When it’s just not possible to bring 600 people from across the globe to the feedyard, the next best thing is to bring a little of that Herington, Kan., family operation to them. Cattle feeders Shane and Shawn Tiffany took the stage during educational sessions at last month’s Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand annual conference in Tucson, Ariz. The brothers gave foodservice and retail professionals a glimpse of life in a feedyard, often one of the most misunderstood parts of the beef community.
One of the largest cattle feeders in the country aims for high-quality results and hits that target every day. Poky Feeders, Scott City, Kan., turns 3,700 head per week, and nearly 37% of 120,000 Poky-fed Angus cattle earned the Certified Angus Beef ® brand at National Beef Packing last year.
Moving your cattle along to meet the goals of everyone in the beef supply chain takes focus on the data-backed decisions to add and capture value. Without people like Kenny Montgomery, Ruth Ammon and Meg Groves, those dollars from down the chain might never make it back to the ranch. These are some of the people who keep the plan on course when your cattle enter the feedyard and packing plant. Montgomery is a cowboy in the classic sense. He’s tough, unassuming and resilient – maybe that’s why Pratt Feeders, Pratt, Kan., has made him a part of its team for so long.
It’s been talked about for 60 years. It’s better for animals, preferred by most cattle feeders and could provide a 169% return on investment. “2014 was the biggest ‘no brainer’ year in history to precondition your calves,” says Purdue University veterinarian W. Mark Hilton. “2015 could be even better.” Crunching the numbers, Hilton first turns to an 11-year analysis of Indiana beef herds that showed weight alone added $50.84 average profit on preconditioned calves.
At his Cattlemen’s College session last month, I heard Mark present a pretty convincing case for preconditioning (a 11-year analysis of Indiana producers showed a profit of more than $80 per head, on average for 60+ day programs, for example).
But it wasn’t just about the economics of it all. It was about the principle.
I have yet to visit a ranch that I didn’t find beautiful, but Dry Fork Land and Cattle has to rank right up there with the prettiest.
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