Rich Hall, president of the four-year-old Precision Beef Alliance, said efforts actually began in 1991 when a group of beef producers met to discuss ways to improve their herds. Five producers wanted to create an opportunity for success in the cattle markets. They could see they would have to change, and they wanted to change toward success.

Danny Tollefson is a pork producer from Minnesota who developed an outstanding lean pork product through his feeding program. He had some trouble working with his processor to get the finished product, so when he had the opportunity to buy a USDA-inspected plant, he did.