Beef Trim Prices

Source: USDA AMS National Daily Boneless Processing Beef and Beef Trimmings (LM_XB401). Click any row for the full chart, multi-year history, and seasonal context.

Beef trim is the boneless beef trimmed off carcasses at the packing plant, sold by its chemical lean: the lean share found by a chemical fat test, not by eye. 90CL tests 90 percent lean and 10 percent fat, 50CL tests 50 and 50, and the trade just says 90s, 85s, 65s and 50s. The tested number is what lets loads from different packers go into the same grind and land on the same spec. The rungs come from different animals. The 90s come mostly from cull cows and bulls, backed up by imported lean from Australia, New Zealand and South America. The 85s come largely from cow boneless beef. The 65s and 50s are fed cattle trim, so their supply moves with the fed kill. Every rung ends up in ground beef, and grinders pick whichever blend hits their spec cheapest, which is what ties the ladder together. USDA prints the chemical lean grades daily on LM_XB401, the National Daily Boneless Processing Beef and Beef Trimmings report. The 90s, 85s, 65s and 50s print most days; the 73s and the 92 to 94 percent line print on fewer days. Imported lean prints weekly on NW_LS421.