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For more than 10 years, Paul Dykstra has written a bi-weekly market column for the brand which evolved into the CAB Insider e-newsletter. He shares current market updates, trends and observations with a closer look at the cattle market from the beef-product side than you can find anywhere else. Yes, there’s an emphasis on the Certified Angus Beef ® brand, and you will also find the latest research exploring carcass quality.
We want you to have confidence in what is relevant and drives value in your cattle business to help you make profit-driven decisions at home. And the CAB Insider helps you do that.
Meet the Author
A native of Colorado, Paul Dykstra grew up on a commercial cow-calf ranch in western Colorado and later earned a degree in animal science from Colorado State University. Paul worked as a feedyard manager for the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Neb., before joining the brand’s supply development team in 2002.
As the Director of Supply Management and Analysis for the brand, Paul combines his experience and knowledge to work closely with ranchers and feedyard managers to raise Angus cattle using the best management practices to enhance profitability by producing quality beef.
READ THE LATEST INSIDERS
10% of Carcasses Narrowly Miss CAB Certification
With U.S. beef cow numbers projected to decline by 200,000 head in 2024, supplying downstream brand partners with product becomes even more challenging. Understanding why roughly 64% of eligible carcasses are unsuccessful in reaching the brand’s 10 specifications is a big step toward informing cattlemen of their opportunity to capture more dollars through improved carcass quality.
Dashboard Highlights Premiums and Discounts
In early August, USDA turned on a new internet dashboard tool providing user-friendly access to more detailed fed cattle pricing information. Using data already captured by the agency through Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR), the dashboard takes a big step in improving user access and utility of the data.
Don’t Fade the Trend
The Choice-Select price spread has long been held as the industry’s barometer for the differential in consumer demand for high-quality, well-marbled beef and the leaner counterpart consisting of only slight degrees of marbling. However, using the current Choice carcass premium to Select as a gauge for consumer demand is misleading.