What’s better than winning first place? Doing that three out of four years, including two in a row and despite one of the worst droughts in history. That’s exactly what Darnall Feedlot, Harrisburg, Neb., managed to do with Quality Focus Awards in 2010, 2012 and 2013 for Certified Angus Beef LLC partners with more than 15,000-head capacity. This year’s mark of 49% Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand and Prime shot past the previous year’s 40% and 33% in 2010.
Nobody likes to lose a customer, but to see a cattle feeder get emotional over the thought of a ranching client having to sell out… that’s when you know his heart is really in the business. Terry Beller, of Lindsay, Neb., can tell you the last time the Sandhills and points west received a measureable rain. It matters to his bottom line, certainly, but the owner-manager of the 6,000-head Beller Feedlot talks about ranchers dealing with drought as if one of his own children were facing a major obstacle.
No one is automatically insulated from the effects of a shrinking national cowherd, but Kuner Feedlot, one of 12 in the JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeders group with 1.6 million annual marketings, goes for proactive rather than reactive ways. The management team’s unique approach caught the attention of the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand, which named the Colorado yard Progressive Feedlot of the Year at the CAB annual conference in Palm Desert, Calif., on Sept. 18-20.
Joe Mayer has always looked for better ways. That’s second nature to anyone whose family has made a living on harsh land for generations. All who thrive on the 35,000 acres that comprise Mayer Ranch near Guymon, Okla., must continually adapt. For his example that proves high-quality ideals and cattle can flourish here, Mayer earned the 2013 Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) Commercial Commitment to Excellence Award, presented at the CAB annual conference in Palm Desert, Calif., Sept. 18-20.
In a roomful of cattle feeders, an Oklahoma State University (OSU) livestock marketing specialist had everyone’s full attention as he said there is no way around it: In the next two to three years, the already short supply of feeder cattle will only get tighter. OSU Breedlove Professor Derrell Peel described the current feeder cattle situation and the circumstances leading to it at the eighth annual Feeding Quality Forum in Omaha, Neb., and Garden City, Kan., last month.
Prosperity for any industry depends on consumer demand, a Western Kentucky University animal scientist points out. Of course, that includes the beef industry or cattle community. Nevil Speer, in a new white paper, “Consumers, Business and Breeding Systems: Charting the Beef Industry’s Path,” says the implications are clear. “All business decisions on the ranch, as everywhere along the beef supply chain, should be made with an eye on consumer demand for beef,” he says.
Winners of the 2013 Carcass Data Project (CDP) didn’t leave a lot of room for outliers. The top three contestants’ data in the Kansas Angus Association (KAA) annual contest were of exceptional quality and within 3 percentage points, at 89%, 88% and 86% Prime and Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance. Final standings were based on the top three calves from any owner, taking gain and CAB acceptance into account. With eight of John Wendling’s nine steers qualifying for the CAB brand, he edged out the competition and took home top honors with a $500 cash prize.
When Daryl Strohbehn retired as an Iowa State Extension beef specialist there was one project he wasn’t ready to give up the reins to.
Since 2003, he has tracked the profit values for sires of calves enrolled in the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF). “To make things work in the cattle business today, it takes information based on sound data,” Strohbehn says. “I enjoy figuring out what that sound data is and what it might tell us.” The cooperative’s Sire Profit Analysis has grown from data on 35 sires in the initial report to 3,451sires evaluated in 2012.
When David Bechtol is honored at the 2013 Feeding Quality Forums with the Industry Achievement Award, colleagues and clients will catch a glimpse of recent history that laid the foundation for many of the ways they handle cattle health today. “As one of the very first veterinary feedlot consultants, he evolved with a very young cattle feeding industry as it was starting up and maturing,” John Pollreisz said. “The role of the veterinary feedlot consultant grew as the industry did – it went hand in hand.”
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