ABSTRACT
The producers of competitive meats have attained most of their available efficiencies; technological advances in the pork and poultry industries are less likely in the future. The beef industry, in general, and individual cattlemen, in particular, have more opportunities to develop and apply new technology, improve their efficiency, and earn greater returns. Cattlemen are turned-off by talk about more efficiency, but beef cannot continue to be produced at the present volume and to be sold profitably without improvements in production and distribution efficiency. There are opportunities to improve the acceptance of and demand for beef. This will require developing and disseminating more information on the positive values of nutrition, safety, and healthfulness of beef. The industry must work to identify beef-value characteristics more precisely and then to improve the efficiency of communicating those values. The industry, through its organizations, must continue to work in the government-affairs area to maintain and improve the climate for profitability.
