The new year now feels old once you get into a busy season like calving. There are many spans of time in cattle country that can make us feel there’s too much to do, or too little time in each day. By now, some resolutions have fallen to the wayside, the rush of reality helping us sort out what matters most in the commitment to get better. Yet, there are still some that rise above the rest, beat the average and make it look easy
While many of you are in sire buying mode this time of year, more are deciding whether this year’s bull calves retain the ability to become sires. Castration at birth is ideal, but catching them on day one can be a challenge in extensive operations. Castration at branding or turnout offers a balance between handling ease and minimizing calf stress.
Winter came early for much of cow-calf country, and now calving season is at the gate. Even those who call it “spring calving” often start in January, but if you’re not out checking a heifer, this is a good time of year to catch up on reading. Calving dates and “housing” options for the herd were explored in a 2019 Nebraska Beef Report article by Terry Klopfenstein and others, who evaluated March, June, or August calving dates on the range, or two July calving systems in year-round confinement or in semi-confinement with grazed corn stalks from fall to April weaning.
It takes a powerful start and decades of focus to get harvest groups that regularly qualify 100% for the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand. What about 97.7% at CAB Prime brand and that one steer “only” hitting the traditional premium Choice CAB mark? Not too good to be true, that’s just the mark of a Champion. To be precise, it’s the Champion pen of 40 enrolled in the 2018 Angus Value Discovery Contest (AVDC), produced by Jack and Bill Boyer, Boyer Brothers Angus, Perryville, Mo.
It’s a great time to own cows, but only if you have a competitive cost structure with the right genetics and management to compete in today’s marketplace, Rick Funston said. While input costs should be minimized in times like these, “breakeven at best” for many, he said, it won’t pay to compromise fertility in the process.
Economic theory suggests more supply will lower the price, and higher prices tend to lower sales for a commodity. “A commodity like beef,” older textbooks might say. Premium beef has not always borne that out, particularly in the decade since the Great Recession of 2008, says CattleFax analyst Lance Zimmerman.
For many cattle across the United States that’s the difference in a marbling score of 492 versus 500. Those commodity Choice carcasses are just a few fat flecks away from upper two-thirds Choice and their share of the $50 million that packers pay each year for cattle earning that high-quality designation.
Certified Angus Beef ® is the Brand that Pays®. At a rate of $8,500 per hour, 24-7, that was $75 million for 2017, up from the $52 million paid in 2015; the linking year came in at $63 million. That brings the 20-year total for CAB premiums to $688 million, more than half of it paid in the last seven years.
Angus producers can increase supply for the world’s leading premium beef brand in just two years—and still earn 44% more premium dollars for the greater supply.
When Steve Knoll went to buy a few Angus bulls to put on his registered Salers herd, it changed everything. “I was blown away with what the bulls were bringing. The bulls I thought I would just go and buy and bring home, I couldn’t afford,” says the Hereford, Texas, rancher. Instead, his trailer carried two registered Angus cow-calf pairs. One nursing a heifer, the other, a bull.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, we will assume that you are in agreement.OK
