Grader Bias in Cattle Markets? Evidence from Iowa

Philippe Marcoul () and John Lawrence

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2007, vol. 89, issue 4, 890-903

Abstract: Live cattle are increasingly priced as an explicit function of U.S. Department of Agriculture yield and quality grades. Human graders visually inspect each slaughtered carcass and call grades in a matter of seconds as the carcass passes on a moving trolley. We examine whether there is systematic bias in grade calls using a sample of loads delivered to three different midwestern packing plants during 2000–2002. Overall, results indicate that indeed there is a bias, and that grading standards vary significantly across packing plants. Results also are consistent with a behavioral model where graders are more accurate when grading relatively low-quality carcasses. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2007
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Related works:
Working Paper: Grader Bias in Cattle Markets? Evidence from Iowa (2007)
Working Paper: Grader Bias in Cattle Markets? Evidence from Iowa (2007)
Working Paper: GRADER BIAS IN CATTLE MARKETS? EVIDENCE FROM IOWA (2006)
Working Paper: Grader Bias in Cattle Markets? Evidence from Iowa (2004)
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