This in turn leads to various methods of formula or grid pricing. Some formulas reward quality grade, some reward yield grade, and others try to balance the two. Pricing formulas reflect market targets. A few outliers in a load can easily wipe out premiums paid on superior cattle in the same load. Producers within these alliances must avoid discounts if they are to benefit financially from formula pricing.
Some alliances publish average premiums paid across all cattle marketed in their system.
In our necessary quest to improve the end product, we must beware of going to extremes when selecting for carcass traits. Research in recent years has shown that antagonisms exist between certain carcass traits and other traits of economic importance. For example, extreme selection for lean meat yield could have undesirable effects on fertility, calving ease, maintenance requirements, marbling and size of retail cuts. Extreme selection for marbling could result in excessive seam fat deposition in less valuable primal cuts such as the chuck and round, which would further reduce their value in the marketplace. The weighting could conceivably move toward the carcass if the marketing structure of the beef industry were to change significantly in the foreseeable future.