Much of the beef produced and sold in the United States before World War II was from grass- or limited grain-fed cattle. However, development of the modern large-scale cattle feeding industry in the 1950s and 1960s greatly increased supplies of grain-fed beef and, by the early 1970s, many American consumers found only USDA Choice beef from heavy, grain-fed cattle in supermarkets. Consumers soon became conditioned to the flavor, juiciness, and tenderness of high quality, well-marbled beef. Proponents of forage or limited grain finishing systems found little support at any marketing level.