The cattle business year in review is painted primarily with COVID-19 irregularities. A year ago few could have imagined the more widespread and lasting pandemic impacts that lay in wait.
CAB Connection: 2020 hindsight
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Cattle Markets Posts
The market or the management
The crystal ball is nonexistent. There is no magic fortune teller. No matter how good the market forecast nobody is right 100% of the time. That doesn’t mean cattlemen have to look at the future as nothing more than a blind guess.
Where premiums are earned
As quality continues to trend up and more cattle qualify for the brand, the CAB/Choice spread may gain ground on the old Choice/Select metric as an industry standard. Along the way, the brand will keep working with all partners from pasture to plate, adding value to every cut and premiums for Angus cattlemen.
Quality carcass spreads turn up early
So far in 2021, Choice carcasses are at a higher premium to Select than in any of the previous five years. This is important, not because Choice carcasses are the production target, but because the producer’s share of the Choice premium is the foundation on which CAB and Prime premiums are added.
Adding up pennies
You get paid by the pound for your cattle, but the total figures in much more than weight. Join the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand on March 11 to find out why a premium carcass is worth more, and how those signals get back to you.
Playing to win: Grid marketing opens door to premiums
Producers can target cow herd genetics toward the factors driving value in the supply chain. Backfat and marbling have differing value implications at the packing plant and can be selected in different directions in the herd. Understanding grid marketing opens more opportunity for big wins.
Select beef: Who wants it?
“No man’s land.” Select seems to find itself there more these days. This article shares some examples of declining demand for the lower quality grade, and what that communicates to cattlemen.
Add value to calves
“Value” in feeder calf marketing is a relative term. All calves have some and the trick is to capture your share, said Paul Dykstra. Success is rooted in your customers he said. Customer changes through the supply chain from feeder, to packer to consumer.
Rebound
Shocks to the beef industry were all part of 2020’s “unprecedented” theme, but how the market responded was less surprising. That’s from RaboResearch analyst Dustin Aherin. When history is in the making, cattlemen should be innovative.