Final answer:
The USDA Quality grade indicates the eat quality characteristics of meat, focusing on factors like marbling and muscle maturity, while the USDA Yield grade assesses carcass cutability, including fat thickness and muscling.
Step-by-step explanation:
The USDA Quality grade reflects the eat quality characteristics of a carcass, such as tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. These are generally associated with the amount of marbling (dispersed fat within the muscle), the color, texture, and maturity of the muscle, with specific emphasis on marbling. On the other hand, the USDA Yield grade is an assessment of the cutability of a carcass, which refers to the amount of boneless, trimmed retail cuts that can be obtained from a carcass. This grade is determined by a combination of factors including fat thickness, the area of ribeye muscle, and the carcass weight. Therefore, the correct answer to the question is: quality, fat thickness and muscling.