Walmart Sells Self-Graded Meat

[Econ101]

This is an update to previous posts on the subject:

Yesterday I went to Walmart---don't worry, I notified Beefman before I went---- and found the meat counter guy stocking the shelves. I asked him if he had found the answer to my question. He said that he had, and that he had been looking for me to tell me the other day.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A meat". I told him that there was no "Grade A". His immediate supervisor was in the area and he called him over.

He also said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. He started looking on a package of ground beef for the label (big tip the guy doesn't know a thing about beef) and I handed him some of the gas modified cuts. Of course, the grade was not on there. He said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. I explained all the grades and then asked him if the REAL meat manager was there. He called on the intercom and shortly thereafter got a call back on the phone at the meat counter.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A". I asked him if it was prime, choice, select, or what? After asking the REAL meat manager on the phone, he said it was "USDA Choice".

Now either Agman is LYING (which I suspect not) about the Walmart meat being Select or the whole meat department at Walmart is LYING and assigning their own grade to meat in their counters (two USDA grade A's and one Choice).

Beefman, you and SH can say all you want about the allegations I bring up on this forum. They are ALL grounded (no pun intended) in reality, unlike the garbage you guys continuously post.

It is time we put a little more integrity into the beef side of the business. That is the mandate to the USDA and it is NOT being carried out.

 

[jojo]

get a life

 

[Econ101]

get a life

jojo, if you are not interested in making sure the quality meat coming from cattlemen/feeders is accurately translated to consumers on the retail level, maybe you should get off of ranchers.net and go to packers.net.

 

[theHiredMansWife]

Considering WalMart is the biggest retailer of almost everything from underwear to office products, I think it's safe to bet there are a few people who buy their meat there too. I don't, but now I'm curious enough to investigate Econ's theory the next time I'm there.
God bless the nerds of our world. :wink:

 

[Beefman]

This is an update to previous posts on the subject:

Yesterday I went to Walmart---don't worry, I notified Beefman before I went---- and found the meat counter guy stocking the shelves. I asked him if he had found the answer to my question. He said that he had, and that he had been looking for me to tell me the other day.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A meat". I told him that there was no "Grade A". His immediate supervisor was in the area and he called him over.

He also said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. He started looking on a package of ground beef for the label (big tip the guy doesn't know a thing about beef) and I handed him some of the gas modified cuts. Of course, the grade was not on there. He said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. I explained all the grades and then asked him if the REAL meat manager was there. He called on the intercom and shortly thereafter got a call back on the phone at the meat counter.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A". I asked him if it was prime, choice, select, or what? After asking the REAL meat manager on the phone, he said it was "USDA Choice".

Now either Agman is LYING (which I suspect not) about the Walmart meat being Select or the whole meat department at Walmart is LYING and assigning their own grade to meat in their counters (two USDA grade A's and one Choice).

Beefman, you and SH can say all you want about the allegations I bring up on this forum. They are ALL grounded (no pun intended) in reality, unlike the garbage you guys continuously post.

It is time we put a little more integrity into the beef side of the business. That is the mandate to the USDA and it is NOT being carried out.

Are you still hassling the folks at Walmart? Are times running a little slow on the Texas prairie right now? I'm sure the people at Walmart really look forward to your daily visits. When you pester them with your questions, you probably get right in their face, and are in desperate need of a Tic Tac too. Give 'em a break and get your jollies somewhere else.

If a self anointed, highly acclaimed economist such as yourself doesn't understand USDA grading (ie, definition of ungraded beef), it's likely there's people in the retail sector who also don't fully understand USDA beef grading. All meat, milk, eggs and produce have USDA grading attached…….do you think everyone in retail can accurately define the grading of those commodities? How many consumers out of 1,000 understand grading? Probably not many. My observation is retail packaged beef usually will only show the grade if it's Choice or higher.

Whether or not Walmart employees fully understand grading doesn't matter. If the consumer has a desirable beef eating experience at the perceived price point, they'll come back. That's what matters.

 

[feeder]

We just sold a yard of cattle last week. They didn't grade very well. The cattle buyer said " this will be good meat for Walmart." So if that is what they have on their shelves, I don't want any. But we do need outlets for those kind of cattle also but not on my table.

 

[Econ101]

This is an update to previous posts on the subject:

Yesterday I went to Walmart---don't worry, I notified Beefman before I went---- and found the meat counter guy stocking the shelves. I asked him if he had found the answer to my question. He said that he had, and that he had been looking for me to tell me the other day.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A meat". I told him that there was no "Grade A". His immediate supervisor was in the area and he called him over.

He also said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. He started looking on a package of ground beef for the label (big tip the guy doesn't know a thing about beef) and I handed him some of the gas modified cuts. Of course, the grade was not on there. He said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. I explained all the grades and then asked him if the REAL meat manager was there. He called on the intercom and shortly thereafter got a call back on the phone at the meat counter.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A". I asked him if it was prime, choice, select, or what? After asking the REAL meat manager on the phone, he said it was "USDA Choice".

Now either Agman is LYING (which I suspect not) about the Walmart meat being Select or the whole meat department at Walmart is LYING and assigning their own grade to meat in their counters (two USDA grade A's and one Choice).

Beefman, you and SH can say all you want about the allegations I bring up on this forum. They are ALL grounded (no pun intended) in reality, unlike the garbage you guys continuously post.

It is time we put a little more integrity into the beef side of the business. That is the mandate to the USDA and it is NOT being carried out.

Are you still hassling the folks at Walmart? Are times running a little slow on the Texas prairie right now? I'm sure the people at Walmart really look forward to your daily visits. When you pester them with your questions, you probably get right in their face, and are in desperate need of a Tic Tac too. Give 'em a break and get your jollies somewhere else.

If a self anointed, highly acclaimed economist such as yourself doesn't understand USDA grading (ie, definition of ungraded beef), it's likely there's people in the retail sector who also don't fully understand USDA beef grading. All meat, milk, eggs and produce have USDA grading attached…….do you think everyone in retail can accurately define the grading of those commodities? How many consumers out of 1,000 understand grading? Probably not many. My observation is retail packaged beef usually will only show the grade if it's Choice or higher.

Whether or not Walmart employees fully understand grading doesn't matter. If the consumer has a desirable beef eating experience at the perceived price point, they'll come back. That's what matters.

Beefman, I am really nice to the guys I ask questions to. They are nice back. They are not at fault for a corporate or a manager's decision. They are just working guys and I know that. There is never any reason to be rude to anyone in these instances as the information can be obtained with a little persistence and a nice smile. If the lower level employees do not know what is going on, they will smile with nothing on their conscience. The over all store meat manager is another deal altogether. If he lies when asked the question, either his conscience should bother him because of it, or he should get in trouble for it. In both instances, the consquences are put on him in a very nice polite manner.

My conscience doesn't bother me, does it bother you? I bet the boys in Alabama know the answer.

I made the claim that walmart is essentially grading their own meat or lying about the USDA grade, showed the federal regulation and the flaw in it that allows them not to be caught, and I was challenged by you and SH.

Maybe next time you will hold your peace.

The fact is that Walmart has become the only economical source of goods for a lot of people. They should not be lied to. Walmart used to sell their meat with the "select" label on the meat. In my town they don't now. It is just like the other economic examples I gave. When market power is greater, the quality of the goods goes down. Our standard of living is dependant on real competition where consumers have a choice where to shop. When Walmart/Tyson chases other companies out of the market place and then lowers the quality of goods available to increase their own profitability, we all lose---unless of course you are a walmart/tyson shareholder.

There are many cuts of meat that should be left in the grind. Tyson wants to put some of these pieces of meat out on the counter for sale, lie about the quality grade to increase sales, have a longer shelf life so they can have a longer time to sell it, and import cheaper meat from overseas to put in the grind instead.

It gives them price advantages over competitors and they profit over the lies.

That does not help cattlemen or the industry as a whole at all. It only helps themselves.

 

[DIAMOND L]

Econ 101,

I totally agree with you on the subject of Wal Mart and the quality of goods. My brother in law works for Wal Mart as a Dairy Department Manager and he will be the first to tell you that quality takes a back seat to profit.

I also agree that Wal Mart can hurt the beef industry by misleading consumers about the quality of beef. When the average urban housewife hears Grade A she automatically assumes quality, and then has a bad experience with a cut of beef. It will not take many experiences before she is buying more chicken or pork.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

I also agree that Wal Mart can hurt the beef industry by misleading consumers about the quality of beef. When the average urban housewife hears Grade A she automatically assumes quality, and then has a bad experience with a cut of beef. It will not take many experiences before she is buying more chicken or pork.

Exactly. I am unable to comprehend how so many people can be in the cattle industry, in higher level positions, and fail miserably to understand the basic precepts of marketing. I'm not even a marketer, nor a salesman for that matter, but this isn't rocket science.

So many people are calling for COOL as an indicator of quality. I think cattlemen should be calling for mandatory quality labelling. Then the consumer knows exactly what they're getting every step of the way, and the ignorant on the sales staff can't hurt the industry with misinformation.

Rod

 

[Bill]

I also agree that Wal Mart can hurt the beef industry by misleading consumers about the quality of beef. When the average urban housewife hears Grade A she automatically assumes quality, and then has a bad experience with a cut of beef. It will not take many experiences before she is buying more chicken or pork.

Exactly. I am unable to comprehend how so many people can be in the cattle industry, in higher level positions, and fail miserably to understand the basic precepts of marketing. I'm not even a marketer, nor a salesman for that matter, but this isn't rocket science.

So many people are calling for COOL as an indicator of quality. I think cattlemen should be calling for mandatory quality labelling. Then the consumer knows exactly what they're getting every step of the way, and the ignorant on the sales staff can't hurt the industry with misinformation.

Rod

COOL as an indicator of quality?

 

[Mike]

The Beef with Wal-Mart
By Suzanne Bopp
April 14, 2006


You probably know that Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world. But did you know that almost 40 percent of Wal-Mart's sales are in the grocery department? Or that they sell $5.3 billion in fresh meats annually? In 2006, Wal-Mart's retail stores are projected to sell 878 million pounds of beef and grinds. That's 3.5 percent of all U.S. beef sales.

On one hand, it's tough to criticize a company that is the biggest seller of your product. On the other hand, consider that Wal-Mart's goal is to be the low-cost provider in everything it does. That means squeezing its suppliers — which means you — and that can be very uncomfortable. In the beef world, Wal-Mart's huge domain is case-ready Select products. But the beef industry could never survive by selling all of its products as Select; to have that be the biggest seller of your product is a mixed blessing.

Part of Wal-Mart's price advantage comes from selling beef that has been en-hanced — up to 12 percent of the weight of their beef products can be added moisture. Some people in the beef industry worry that their watery products will prove detrimental to beef's flavor advantage — the main reason people buy beef — and will end up watering down demand.

In any case, Wal-Mart is driving change through its beef-selling practices, as with everything it does. Wal-Mart's sheer size and efficiency has created enormous pressure on competing retailers, one effect of which has been retail consolidation. The top five retailers, of which Wal-Mart is one, had 38 percent market share in 2000; some predict that will be 75 percent by the end of this decade.

But another effect is retail diversification, as retailers scramble for ways to compete with Wal-Mart and survive. Some are also moving to case-ready products, but competing with Wal-Mart on price usually proves to be an impossible proposition. The most successful retailers are moving in the opposite direction, with new and different meat programs. The meat department is an ideal area of differentiation for retailers; every store has the same cans of soup, but not every store necessarily has the same quality of meat. Some stores are advertising that they still employ butchers, and that their custom cuts of beef are superior to case-ready products. They are competing with higher quality and better service, instead of trying to compete on price.

Consequently, those retailers who try to take the middle ground are finding that times are tough. Wal-Mart is serving the price-conscious segment; other retailers are taking the high end of the market and selling better-quality beef. And so, some industry watchers say, those middle-ground stores may be destined to vanish, furthering consolidation.

Of course it's consumer demand that's driving the retailers; they buy the beef that best fits their particular operation and their customer base. What might all this mean to cattle producers? Opportunity: to determine where they are going to fit, to think about where their product will work best. Today the retail industry is wide open to fresh ideas about marketing beef. And at least in part, you've got Wal-Mart to thank.

DROVERS

 

[agman]

This is an update to previous posts on the subject:

Yesterday I went to Walmart---don't worry, I notified Beefman before I went---- and found the meat counter guy stocking the shelves. I asked him if he had found the answer to my question. He said that he had, and that he had been looking for me to tell me the other day.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A meat". I told him that there was no "Grade A". His immediate supervisor was in the area and he called him over.

He also said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. He started looking on a package of ground beef for the label (big tip the guy doesn't know a thing about beef) and I handed him some of the gas modified cuts. Of course, the grade was not on there. He said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. I explained all the grades and then asked him if the REAL meat manager was there. He called on the intercom and shortly thereafter got a call back on the phone at the meat counter.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A". I asked him if it was prime, choice, select, or what? After asking the REAL meat manager on the phone, he said it was "USDA Choice".

Now either Agman is LYING (which I suspect not) about the Walmart meat being Select or the whole meat department at Walmart is LYING and assigning their own grade to meat in their counters (two USDA grade A's and one Choice).

Beefman, you and SH can say all you want about the allegations I bring up on this forum. They are ALL grounded (no pun intended) in reality, unlike the garbage you guys continuously post.

It is time we put a little more integrity into the beef side of the business. That is the mandate to the USDA and it is NOT being carried out.

For starters how can you make a post with such a misleading and wrong title? All meat grading is done by USDA inspectors, not Wal-Mart as implied by heading.

Wal-Mart sells SELECT beef. That is a fact and it is true across the U.S. The mere fact that a person in a local store tells you something different does not make it so. They employ over 1.0 million people.

SAM sells CHOICE.

It is easy to understand how you come a up with all these phony allegations and accusations if those are the best information sources you ever tap.

 

[Econ101]

This is an update to previous posts on the subject:

Yesterday I went to Walmart---don't worry, I notified Beefman before I went---- and found the meat counter guy stocking the shelves. I asked him if he had found the answer to my question. He said that he had, and that he had been looking for me to tell me the other day.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A meat". I told him that there was no "Grade A". His immediate supervisor was in the area and he called him over.

He also said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. He started looking on a package of ground beef for the label (big tip the guy doesn't know a thing about beef) and I handed him some of the gas modified cuts. Of course, the grade was not on there. He said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. I explained all the grades and then asked him if the REAL meat manager was there. He called on the intercom and shortly thereafter got a call back on the phone at the meat counter.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A". I asked him if it was prime, choice, select, or what? After asking the REAL meat manager on the phone, he said it was "USDA Choice".

Now either Agman is LYING (which I suspect not) about the Walmart meat being Select or the whole meat department at Walmart is LYING and assigning their own grade to meat in their counters (two USDA grade A's and one Choice).

Beefman, you and SH can say all you want about the allegations I bring up on this forum. They are ALL grounded (no pun intended) in reality, unlike the garbage you guys continuously post.

It is time we put a little more integrity into the beef side of the business. That is the mandate to the USDA and it is NOT being carried out.

For starters how can you make a post with such a misleading and wrong title? All meat grading is done by USDA inspectors, not Wal-Mart as implied by heading.

Wal-Mart sells SELECT beef. That is a fact and it is true across the U.S. The mere fact that a person in a local store tells you something different does not make it so. They employ over 1.0 million people.

SAM sells CHOICE.

It is easy to understand how you come a up with all these phony allegations and accusations if those are the best information sources you ever tap.

I supported the "implication" with real life experience, Agman. Most reading the post actually understood what I was talking about. Being in the beef industry, I expected you to understand also. I guess in your feeble attempt to back the beef side of NCBA and in particular Tyson and Walmart, you have to use the words that describe the industry to describe me (all these phony allegations).

Thanks for clearing up who was LYING. As I stated before, I thought the error was not your error.

When retailers and customer contact people misrepresent your product and can do nothing but what Beefman claimed his walmart meat guy did, it does not help anyone in the delivery chain but Tyson and Walmart. It actually hurts cattle producers. There is a lot of money invested on the production side to get good quality fed animals only to be misrepresented on the retail side by the beef industry. I am sorry to see you taking the retail short interests over the long term interests of cattlemen. It sounds like you are in with the NCBA leadership on that one.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

COOL as an indicator of quality?

I know Bill. Its garbage, as its perfectly possible to get a Choice steak from any country in the world, however many of the arguements I see forwarded about COOL relate to quality.

Agman,

You may know that the USDA grades everything. You may also know that all WallyWorld sells is Select. But how many others know that all WallyWorld sells is select? And the average consumer isn't going to logon to ranchers.net or another website to find out. And if the WallyWorld sales guy says its Choice, the consumer buys it and its crap, they'll think twice about buying it again. Instead they'll walk over to the chicken aisle.

I don't even much of a problem with WalMart's large market share, nor how they exercise their buying power, but rather with the untrained staff. It damages markets.

One of my business concerns that I shut down 2 years ago was a diesel performance shop. For the first 4 years of operation, we had a great run. Hand selected products, and my staff was trained to a high degree. In 2003, a large chain that I won't mention began carrying some performance parts as well. Their salesmen were completely untrained and sold parts to customers that damaged their trucks, as the other parts required to make things safe were not sold along side of the initial sale. It almost drove the supplier out of business as they suddenly had developed a reputation among the non-informed consumers of damaging their vehicles. They pulled their product out of the chain store, went back to small independents who were able to do a proper job of selling, and their company has rebounded back.

So lets think about some mandatory grading stamps. Packers are bellaring for consistency. So are consumers. Lets give them something that is genuine indicator of quality, since we can't change WallyWorld's staff nor their level of training. And lets do it before they damage our market.

Rod

 

[Econ101]

COOL as an indicator of quality?

I know Bill. Its garbage, as its perfectly possible to get a Choice steak from any country in the world, however many of the arguements I see forwarded about COOL relate to quality.

Agman,

You may know that the USDA grades everything. You may also know that all WallyWorld sells is Select. But how many others know that all WallyWorld sells is select? And the average consumer isn't going to logon to ranchers.net or another website to find out. And if the WallyWorld sales guy says its Choice, the consumer buys it and its crap, they'll think twice about buying it again. Instead they'll walk over to the chicken aisle.

I don't even much of a problem with WalMart's large market share, nor how they exercise their buying power, but rather with the untrained staff. It damages markets.

One of my business concerns that I shut down 2 years ago was a diesel performance shop. For the first 4 years of operation, we had a great run. Hand selected products, and my staff was trained to a high degree. In 2003, a large chain that I won't mention began carrying some performance parts as well. Their salesmen were completely untrained and sold parts to customers that damaged their trucks, as the other parts required to make things safe were not sold along side of the initial sale. It almost drove the supplier out of business as they suddenly had developed a reputation among the non-informed consumers of damaging their vehicles. They pulled their product out of the chain store, went back to small independents who were able to do a proper job of selling, and their company has rebounded back.

So lets think about some mandatory grading stamps. Packers are bellaring for consistency. So are consumers. Lets give them something that is genuine indicator of quality, since we can't change WallyWorld's staff nor their level of training. And lets do it before they damage our market.

Rod

Well said, Rod.

 

[agman]

This is an update to previous posts on the subject:

Yesterday I went to Walmart---don't worry, I notified Beefman before I went---- and found the meat counter guy stocking the shelves. I asked him if he had found the answer to my question. He said that he had, and that he had been looking for me to tell me the other day.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A meat". I told him that there was no "Grade A". His immediate supervisor was in the area and he called him over.

He also said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. He started looking on a package of ground beef for the label (big tip the guy doesn't know a thing about beef) and I handed him some of the gas modified cuts. Of course, the grade was not on there. He said it was "USDA Grade A". I told him there was no such grade for beef. I explained all the grades and then asked him if the REAL meat manager was there. He called on the intercom and shortly thereafter got a call back on the phone at the meat counter.

He said the meat was "USDA Grade A". I asked him if it was prime, choice, select, or what? After asking the REAL meat manager on the phone, he said it was "USDA Choice".

Now either Agman is LYING (which I suspect not) about the Walmart meat being Select or the whole meat department at Walmart is LYING and assigning their own grade to meat in their counters (two USDA grade A's and one Choice).

Beefman, you and SH can say all you want about the allegations I bring up on this forum. They are ALL grounded (no pun intended) in reality, unlike the garbage you guys continuously post.

It is time we put a little more integrity into the beef side of the business. That is the mandate to the USDA and it is NOT being carried out.

For starters how can you make a post with such a misleading and wrong title? All meat grading is done by USDA inspectors, not Wal-Mart as implied by heading.

Wal-Mart sells SELECT beef. That is a fact and it is true across the U.S. The mere fact that a person in a local store tells you something different does not make it so. They employ over 1.0 million people.

SAM sells CHOICE.

It is easy to understand how you come a up with all these phony allegations and accusations if those are the best information sources you ever tap.

I supported the "implication" with real life experience, Agman. Most reading the post actually understood what I was talking about. Being in the beef industry, I expected you to understand also. I guess in your feeble attempt to back the beef side of NCBA and in particular Tyson and Walmart, you have to use the words that describe the industry to describe me (all these phony allegations).

Thanks for clearing up who was LYING. As I stated before, I thought the error was not your error.

When retailers and customer contact people misrepresent your product and can do nothing but what Beefman claimed his walmart meat guy did, it does not help anyone in the delivery chain but Tyson and Walmart. It actually hurts cattle producers. There is a lot of money invested on the production side to get good quality fed animals only to be misrepresented on the retail side by the beef industry. I am sorry to see you taking the retail short interests over the long term interests of cattlemen. It sounds like you are in with the NCBA leadership on that one.

Only in your fantasy world could you divert from the truth in an attempt to spew your rhetoric. What I stated is a fact, no a lie as you state regarding what product they sell in the different entities. If you think I am lying put some money up and we will see who is lying or who is dealing with factual information.

You have clearly demonstrated that your sources of information know less than you and that is an almost impossible achievement.

 

[Econ101]

For starters how can you make a post with such a misleading and wrong title? All meat grading is done by USDA inspectors, not Wal-Mart as implied by heading.

Wal-Mart sells SELECT beef. That is a fact and it is true across the U.S. The mere fact that a person in a local store tells you something different does not make it so. They employ over 1.0 million people.

SAM sells CHOICE.

It is easy to understand how you come a up with all these phony allegations and accusations if those are the best information sources you ever tap.

I supported the "implication" with real life experience, Agman. Most reading the post actually understood what I was talking about. Being in the beef industry, I expected you to understand also. I guess in your feeble attempt to back the beef side of NCBA and in particular Tyson and Walmart, you have to use the words that describe the industry to describe me (all these phony allegations).

Thanks for clearing up who was LYING. As I stated before, I thought the error was not your error.

When retailers and customer contact people misrepresent your product and can do nothing but what Beefman claimed his walmart meat guy did, it does not help anyone in the delivery chain but Tyson and Walmart. It actually hurts cattle producers. There is a lot of money invested on the production side to get good quality fed animals only to be misrepresented on the retail side by the beef industry. I am sorry to see you taking the retail short interests over the long term interests of cattlemen. It sounds like you are in with the NCBA leadership on that one.

Only in your fantasy world could you divert from the truth in an attempt to spew your rhetoric. What I stated is a fact, no a lie as you state regarding what product they sell in the different entities. If you think I am lying put some money up and we will see who is lying or who is dealing with factual information.

You have clearly demonstrated that your sources of information know less than you and that is an almost impossible achievement.

Agman, I said I didn't think the error was your error.

 

[RobertMac]

On the other hand, consider that Wal-Mart's goal is to be the low-cost provider in everything it does. That means squeezing its suppliers — which means you — and that can be very uncomfortable.

Does anyone see a problem here?????????

Agman, would your bet with Econ be that the Wal-Mart employees don't know what they are talking about...or that FSIS is responsible for grading product?? In light of the above quote, I wouldn't think Wal-Mart would be willing to pay for grading!!!!!!

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Maybe Walmart was selling Canadian beef. We have Grade A beef. Probably pretty close to Select.

 

[Mike]

According to the "Mandatory Livestock reporting Act of 1999" the following retail items are scanned and tracked at the supermarket counter:


FROM THE USDA WEBSITE:

The items reported from the retail scanner data for meat are:

Beef

Ground chuck
Ground beef, 100-percent beef
Lean and extra lean ground beef
All uncooked ground beef
Chuck roast, USDA Choice, boneless
Chuck roast, graded and ungraded but not choice or prime
Round roast, USDA Choice, boneless
Round roast, graded and ungraded but not choice or prime
All uncooked beef roasts
Steak, T-bone USDA Choice, bone-in
Steak, rib eye USDA Choice
Steak, round, USDA Choice
Steak, round, graded and ungraded but not choice or prime
Steak, sirloin USDA Choice, boneless
Steak, sirloin, graded and ungraded but not choice or prime
All uncooked beef steaks
Beef for stew, boneless
All uncooked other beef not veal (such as beef briskets and ribs)