In the heart of South Dakota—a state ranked fourth in yearly Angus registrations, where all cattle outnumber people four to one—there’s been a bit of a desert for marketers of high-quality fed cattle. Many finished animals are still shipped to neighboring states for processing, but DemKota Ranch Beef, a packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., is looking to keep a higher percentage of them close to home.
Young kids often have a misplaced sense of confidence. “Wook, how high I jump.” As a toddler, one of my girls used to love to show off that skill. She’d squat down, chubby thighs almost touching the ground and she’d give it her all. Her jump would maybe clear all of two inches. She was always thrilled.
If you’ve never eaten beef lips, you’re proof of this beef export truth: “It’s all about putting the right cut in the right market and maximizing what opportunity there is.”
“Good cattle sell themselves,” says Nebraska cattleman Trevor Dam. He uses artificial insemination, breeds based on EPD parameters and is trying Angus Link to give him even more information on this year’s calf crop.
Control what you can and deal with the rest. Cattlemen can’t stop drought or hurricanes, but they can set their herd up to be successful during “everyday” challenges. “We can manage their feed. We can manage their health protocol. We can’t manage their stress,” said Kelly Sanders, Westway Feed Products. “From my feed standpoint, how do I mitigate that problem the best I can?”
Don’t let the unknown paralyze you. Think about the end goal and why you’re inspired to do something different in the first place.
Maybe you’re looking to recoup some investment or perhaps just trying to make specific points in the calendar flow a little more smoothly. Maybe you hear about these loads that are reaching 50% Prime and thinking, “I want my cattle to do that.”
I’m not all that fancy. I grew up wearing second-hand clothes and riding in farm trucks. My siblings and I thought the Super 8 was an upscale motel because they had a pool. Still today, I rarely find myself in a town with a five-star restaurant. So when I get the opportunity to attend an event like our Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand annual conference, I often find myself in awe. The food, the venue….the hoopla!
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