Assertion Partly supported AI assessment confidence: 85% certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Havstad-Casad: 35% of slaughtered cattle carcass goes to waste

Kate Havstad-Casad · Advice Line with Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield · Nov 14, 2024 · at 8:53

Kate Havstad-Casad, founder of regenerative leather company Range Revolution, explains supply chain waste in conventional meat processing to Guy Raz and Gary Hirshberg.

0:00 / 0:10exact quote · 10.0s

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“Most people don't know this, but in current systems today, when we send a steer to slaughter, about 65% of the cattle carcass is being utilized.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

In current commercial slaughterhouse systems, approximately 65% of a cattle carcass is utilized, leaving 35% to go to waste.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

The claim bundles two distinct assertions: that approximately 65% of a cattle carcass is utilized, and that the remaining 35% is discarded as waste. The first leg reflects the standard meat science retail cut yield, where approximately 60% to 70% (averaging ~65%) of a beef carcass is converted into saleable retail beef cuts, with the remaining 30% to 35% comprising bone, fat trim, connective tissue, and cooler shrink. However, the second leg—that this remaining ~35% is unutilized and goes to waste—is refuted by agricultural and meat industry data. In modern commercial processing, commercial rendering and co-product streams reclaim roughly 99% of inedible carcass materials and byproducts (fat trimmings, bones, tallow) for pet food, livestock feed, biofuels, and industrial uses. True unutilized waste in commercial slaughterhouses is limited primarily to paunch contents, wastewater solids, and specified risk materials (SRMs), representing a small fraction far below 35%.

Beef carcass cutout data from university extension programs (e.g., SDSU, Penn State) confirms chilled beef carcasses yield roughly 60% to 70% (commonly ~65%) in retail meat cuts, with 30% to 35% consisting of fat trim and bone.
Data from the North American Renderers Association (NARA) and agricultural literature shows modern rendering systems recover and utilize approximately 99% of inedible animal processing byproducts into tallow, animal feed, pet food, and industrial products.
True unrecovered solid waste in commercial slaughterhouses is primarily restricted to gastrointestinal contents and regulatory Specified Risk Materials (SRMs), far below the 35% figure claimed.

Checked against

[1] psu.edu [2] unl.edu [3] facebook.com [4] inciner8.com [5] alberta.ca [6] usda.gov [7] msstate.edu [8] unl.edu

cattle carcass utilization rate waste slaughterhouse USDA beef cattle dressing percentage byproducts rendering utilization waste percent beef carcass "retail yield" fat bone percent "extension" "specified risk materials" cattle waste percentage USDA North American Renderers Association cattle byproduct waste percentage

assessed as of 2026-09-03

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

cattle processing Range Revolution

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Havstad-Casad: 35% of slaughtered cattle carcass goes to waste

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