The livestock industry has historically been the largest source of demand for corn and has seen a steady upward trend as demand for corn products has grown meat base. 2006 marked the beginning of a drastic change in the economics of this sector. Feed costs have more than doubled and price variability has increased significantly. The main driver of this change has been the demand for corn used for ethanol production. The price of feed rose so rapidly that prices of finished animals failed to keep pace and livestock producers suffered record losses. Further exacerbating the problem, increased ethanol production has shifted cropland use away from other feed sources such as soybeans. Additionally, the Energy Independence and Security Act, signed into law in December 2007, requires motor fuel to be blended with certain amounts of ethanol and allows the ethanol industry to pay whatever price is necessary to obtain enough corn to meet the mandate. As a result, not only have feed prices increased dramatically, but fuel prices have also increased. This has a new impact on producers and also reduces consumer spending income, which has been shown to reduce consumer demand for beef. (Wisner, 2008) It is difficult to predict the future use of technology in the livestock-for-feed industry. Some consumers want to see the use of technology, particularly feed additives such as antibiotics and beta-agonists, and growth hormones, decline, even though these technologies offer some of the highest returns on investment of any livestock farming technology. feed. However, the use of technology for animal identification and product traceability is likely to continue to increase. Improvements in milling and feed delivery that reduce labor and reduce animal health problems are also likely to continue to be used and improved. (Galye...... middle of paper ......ucers. Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) includes topics related to the quality and efficiency of beef production, which will increase the profitability of producers through meat premiums. BQA provides guidelines for animal care, handling, proper storage and use of feed, animal health products and their use, record keeping, management carcass quality, livestock marketing, biosecurity and transport (Dale et al, 2009) have demonstrated progress in improving the quality of beef products over the last 20 years, however there are always improvements still to be made. The 2005 National Beef Quality Audit indicated that a total of $55.58 was lost in value per head due to undesirable quality and yield, carcass weight, skin and offal Lost value could be recovered if manufacturers followed the BQA (Radunz, 2010)