Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Tracy Thomas, U.S. Premium Beef
At a glance: In response to beef quality and marketing challenges of the 1980s, beef producers got together to form an organization known as U.S. Premium Beef to enable them to be rewarded for producing high-quality beef and owning it all the way through value-added processing. The resulting incentives and carcass data have enabled major improvements in beef quality and premiums paid to producers.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Tracy Thomas
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
April 22, 2026
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
Uh oh, the report card is in and the grades are not good. That is a sinking feeling for a student, and it might apply to an entire industry as well.
That was the situation facing the beef industry in the 1980s and early ‘90s as it received negative reaction to beef quality. Today we’ll learn about a producer-led initiative that has responded to that challenge in a remarkable way.
Tracy Thomas is vice president for marketing at U.S. Premium Beef, which has been a leading part of the effort to enhance beef quality. Thomas grew up near Clay Center, went to Kansas State University, and worked in a Kansas feedlot and the pharmaceutical industry before joining U.S. Premium Beef in 1998.
At right: Tracy Thomas | Download this photo
“Starting in the 1980s, the beef industry was in pretty serious trouble,” Thomas said. “Cattle organizations and K-State did an analysis and the results were not good. Per capita beef consumption had gone from 80 pounds per capita to the mid-50s.”
Feedback from consumers was negative. “One out of four consumers of select-grading beef products was reporting a bad experience,” Thomas said. “That’s a concerning report card.”
A misdirected marketing system was part of the problem. Essentially, beef producers were paid for pounds sold but not rewarded for higher quality.
“We had top seedstock producers raising high quality beef, but selling into a lower level marketplace,” Thomas said.
Livestock producers were interested in improving quality and retaining ownership of the beef from the ranch to the retail level.
In November 1995, 21 cow-calf producers met to discuss the concept of forming a marketing cooperative that would enable them to produce high-quality beef and own it all the way through value-added processing. Interest grew, U.S. Premium Beef was formed in 1996, and producers purchased shares.
“The three key factors were market access, data, and ownership,” Thomas said. “For decades, we had great live animal and reproductive performance data, but we weren’t getting carcass data that provided feedback to the producer.”
U.S. Premium Beef devised a value-based marketing system that provided producers premiums above market prices for quality beef and also provided carcass data on the quality of their own product. As product quality improved, the premiums paid to producers would grow as well.
U.S. Premium Beef purchased a partial interest in National Beef, a leading meat packer. Through the years, U.S. Premium Beef expanded. It transitioned its business organization to become a limited liability company.
Carcass information and premium incentives to improve carcass quality helped ranchers adapt their production practices to enhance the quality of their beef. In the process, premiums grew as well.
“In our first year, the average premium paid was $8 per head over the market,” Thomas said. “In 2025, the average was over $105 per head.”
According to its website, U.S. Premium Beef has more than 2,900 members and associates in 38 states. Through 2025, the company had delivered nearly 21 million head of cattle for processing and provided producers premiums of $953 million.
The board of directors consists of cattle producers, including those who come from rural communities such as Ashland, population 783, and Brewster, population 291 people. Now, that’s rural.
“Producers responded in a big way,” Thomas said. “Back in 1980, we were a rudderless industry. U.S. Premium Beef set the foundation for improvement by putting the targets out there. Producers figured out a way to hit the target.”
“The consumer is the person who writes all our paychecks,” Thomas said about the beef industry. “Now they are telling us they love the taste of beef and demand is strong. We had a hand in turning it around.”
For more information, go to www.uspb.com.
The report card came in and the grades weren’t good for the beef industry back in 1980, but this producer-led initiative has helped change that for the better. We commend Tracy Thomas and all those involved with U.S. Premium Beef for making a difference with a commitment to quality beef production.
I think they’ve earned an A-plus.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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K‑State Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the wellbeing of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.