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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- We are seeing the lowest cattle numbers in years, according to livestock experts.

In 1975, the United States had about 132 million herd of cattle.That number has dropped to 90-million in 2012.

Farmers say they want to become more efficient in cattle production to help with the high demand of high quality meat.

The University of Missouri just started the new quality beef program which is trying to beef-up cattle numbers, while trying to have more cattle share the same genetics to produce more high quality beef...

“This program is about a database that tracks those genetics from birth to the consumer and analyze each phase and step to also see the economic side. So we also look at an economic aspect and not just production analysis.”

To learn more here's a link to Quality Beef Program at the University of Missouri.