Panelists will discuss vertical aspects of vertical coordination in the beef industry. Focus will include cow herd production management and genetics, calf market price incentives, costs of producing high quality beef, and retail marketing of high quality beef and premium brands. Together this complete vertical supply chain discussion will provide a comprehensive assessment of how the U.S. beef industry can improve beef quality and enhance consumer demand. Implicit in this overview is an assessment of how the high quality U.S. beef industry can compete in the competitive global protein complex.