Only a few years ago, the way to plan for the future in beef production was to look back in time. Not any more. There has been a shift in the power structure of the beef supply chain, and branding is becoming the way of the present for beef… just as has been the case in most other products for some time.

Marketplace pressures are changing the emphasis of stakeholders throughout the beef supply chain. Today we find demand from end-use customers is pushing back through retail and food service, and that demand is for differentiated and highly differentiated products. How is this different from our past as beef producers? The answer is that for years the packer held sway over the entire chain. The packer was the primary arbiter of supply and price within the chain. The packer was also the primary determiner of what size and leanness was required of the live cattle. They also largely determined the form of the products moving on into further processing and retailing.  May 2008 . . .  Branded, Certified, Verified Beef

Marketing

• Are Producer Alliances/Networks an Alternative for Producers?, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 2001 - This research explores whether alliances are good business investments, stable in the long run and the goals producers want to achieve.  
• Beef Contact Information and Individual Specifications, AMS, USDA.
• Beef Industry Alliances and Vertical Arrangements, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, 2001 - This paper examines motivations, organization of and the structure of beef alliances.
• Branded Livestock and Meat Programs, AMS, USDA - PowerPoint presentation on branded and certified beef programs.
• Committed to Traceback, Beef magazine, 2005 - McDonald's is the world's largest beef buyer. The firm believes so strongly in product source verification that it has begun to do what is usually anathema in the retail world: pay more for products that their competitors are paying less for.
• Comparison of Certified Beef Programs, AMS, USDA, 2004 - A comparison of the various factors differentiating the programs.
• Costs and Benefits of Marketing Differentiated Beef through Process Verified Systems,  Ag Marketing Resource Center, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2005 - This paper reports on analysis conducted at Kansas State University about the costs of developing and implementing a process-verified program. Extensive producer interviews provided input.
• Creekstone Farms Receives USDA's First Tender Beef Designation, Agriculture Online, 2005.
• Food, From Start to Finish, Producers and consumers cooperate to build regional food strategy, Cooperative Grocer magazine, 2004 - A branded beef effort in New Brunswick. 
• Grocery Store Chain Enters the Beef Business, Market to Market, Iowa Public Television, 2003 - Yokes Foods of Spokane, Washington, enters the branded beef business to improve the quality of beef offered in stores.
• MHR International Meat Directory - Links to companies throughout the world in all meat categories.
• The New U.S. Meat Industry, Center for the Study of Rural America, 2001 - Examines why the meat industry is changing and how consumers and industry participants are affected.
• Quality Assurance "Down Under": Market Access and Product Differentiation, Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center (MATRIC), Iowa State University, 2002 - This paper gives an overview of the beef systems in Australia and New Zealand, where the majority of beef produced is exported.
• Quality Management and Information Transmission in Cattle Markets: A Case Study of the Chariton Valley Beef Alliance, Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD), Iowa State University, 2002.
• Value Based Marketing of Beef, Texas A&M University, 1993 - This article explores the reasons behind marketing alliances and how producers can benefit from producing for those reasons. 

Production

• Adding Value to Beef Production, Iowa State University Extension Value-Added Agriculture - This Web site gives readers an overview of various beef production alternatives.
• CAB Feedlots - The purpose of the CAB Supply Development branch is to drive the supply of Certified Angus Beef ® product by fostering the discovery and propagation of superior Angus genetics, designing management systems that increase Certified Angus Beef ® acceptance rates and widely sharing information.
• Economic Issues with Process Verification, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Kansas State University, 2004 - The purpose of this publication is to describe the QSVP program and discuss how it is being used by a group of Kansas beef producers.
• General Policies and Procedures, USDA Process-Verified Program, 2004.
• Grassfed Certification: The Case of the Uruguayan Beef Industry, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2005 - Kansas State University and ORT University report on the development and operation of Uruguay's beef traceability (DIOSE) program and industry. Discusses whether U.S. producers could benefit from USDA Process Verification certification for grassfed beef production systems. 
• Policies for USDA Process Verified, 2005.
• Quality Systems Verification Programs - This Web site is for requesting USDA process verification services.
• Topics of Consideration for Process Verification, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Kansas State University, 2004 - Process verification is not likely for every group, and achieving process verification is not as easy as it may seem. There are some issues to consider when undertaking process verification. Most producers do not market all their animals through one program, and it is likely that most producers will not market all of their animals through a process-verified system.
• Use of the USDA Process Verified Shield and Term, 2005. 
• USDA Process Verification Certification Generic Manual for Natural Beef Production, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Kansas State University, 2004.
• USDA Process Verification Certification Generic Training Guide for Natural Beef Production, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Kansas State University, 2004.
• USDA Process Verified Program - General information on the USDA Process Verified Program.
• USDA Process Verified Program, 2004 - An explanation of the USDA Process Verified Program. 

Businesses/Case Studies

• Cattlemen’s Collection, Ranchers Renaissance - In 2001, Kroger, Excel and Ranchers Renaissance along with additional partners launched a new branded beef product, Cattleman's Collection. This brand is the dominant offering for Kroger in major markets in Colorado and Georgia.
• Certified Angus Beef Program - The Certified Angus Beef ® brand is sold in the United States and in 50 international destinations, and can be relied on at more than 8,000 discerning restaurants and grocery stores worldwide.
• Certified Hereford Beef - This program began as a marketing initiative of the American Hereford Association in 1994 and was based on the findings of over three years of Colorado State University research that proved the superior eating quality and consistency of Hereford beef.
• Consolidated Beef is a marketing alliance allowing producers to take advantage of the group at large to pool cattle collectively. Formed in 2000, the group has 130 members who own 2.1 million marketing rights. The group matches the correct set of cattle to the correct grid, optimizing profit opportunities.
• Feeder Calf Certification Program, Red Angus Association - In 1995 this association, in cooperation with the USDA, chartered new ground for the beef industry by introducing the Feeder Calf Certification Program. The association is now able to verify a calf's link to the Angus gene pool by certifying Red Angus influenced cattle with an ear tag. This program supplies Red Angus cattle to recognized branded beef programs through value-based marketing agreements for certified cattle.
• Five State Beef Initiative covers Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan. It involves land-grant universities, state departments of agriculture, cattlemen's associations, farm bureaus, livestock marketing organizations and post-harvest partners to develop profit opportunities for stakeholders.
• Harris Ranch Restaurant Reserve Beef - Only high-end USDA choice beef can qualify for the Harris Ranch Restaurant Reserve program.
• Ranch to Retail Beef, PM Beef Group - This verified beef production system starts with the calf and ends with customers in mind. It is the first gate-to-plate beef company using the USDA Process-Verified System, allowing beef to follow the same stringent quality steps time after time.
• U.S. Premium Beef is a producer-owned cooperative where producers purchase shares that allow the producers to market cattle on a specialty grid through the producer-owned processing company, Farmland National Beef.
• U.S. Premium Beef, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Kansas State University, 2003 - Case study.

 
Links checked February 2008.