Abstract
Hides are important to everyone involved in meat production, processing and marketing, not just those in the leather business. It is by far the most valuable beef by-product, accounting for 7.5% of the value of a steer (Morgan, 1991). Although beef animals are not produced solely for their hides, the value of the hide has a significant impact on profitability within the beef industry. If it were not for the value of the hide, cow-calf profitability would be lower, resulting in fewer cows, fewer calves, and fewer slaughter animals. Less beef would be produced, and margins would be smaller for most segments of the beef industry. Over the past three decades, hides have increased in value more rapidly than meat because the demand for leather has been stronger worldwide than the demand for beef. In 1990, the US produced about $1.9 billion worth of hides, equivalent to 1.2 million metric tons. Sixty percent was exported, primarily to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Mexico (Morgan, 1991).
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References
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© 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
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Bailey, D.G. (1992). Handling, Grading and Curing of Hides and Skins. In: Pearson, A.M., Dutson, T.R. (eds) Inedible Meat by-Products. Advances in Meat Research Series, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7933-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7933-1_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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