Over the past 10 years, the basic structure of grade schedules for pigs has changed relatively little. Although it has been adjusted to accommodate reductions in mean fat thickness, the framework of weight ranges and stepped fat thickness maxima remains. Several factors indicate that more fundamental changes are likely in the future: (1) automatic probes, capable of measuring muscle depth, have been developed; (2) concern over the variable quality of meat from very lean pigs has led to growing interest in quality grading using muscle pH or light reflectance, for example, as indicators of drip loss; and (3) the use of meat-type sires is leading to more variation in the carcass characteristics of the pig population.