Page 1 of 14 

************ LAMB GRADING HISTORICAL RECORDS ************ 

(THOUSAND POUNDS) 

CY 

YEAR 

TOTAL 

POUNDS

GRADED PRIME % CHOICE % 

 QUALITY GRADES 

GOOD % UTILITY % CULL %

% OF FEDERAL 

 SLAUGHTER 

 LAMB Y1 % Y2 

YIELD GRADES 

% Y3 % Y4 % Y5 % FOOTNOTES 

1930 2,470 1/ 

1931 4,157 1/ 

1932 7,610 1/ 

1933 8,013 1/ 

1934 9,352 1/ 

1935 17,538 1/ 

1936 19,021 1/ 

1937 23,765 1/ 

1938 28,015 1/ 

1939 24,214 1/ 

1940 24,765 1/ 

1941 32,186 1/ 

1942 78,102 1/; 2/ 

1943 990,772 1/; 2/ 

1944 1,007,449 283,490 28.1% 390,281 38.7% 212,098 21.1% 121,580 12.1% 106.5% 1/; 2/ 

1945 1,006,547 389,581 38.7% 352,340 35.0% 165,503 16.4% 99,123 9.8% 99.4% 1/; 2/ 

1946 823,021 337,745 41.0% 288,554 35.1% 124,302 15.1% 72,420 8.8% 1/; 2/ 

1947 208,870 66 0.03% 79,779 38.2% 96,614 46.3% 27,011 12.9% 5,400 2.6% 26.8% 1/ 

1948 78,610 13 0.02% 32,471 41.3% 39,159 49.8% 6,471 8.2% 496 0.6% 20.1% 1/; 3/ 

1949 107,633 18.3% 1/ 

1950 110,441 19.0% 1/ 

1951 365,355 71.9% 1/ 

1952 567,362 89.3% 1/ 

1953 245,133 34.5% 1/ 

1954 250,129 34.0% 1/ 

1955 242,683 32.6% 1/ 

1956 233,337 32.1% 1/ 

1957 258,804 37.3% 1/ 

1958 242,099 35.9% 1/; 3/ 

1959 256,503 3,066 1.2% 225,547 87.9% 27,890 10.9% 35.6% 1/ 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Quality Assessment Division 
Page 2 of 14 

************ LAMB GRADING HISTORICAL RECORDS ************ 

(THOUSAND POUNDS) 

CY 

YEAR 

TOTAL 

POUNDS

GRADED PRIME % CHOICE 

 QUALITY GRADES 

% GOOD % UTILITY % CULL %

% OF FEDERAL 

 SLAUGHTER 

 LAMB Y1 % Y2 

YIELD GRADES 

% Y3 % Y4 % Y5 % FOOTNOTES 

1960 282,111 41,311 14.6% 229,805 81.5% 10,720 3.8% 228 0.08% 47 0.02% 37.4% 1/ 

1961 358,442 45,872 12.8% 292,102 81.5% 11,622 3.2% 8,775 2.45% 71 0.02% 43.8% 1/ 

1962 363,004 44,377 12.2% 295,278 81.3% 9,861 2.7% 13,424 3.70% 64 0.02% 45.7% 1/ 

1963 371,515 48,796 13.1% 303,153 81.6% 8,697 2.3% 10,850 2.92% 19 0.01% 49.1% 1/ 

1964 363,788 55,342 15.2% 301,579 82.9% 4,773 1.3% 2,073 0.57% 21 0.01% 51.7% 1/ 

1965 351,199 59,689 17.0% 288,393 82.1% 3,014 0.9% 91 0.03% 12 0.00% 55.0% 1/; 4/ 

1966 385,577 58,634 15.2% 322,556 83.7% 3,040 0.8% 1,347 0.35% 60.3% 1/; 5/ 

1967 401,780 57,733 14.4% 338,093 84.1% 2,813 0.7% 3,141 0.78% 63.2% 1/ 

1968 392,424 47,263 12.0% 341,857 87.1% 2,276 0.6% 1,028 0.26% 66.3% 1/ 

1969 373,057 39,063 10.5% 329,355 88.3% 2,120 0.6% 2,519 0.68% 69.1% 1/ 

1970 400,794 42,565 10.6% 352,875 88.0% 2,671 0.7% 2,683 0.67% 74.2% 1/ 

1971 418,038 41,080 9.8% 373,635 89.4% 1,642 0.4% 1,681 0.40% 76.8% 1/ 

1972 396,606 47,509 12.0% 347,268 87.6% 968 0.2% 861 0.22% 74.4% 1/; 6/; 7/ 

1973 366,650 59,666 16.3% 305,757 83.4% 1,220 0.3% 7 0.00% 72.7% 1/ 

1974 332,407 42,264 12.7% 289,040 87.0% 742 0.2% 361 0.11% 73.2% 1/ 

1975 295,564 35,556 12.0% 259,740 87.9% 263 0.1% 5 0.00% 74.1% 1/ 

1976 268,301 52,663 19.6% 215,374 80.3% 264 0.1% 73.9% 1/ 

1977 265,281 52,208 19.7% 212,879 80.2% 194 0.1% 77.9% 1/ 

1978 237,970 52,872 22.2% 184,390 77.5% 706 0.3% 2 0.00% 82.9% 1/ 

1979 225,914 51,476 22.8% 174,314 77.2% 122 0.1% 2 0.00% 80.7% 1/ 

1980 224,708 47,751 21.3% 176,762 78.7% 195 0.1% 

1981 (FIGURES NOT AVAILABLE) 

1982 (FIGURES NOT AVAILABLE) 

1983 153,692 19,977 13.0% 133,318 86.7% 397 0.258% 96.7% 

1984 299,064 37,402 12.5% 260,660 87.2% 1,002 0.335% 87.4% 

1985 295,101 33,605 11.4% 259,572 88.0% 1,924 0.652% 92.5% 

1986 256,225 37,584 14.7% 218,582 85.3% 59 0.023% 83.2% 

1987 262,070 29,697 11.3% 232,370 88.7% 3 0.001% 91.5% 

1988 283,091 34,344 12.1% 248,630 87.8% 117 0.041% 93.6% 

1989 295,049 34,131 11.6% 260,759 88.4% 159 0.054% 93.9% 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Quality Assessment Division 
1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Page 3 of 14 

************ LAMB GRADING HISTORICAL RECORDS ************ 

(THOUSAND POUNDS) 

CY 

YEAR 

TOTAL 

POUNDS

GRADED 

 QUALITY GRADES 

PRIME % CHOICE % GOOD % UTILITY % CULL %

% OF FEDERAL 

 SLAUGHTER 

 LAMB Y1 % Y2 % 

YIELD GRADES 

Y3 % Y4 % Y5 % FOOTNOTES 

294,443 36,800 12.5% 257,623 87.5% 20 0.007% 89.4% 

1991 302,833 29,518 9.7% 273,263 90.2% 52 0.017% 87.5% 

1992 285,209 27,092 9.5% 257,606 90.3% 511 0.179% 90.7% 14 10.0% 58 40.6% 59 41.0% 11 7.4% 2 1.0% 8/ 

1993 272,996 22,873 8.4% 250,116 91.6% 7 0.003% 89.9% 27 10.0% 106 38.7% 110 40.2% 24 8.9% 6 2.2% 

1994 240,433 22,433 9.3% 218,000 90.7% 87.5% 27 11.2% 98 40.7% 94 38.9% 19 8.0% 3 1.2% 

221,762 23,128 10.4% 198,634 89.6% 85.4% 26 11.5% 94 42.3% 84 38.0% 16 7.2% 2 1.0% 

1996 212,020 17,102 8.1% 194,917 91.9% 1 0.000% 87.8% 26 12.1% 87 41.2% 81 38.2% 15 7.1% 3 1.4% 

1997 205,946 17,218 8.4% 188,678 91.6% 50 0.024% 87.2% 21 10.1% 84 40.9% 83 40.2% 15 7.5% 3 1.4% 

1998 210,247 17,414 8.3% 192,833 91.7% 90.7% 25 12.0% 91 43.1% 80 38.1% 12 5.7% 2 1.0% 

1999 200,242 17,813 8.9% 182,429 91.1% 89.2% 20 9.9% 90 45.0% 77 38.2% 12 5.8% 2 1.1% 

183,741 11,212 6.1% 172,529 93.9% 86.6% 13 7.0% 80 43.3% 75 40.5% 15 7.9% 2 1.3% 

2001 182,576 10,970 6.0% 171,606 94.0% 88.4% 8 4.3% 65 35.9% 78 42.9% 24 12.9% 7 4.0% 

2002 169,363 9,350 5.5% 160,013 94.5% 85.3% 11 6.2% 72 42.4% 68 40.1% 15 9.0% 4 2.2% 

2003 156,650 9,958 6.4% 146,692 93.6% 85.0% 8 5.0% 59 37.7% 69 43.8% 18 11.2% 4 2.2% 

2004 146,624 8,559 5.8% 138,065 94.2% 84.0% 7 4.5% 52 35.1% 68 46.1% 18 11.9% 4 2.4% 

139,549 10,236 7.3% 129,314 92.7% 81.5% 7 5.1% 45 32.5% 65 46.8% 18 12.5% 4 3.1% 

2006 135,373 10,972 8.1% 124,402 91.9% 79.7% 6 4.2% 43 32.1% 64 47.2% 18 13.3% 4 3.3% 

2007 131,824 10,323 7.8% 121,491 92.2% 79.2% 5 4.2% 43 32.5% 63 48.1% 16 12.2% 4 3.0% 

2008 123,270 11,086 9.0% 112,184 91.0% 77.4% 6 

5 

4.6% 

4.0% 

39 

39 

31.5% 

33.6% 

58 

52 

47.1% 

45.0% 

17 

16 

13.6% 

13.6% 

4 

4 

3.1% 

2009 114,757 10,602 9.2% 104,155 90.8% 74.3% 3.7% 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2016 

2017 

2018 

2019 

2021 

106,222 

97,984 

98,523 

91,834 

93,051 

84,301 

79,780 

73,768 

75,492 

70,379 

57,670 

56,562 

7,423 7.0% 98,799 93.0% 

7,062 7.2% 90,922 92.8% 

8,282 8.4% 90,241 91.6% 

7,974 8.7% 83,860 91.3% 

5,902 6.3% 87,149 93.7% 

5,065 6.0% 79,236 94.0% 

5,516 6.9% 74,264 93.1% 

5,902 8.0% 67,866 92.0% 

6,959 9.2% 68,533 90.8% 

4,816 6.8% 65,563 93.2% 

4,091 7.1% 53,579 92.9% 

4,645 8.2% 51,915 91.8% 

73.9% 

74.2% 

70.9% 

67.3% 

67.4% 

64.6% 

61.1% 

58.8% 

57.4% 

56.1% 

50.1% 

50.4% 

5 4.6% 40 37.8% 45 42.6% 

6 5.7% 32 32.7% 42 42.7% 

5 5.1% 28 28.7% 36 36.2% 

7 7.2% 33 36.4% 32 35.3% 

5 5.5% 31 33.4% 38 41.3% 

4 5.3% 24 28.9% 35 41.4% 

5 6.5% 24 30.3% 32 39.7% 

4 5.5% 22 30.4% 31 42.0% 

4 4.9% 20 26.9% 30 39.4% 

3 4.5% 18 25.6% 29 41.8% 

3 4.4% 17 29.3% 26 44.9% 

3 6.1% 21 37.2% 23 41.1% 

13 

15 

17 

13 

13 

14 

13 

11 

14 

14 

9 

7 

12.5% 3 

15.7% 3 

17.4% 12 

13.6% 7 

14.3% 5 

16.2% 7 

15.9% 6 

15.2% 5 

18.1% 8 

19.3% 6 

16.4% 2 

12.7% 2 

2.5% 

3.3% 

12.6% 

7.5% 

5.5% 

8.2% 

7.6% 

6.9% 

10.7% 

8.8% 

5.0% 

2.9% 

FOOTNOTES Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 1/ Grade designations are those in use at time data were reported. Official standards for grades Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Quality Assessment Division 
Page 4 of 14 

************ LAMB GRADING HISTORICAL RECORDS ************ 

(THOUSAND POUNDS) 

TOTAL QUALITY GRADES % OF FEDERAL YIELD GRADES

CY POUNDS SLAUGHTER 

YEAR GRADED PRIME % CHOICE % GOOD % UTILITY % CULL % LAMB Y1 % Y2 % Y3 % Y4 % Y5 % FOOTNOTES 

 of lamb and mutton were made effective February 16, 1931. In October 1940, the grade designations

 Medium and Common were changed to Commercial and Utility, respectively. In April 1951, Prime and

 Choice grades were combined and designated as Prime, the Good grade was renamed Choice, and

 changes were made in the other grades. In February 1957, the standards were again amended by

 changing the quality requirements. The standards were also amended in March 1960 to modify the

 minimum requirements for Prime and Choice grades by lowering the average fatness for these grades

 and by certain other ways regarding the conformation and quality factors. 

2/ Included in total is lamb officially certified for CCC: 1942--26,031,000 lbs.; 

 1943--122,225,000 lbs.; 1944--59,029,000 lbs.; 1945--17,744,000 lbs.; 1946--10,787,000 lbs. 

3/ Grade breakdown is for 6 months only. Grade breakdown is not available from July 1948 through

 June 1958.

 Compulsory grading of lamb and mutton carcasses was required from April 10, 1943, until

 October 16, 1946, and again from May 7, 1951, until February 5, 1933. 

4/ 1965--January 1 through December 18 as reported in Market News and Annual 333.

 (Adj. for calendar year 56.3--by JL) 

5/ Commercial production 1966 to date converted to 4-week (20-day) periods based on weekly F.I. lamb

 and mutton production estimates and the relation of monthly F.I. lamb and mutton production to

 total commercial production. Commercial production figures for the year are from Statistical

 Bulletin 333. 

6/ Beginning with 1972, volume graded is estimated on the basis of a January 1 - December 31 year. 

7/ Breakdown by grade based on percent of each grade is of total volume graded for period 7/1 - 12/31. 

8/ Yield Grading of Lambs begins in 1992. 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Quality Assessment Division 
USDA Graded Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Thousand Pounds) 

210,000 

190,000 

170,000 

150,000 

130,000 

110,000 

90,000 

70,000 

50,000 

30,000 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 
Federal Lamb Slaughter - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

92.0% 

88.0% 

84.0% 

80.0% 

76.0% 

72.0% 

68.0% 

64.0% 

60.0% 

56.0% 

52.0% 

48.0% 

44.0% 

40.0% 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 
12.0% 

8.0% 

4.0% 

0.0% 

USDA Prime Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 
USDA Choice Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

96.0% 

92.0% 

88.0% 

Information Provided By: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 
 

USDA Good Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

The industry has not requested USDA Good grade evaluation of Lamb carcasses since 1997 

0.20% 

0.10% 

0.00% 

Information Provided By: 

U.S Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 
USDA Yield Grade 1 Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

8.0% 

7.0% 

6.0% 

5.0% 

4.0% 

3.0% 

2.0% 

1.0% 

0.0% 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 
USDA Yield Grade 2 Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

45.0% 

40.0% 

35.0% 

30.0% 

25.0% 

20.0% 

15.0% 

10.0% 

5.0% 

0.0% 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 
USDA Yield Grade 3 Lamb - 1996 to 2016 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

60.0% 

50.0% 

40.0% 

30.0% 

20.0% 

10.0% 

0.0% 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 
USDA Yield Grade 4 Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

25.0% 

20.0% 

15.0% 

10.0% 

5.0% 

0.0% 

Information Provided By: 

U.S Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 
USDA Yield Grade 5 Lamb - 2001 to 2021 

(Percentage of Total Graded) 

14.0% 

12.0% 

10.0% 

8.0% 

6.0% 

4.0% 

2.0% 

0.0% 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

Calendar Year 

Information Provided By: 

U.S Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program 

Grading and Verification Division