Frequenty Asked Questions

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What is Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB) product?

The Certified Angus Beef ® brand is reserved for Angus beef that, after meeting the live specification of being at least 51% black-hided or AngusSource® enrolled, is verified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as meeting the ten CAB carcass specifications:

  1. Modest or higher marbling
  2. Medium or fine marbling texture
  3. "A" maturity for each, lean and skeletal characteristics
  4. 10 to 16 square inch ribeye area
  5. Less than 1,000 pound hot carcass weight
  6. Less than 1 inch fat thickness
  7. Superior muscling (restricts dairy influence)
  8. Practically free of capillary rupture
  9. No dark cutters
  10. No neck hump exceeding 2 inches

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How does CAB function?

We are a nonprofit, limited liability company that owns only our trademark. We do not own any cattle or beef. To create marketing flow we allow the CAB trademark to be used by licensed retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurants and international distributors to effectively market the Certified Angus Beef ® brand to consumers.

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How is Certified Angus Beef LLC funded?

The only funding received by CAB is from licensed packers and processors, which pay approximately 2 cents per pound of branded product that they sell. Remember they sell more than half a billion pounds annually so the budget amounts to about $10 million to serve the Angus producers and consumers through 15,000 licensees worldwide. All of these dollars are applied to various marketing efforts to increase pull-through demand for the brand, ultimately returning premiums to the producers of high-quality Angus cattle.

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How is Certified Angus Beef LLC linked to the American Angus Association?

We are a subsidiary of the Association. The nine-member CAB Board of Directors consists of the Association's Executive Vice President and six members of its board. Thus, we maintain a very strong working relationship with both the Association and its other subsidiary, Angus Productions, Inc.

Our tie to the Association translates into similar goals, although we are geared toward branded beef marketing. As stated in our mission, we are clearly focused on creating marketing opportunities for Angus and Angus-influenced cattle.

Certified Angus Beef LLC Mission Statement: Increase demand for registered Angus cattle through a specification-based, branded-beef program to identify consistent, high quality beef with superior taste.

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How do I participate in the CAB program?

By working to improve the carcass quality of your Angus and Angus-cross cattle. It's that simple, and anyone with that goal is part of the CAB program.

It may not be as simple as many producers would like, such as "signing up," because it is a long-term process. There are no commitments other than the ones you make because of market forces. The CAB target is generally the highest value and most logical product target for most cattle that are Angus influenced.

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When I see the word Angus used at restaurants or retail stores, does that mean it is Certified Angus Beef ® product?

Not unless you see the distinctive Certified Angus Beef ® shield. Since its origin in 1978, our company has established an extremely positive reputation for our beef. Subsequently, this has led to imitators in other Angus programs. Some of the specifications are below CAB's "modest or higher" marbling level, and many do not monitor product use and promotion in restaurants and grocery stores as we do. Unfortunately, the increasing number of Angus brands creates confusion among consumers and producers alike.

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How big is the Certified Angus Beef ® brand?

CAB is considerably larger than most people realize. More than half a billion pounds of beef will carry the Certified Angus Beef ® brand name this year. The brand is marketed through more than 5,600 retailers and 7,900 restaurants located throughout the United States and 45 other countries. To meet the product's growing demand, more than 2.5 million cattle must meet the brand's standards every year.

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How do I certify my Angus herd?

No herds or live animals are actually certified. The Certified Angus Beef ® logo is the trademark for beef that, only after meeting the live specification of being at least 51% black-hided or AngusSource® enrolled, the U.S. Department of Agriculture* verifies as meeting CAB's ten carcass specifications.
Angus producers shouldn't be discouraged by this. CAB offers producers a variety of ways to associate with the program. For starters, producers can participate in the CAB Feedlot Licensing Program. All it takes is working with one of CAB's licensed feedlot partners to market your Angus cattle. A set of guidelines has been developed for us to partner with these feedlots. We help feedlot partners find ways to work with Angus seedstock and commercial producers. In return, Angus producers receive the benefit of working with a feedlot that understands how to manage Angus cattle to their highest net return.

Producers can also utilize any of the marketing tools and educational resources in the Cow/calf Producers section of this Web site. Become a CAB licensee for a day and serve CAB product at a sale or producer event; attend CAB events like Brand Builders to learn more about the brand and how to incorporate CAB into your operation's marketing efforts.

*In Canada, the Canadian Beef Grading Service verifies CAB acceptance.

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How do I market CAB cattle? Does the program buy cattle? Does it cost to be able to sell to licensed CAB packers?

CAB doesn't buy cattle. Its licensed packers do, in all the ways packers can buy finished cattle. CAB serves to build demand for your cattle, but cannot get involved in actually marketing them. Thanks to more than 30 years in building demand, packers increased premiums for CAB-accepted carcasses from next to nothing in the early 1990s to as much as $5 per hundredweight (cwt.) now. In fact, packers have paid producers more than $250 million in premiums for cattle that have met brand requirements since 1998.

The Feedlot Licensing Program (FLP) was started by CAB in 1999. The program offers commercial cow-calf producers the opportunity to sell their Angus and Angus-cross calves to licensed feedlots that are interested in either buying them or creating a partnership with the producer. When the cattle are ready to be marketed, those feedlots sell the cattle to CAB licensed packers.

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How do I acquire "CAB-quality" cattle?

Producers can change a variety of herd management strategies to increase the number of cattle that meet CAB carcass specifications. The most effective way to improve the quality of your herd can be through selecting Angus genetics that are capable of achieving the higher quality grades. There are also opportunities for profit in balanced improvement along the way. Look at individual performance and carcass records associated with the cattle before buying. Visit the American Angus Association Web site or call (816) 383-5100 to talk with your Angus Regional Manager.

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How can I feed my 20 steers in the CAB program?

Twenty head of cattle may be too few to consider feeding cattle to finish, but there are still options available for producers wanting to take advantage of CAB premiums and carcass data. The first step is to get in contact with a CAB-licensed feedlot in your area.

Depending on availability, market conditions and the cattle type, feedlots may have numerous feeding options. These may include a retained or partnering ownership plan, sale to an order buyer who supplies the feedlot, or networking with other producers who have similar cattle and want to feed a combined pen while maintaining individual ID.

For a list of CAB-licensed feedlots in your area visit our licensed feedlot map or for more information on the CAB program call toll-free 877-241-0717.

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Can I participate in the CAB program without having feedlot and packer data on slaughtered cattle?

If you are not interested in receiving data on the cattle you feed, you may ignore this information opportunity. However, seeing how your cattle perform on an individual carcass basis is the easiest way to make focused breeding and management decisions that add value to your feeder cattle. The industry is also starting to pay more for cattle of known background. Data on past calf crops will give producers the chance to earn higher prices on future generations of calves.

By comparing feedlot cattle harvest data with sire expected progeny differences (EPDs), a producer can find bulls that improve their herd's ability to profitably produce carcasses that achieve higher levels of marbling and retail product, thus increasing profits.

Partner with a CAB-licensed feedlot, use individual carcass data and use Angus sires known for positive marbling and performance traits to earn higher premiums on the grid. Producers don't have to back away from other production goals–just add carcass traits.

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I use registered Angus bulls, so why don't I receive a CAB premium for my calves?

You do, as shown by research from universities and Cattle-Fax, as well as the CAB-funded auction market study, "Here's the Premium." Demand for the CAB brand translates into fed cattle premiums of $3-$5 per cwt. of carcass, and that same premium is typically passed back to the live Angus calf, compared to non-Angus, at auction.

That's a big premium considering how little is known about the potential of most Angus-influenced calves to achieve CAB carcass certification at harvest. With more documentation and genetic progress toward the CAB goal, producer premiums should increase.  AngusSource® is the latest opportunity to add value to your calves and mark them as good prospects for above average CAB acceptance.

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Do calves have to be 100% Angus to qualify?

No, just Angus influenced. Cattle coming in to licensed packing plants need to be at least 51% black-hided or AngusSource® enrolled to be evaluated for the CAB brand. Most cattle entering feedlots are commercial cattle and are not purebred or "100% Angus." Carcasses from Angus-influenced cattle are then subjected to our ten specifications that ensure the consumer a pleasurable eating experience.

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What is a good carcass?

The National Beef Quality Audit, conducted by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, identified demand for beef displaying particular quality attributes. From there, Dr. Tom Field of Colorado State University defined target ranges for satisfying this demand.

Specific factors were identified for hot carcass weight (HCW), ribeye area (REA), yield grade and marbling score. Each of these factors can be genetically influenced through the use of Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs).
Identified Targets:

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How many Angus-influenced cattle meet CAB carcass specifications?

On a national average, only about one in five Angus and Angus-influenced cattle at licensed plants meet all ten carcass specifications and are marketed as CAB product. Establish benchmarks on what percentage of your cattle can make CAB today. The national average may be in the teens, but some producers have an average as high as 80%--the reserve heifer entry in the 2006 National Angus Carcass Challenge was 94.7% CAB and Prime. Collect harvest information on your calves and apply it to breeding and culling decisions at the individual cow level.

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Why don't more cattle qualify for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand?

Marbling is the major reason carcasses do not become CAB product. It is also the major contributor to CAB product's characteristic flavor and juiciness.

That is why the brand's specifications indicate marbling must be "Modest or higher." The Angus breed is traditionally known for its marbling ability, and certain lines of Angus genetics have been identified with the potential to enhance their progeny's marbling level. It was this knowledge that led to the ten carcass requirements of the CAB brand.

Many cattle meeting the brand's live animal specification are crossbred, and only carry some of the Angus genetic advantage for marbling. This usually only leads to marginal success in achieving CAB acceptance. By using registered Angus bulls with positive marbling EPDs in a well-balanced selection program, producers may strengthen the marbling capability of cattle identified for the brand.

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Does CAB offer a program for my natural cattle?

Consumers were beginning to demand a high quality, naturally raised beef product, and CAB answered that need. In February 2004, CAB began a new brand extension known as CAB brand Natural.

To be in the natural program cattle have to meet the same ten carcass specifications as the brand. However, there are three additional requirements. The cattle must be raised without implants, antibiotics (injectable or fed) and animal byproducts. For more information visit the CAB® brand Natural page.

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