Buyer’s remorse

I’ll always remember one thing he told me, “Don’t buy something that you won’t be happy with. It’s a waste of money and if you’re sorry you bought something later. You’ll pay for it twice.” Today we call that “buyer’s remorse.”

I’ve done it before. Cheap tires for the car; a cheap article of clothing, and a sorry pair of pliers (but they were cheap).

I learned my lesson.

When we bought our land and had our house built, I needed to cut some Osage Orange (hedge) trees; the plan was to make them into fence posts. They’ll last 100 years. But the wood is hard, very tough to cut. I went out and bought the best brand of chain saw that I could. Yep, I could have purchased a cheaper one, but I knew I had a big job ahead of me and it was going to need to last. I haven’t been sorry for one minute since I got that good one ten years ago. It is still one of my favorite tools.

And so it goes for beef purchases. You are going to have the in-laws, boss or an old friend over for a steak. You zip down to the supermarket (let’s pretend you have no beef in the freezer) to buy some beef. There is a special on a store brand ribeye that is USDA Select; the steaks are cut thin, but they are cheap. That’s it! Next to them are the Certified Angus Beef ^® brand ribeyes, cut thick; lots of marbling, and you know will cook better and eat better, but, we want to save money. The Select steaks were $8.99/lb; the CAB steaks were $12.99/lb. You buy four, 12-oz steaks. The four CAB steaks are $19.48 total (1.5 lbs x 12.99) and the store brand is $13.48.

You saved six bucks.

Your guests arrive and you’re at the grill, thinking, “I HOPE these turn out well,  I’d sure hate to disappoint!”  Sure enough, some of the steaks were tough and you know they were because you ate a tough one. Well done all the way through, and you feel like apologizing, because YOU KNOW what a good steak tastes like and these didn’t fit the bill. You should have spent the extra six bucks on a frozen pepperoni pizza, which might have provided a better experience.

You have buyer’s remorse.

Beef is a big investment for most folks. When the lowest priced ground beef you can find is $3.75/lb. and tenderloins are pushing $20, you want to be sure that your eating experience is going to be a pleasurable one.

Life is too short to buy and eat sorry beef!

And that is where it leads back to you as a producer. Generally cattlemen are proud of what they do. You love your chosen profession and feel good about taking care of and feeding your animals. You want people to come back for more.  Else, you are out of business!

Demand for high-quality beef has never been better. With fiscal year sales in 2014 of 882 million pounds (another record-setting year), Certified Angus Beef ^® has one of the most recognizable names in the beef world for taste and eating satisfaction. It behooves each one of you to produce the best quality beef available; the market pays more for it. The genetic tools are out there to help you select cattle that will produce high-quality-grading steers and heifers. Whether you retain ownership or not through the feedlot phase, you are a contributor to the system.

Be a good contributor, and keep others from suffering buyer’s remorse!

Until next time,

Gary

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