Estimating Yields of Retail Cuts from Beef Carcasses By

Those studies indicated that there was a wide variation in yields of trimmed retail cuts both among all carcasses as well as among carcasses of the same grade. They also showed that variations in yields of cuts were due primarily to variations in conformation and finish. Conformation was positively associated with yield of cuts while finish had the opposite effect. Further analyses of these data indicated that when conformation and finish were expressed in terms of grades, finish was 4-1/2 times as important as conformation in predicting yields of closely trimmed, mostly bone-in retail cuts from the round, loin, rib, and chuck.