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Latest Headlines
Humble Growth
Customers from around the world file into the Shamrock Shack beside their sale ring each spring and fall. They’re not just buying into Connealy cattle, but the customer-service guarantee. For getting that and a lot more right, Connealy Angus was recognized with the 2024 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence award.
Working for Premiums
The commercial Angus rancher from Collyer, Kansas, came back for daily homework in 1999 after a year at college. For 25 years now, he’s studied all the ways to grow his family’s W6 Cattle cow-calf herd with Angus at the base. Guided by data, Walt worked to improve the herd from zero Primes to averaging 60 percent. Learning what drives premiums prompted improvement.
Feeding Better Cattle Better
Not everyone is cut out to be a cattle feeder. It’s an art and a science that comes with a need to overcome risk. Wayne Carpenter fed his first pen of steers in 1980 and lost money. But he stuck with it. Today with their sons’ families, he and wife Leisha run the 15,000-head-capacity Carpenter Cattle Company.
Luling Foundation Earns 2024 Progressive Partner Award
Setting or rising, the sun casts golden hues over cattle grazing the Luling Foundation’s sprawling fields and invokes the weight of history and hope. Rooted in faith, quality and community, Davis’ legacy continues to flourish, reminding all of the profound impact one person’s vision can have.
$100,000 for Tomorrow’s Beef Leaders
The Colvin Scholarship Fund, dedicated to fostering the next generation of leaders in agriculture, achieved a milestone in 2024 by awarding a record-breaking $100,000 in scholarships to 26 students. With increased scholarships presented, more students than ever are being empowered to pursue careers that advance the beef industry.
Gain Real World Experience with CAB Internships
Four internships, geared toward students pursuing careers in agriculture communications, marketing and digital media, are available for summer 2025: producer communications, multimedia, social media and marketing.
CAB Insider
Seasonality Takes Over
The fourth quarter tends to be the period most prone to follow historical seasonal patterns for carcass cutout prices. Although annual price levels have certainly advanced to record levels, the pattern in spot market values from October through December tends to track a pattern.
Increasing Carcass Weights and Ribeye Size
Feeders will continue to reap rewards in the cost and return equation in a market that has recently moved to higher prices. Grid-sold cattle are, on average, capturing Choice and Prime quality premiums at a higher percentage rate this fall. Yet, yield grade and heavy-weight discounts threaten to devalue premiums for the heavy pens of steers, in addition to fewer CAB qualifiers.
Success Stories
When ‘Someday’ Becomes Today
Just a few years ago, Ranch Covey Hill showed no signs of an Angus destiny. It was a country estate in disrepair as owners stopped coming out from Montreal in the summers. The Chenails had been looking for land, a place where they could build a herd. They saw potential. That continual pursuit of the best and finding the right people to help caught the attention of the world’s premium beef brand.
A Drop of Hope, A Heap of Hard Work
For Manny and Corina Encinias’ family of nine, sustainability runs deep. They are stewards of a legacy, working the land dating back to 1777, when the first generation began herding sheep in the nearby Moriarty community. Today they focus on cows well suited to the harsh New Mexico desert, fostering community strength and creating opportunities for others to follow in their footsteps.
Going Above and Beyond
It’s a normal day near Hudson, Colorado for the Walter family, yet the view is uniquely awe-inspiring for visitors who have never stepped foot on a ranch. As cows come in closer visitors take in the far-reaching pastures and breath-taking mountain views. For the Walter Family, there’s no better backdrop to introduce people to the place where beef begins.
Consumer Connection
Trading Places
Tagging by Dawn, Dishes by Dusk South Carolina rancher and chef trade places 7 Trading places It’s a near 3-hour drive from big-city Charleston to Ridge Spring, S.C. With every mile, people become fewer and cattle take their place. It’s a new commute for Jeremiah...
The Ground Beef Market and Price Signals
Beef’s getting better, to judge by the uptrend in quality grades and resurgent consumer demand. However, an increasing share of that demand has been for ground beef – and an average pound of that versatile staple now sells for more than $4. Last year a Rabobank AgriFinance white paper entitled “Ground Beef Nation” (GBN) questioned the industry’s priorities now that Americans consume 11 billion hamburgers each year. It called for greater efficiency and retooling to fit a changed market for one-third to half of young cattle, and warned business as usual could lead to weakened market share for beef over time.