Excerpts from the report Preface: The Congress has directed the Department of Agriculture to make special studies of spreads between prices paid by consumers and those received by farmers. This report analyzes the trend of prices and price spreads for U.S. Choice grade beef at various stages in the marketing process. U.S. Choice grade beef accounts for about half of our total supply of block beef. Also, cost data are more complete for the marketing of Choice beef and are representative of costs for the marketing of other grades. Changes in the structure and organization of the livestock and meat economy are increasing the need for information. These changes, the cost trends that point them out, and their implications for producers and consumers make up the subject of this report.