Grader Bias in Cattle Markets? Evidence from Iowa

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