choice, like CAB. At the same time there has been a simultaneous decline in USDA Select grade, Dykstra said. “Which I think is key, and we need not forget about that important feature of this quality grade improvement.”

Dykstra said he thinks the Prime supply growth deserves further conversation as an area of industry focus. From 2018 to 2020, there was a surplus of Prime tonnage that the foodservice industry wasn’t ready to purchase, and beef suppliers had to lean on the grocery sector for sales. Dykstra said it was a success for the industry to continually improve available pounds of Prime, and it should fuel conversations today.

“Those in the cow-calf business may feel a little insulated from these dollar amounts, as you’re not thinking as much about selling carcasses,” he said. “But of course we all do eventually end up the recipient of these dollar outcomes based on quality.”

Differentiating quality

Retallick-Riley went on to talk about opportunities for commercial cattlemen to capture value on their investment in genetics and management, ultimately gaining a larger slice of premiums for higher quality grades.

Previously differentiating higher-quality feeder cattle in the market has been a steep challenge for commercial cattlemen.

“In most cases, the feedyard’s picking up those premiums, or maybe even the packers, but some of those premiums aren’t necessarily being driven back into the cow-calf producer’s pockets,” Retallick-Riley said.

“That’s where AngusLink^SM comes in,” she continued. “This is a way that we’re using $Values (dollar value indexes) to add value to commercial feeder calves based on the genetic investment you’re making.” AngusLink’s Genetic Merit Scorecard^SM includes a beef score, feedlot score and grid score directly tied to $Values.

And it’s working, Retallick-Riley said. With growing enrollments in fiscal year 2024, premiums of nearly $30 million were returned to the cow-calf producer. With that kind of success, producers are taking the opportunity to wisely reinvest in better genetics.

The first and easiest way to improve those genetics, and in turn improve your Genetic Merit Scores, is buying the right bull for your operation’s goals, she said.

“The first part that we look at is starting with your foundation, starting with your bull selection criteria,” Retallick-Riley said. “A lot of our commercial cow-calf producers are looking at finding bulls to target CAB.”

As producers are shopping for registered Angus bulls, they can simply look for the Targeting the Brand^TM logo. That logo is a selection tool for producers aiming for groups of fed cattle to hit 50% CAB or above. Angus cattle must meet a 0.65 marbling (MARB) EPD (expected progeny difference) and $55 grid value ($G).

“When you guys go home and you take that bull, obviously you’re taking the genetic material with him — not the management,” she said. “He’s going to have a huge impact in your herd, and using the genetic tools for selection is essential.”

A recent CattleFax survey shows that more than 80% of cow herds are Angus-influenced, and likewise, those same producers are going to choose Angus bulls 70% of the time.

Focus on the cow herd

“So how do we harness all of these things together to ensure that we can take advantage of these great ingredients?” Retallick-Riley asked. “We can also try to build a great cow herd.”

As producers retain heifers and work to build a better cow herd, taking the step to learn more about their genetic makeup is also important, she explained.

“One of the best things about the Angus breed is that we have a lot of diversity,” she said. “We have those high-terminal carcass quality genetics, but we also have cattle that obviously have to go back into the herd to have a maternal impact.”

Genomic testing can help. Individually testing Angus-based commercial females with GeneMax^® Advantage^TM gives cattlemen tools that tie directly to the American Angus Association database.

GeneMax gives producers results that include the same Angus $Values you find on registered Angus bulls and in the AngusLink calculations, tying the entire commercial pathway together.

“That’s important, because the more phenotypes that we have behind those genomic predictions, the higher accuracy they are,” she said. “The Angus database has millions of phenotypes.”

GeneMax gives producers results that include the same Angus $Values you find on registered Angus bulls and in the AngusLink calculations, tying the entire commercial pathway together.

Retallick-Riley noted commercial cattlemen are finding that helpful.

“It’s making our bull selections a lot clearer,” she said. “One of the enhancements on GeneMax Advantage is now that we have Angus $Values — that beef value and grid value we just talked about — to target those Certified Angus Beef premiums. You can directly compare your commercial cow herd to your registered Angus bull that you want to go out there and buy from your seedstock bull supplier.”

Producers can see where their cow herd needs improvement and easily look for a bull that will help them improve.

The ultimate goal

Ultimately, the goal is putting more dollars in a producer’s pocket, Dykstra said.

In 2024, more than 2 million carcasses were Angus-type and eligible for CAB, had they met all 10 specifications for the brand.

“Today about 37% of black-hided animals are making it into our brand, based on the brand standards, and through our licensed packing partners.” Dykstra points out the marbling distribution of those that did not qualify: Approximately 10% were within 30 points of making it into the Certified Angus Beef^® brand (See Fig. 2.)