Carcass specific gravity provided the best prediction of beef carcass fat content, and the best individual prediction of carcass lean content. The prediction of carcass lean content was improved by the addition of simple carcass measurements. However, carcass specific gravity offered only marginal improvements in predicting carcass composition over those provided by simple carcass measurements. Key words: Carcass composition, carcass grading, specific gravity, carcass measurements