Carcasses from 163 Angus, Hareford, Holstein-Friesian, and Brown-Swiss and possible crosses among the four breeds were used to evaluate breed and breed cross differences between two farms for palatability. Significant farm difference for flavor, juiceness, shear farce existed. Breed of sire accounted for a significant portion of the variation in shear force. Among breed of sire groups, steers from Hereford were most tender and steers from Brown-Swiss the least tender by Warner-Bratzler shear force measurements. There were no significant breed of dam effects on palatability traits. Most of the variation in palatability were due to sources other than breeds. The fact that there were small breed and breed cross effects on palatability traits suggests that the introduction of dairy blood into intensive beef production probably will not affect the palatability of the meat produced.