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USDAs Feeder Cattle Grade for Sorting Feeder Cattle

The USDA has developed a Feeder Cattle Grade to sort feeder cattle into similar groups that will facilitate their selling and buying. These grades can also be used for sorting feeder cattle into similar outcome groups in a feedlot. Differences in frame size and muscle thickness score are the basis for the USDA Feeder Cattle Grades.

Feeder cattle can be given a grade score that is coded for both frame size (large, medium and small) and thickness (1, 2 and 3). For example, a large frame, thick feeder steer would have a feeder grade of "L-1," indicating a large frame, number 1 muscle thickness. Frame size refers to the animal's skeletal size and its height and body length in relation to its age.

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Originally Published September 2005