Technology's Gifts

摘要

What's the 50-year payoff of technology? It's increased beef production per head by 80%. Beef production technology over the past 50 years has paid huge dividends toward keeping beef competitive in today's consumer's food basket. Increases in production efficiency since 1955 have been a major factor in reducing consumer cost per pound of beef by 26%, after adjusting for inflation. Through a combination of research, technology and innovation, the U.S. beef cattle industry has increased beef productionper head of cattle by more than 80%. Two leading beef industry scientists, who recently wrote a "white paper" on 50 years of beef technology, say the total production of beef has doubled, from 13.2 to about 27 billion lbs., from a national cattle herd that's about the same size today as it was in 1955.