Stories for Success
We do the information gathering for you. Part inspiration, part field guide, packed full of humanity and examples worth following—these are the feature stories of those who aim for quality mixed in with science-based ways to get there.
These are tales about data driving the future. Or a brand built on an unprecedented idea that’s now recognized across the world. There are stories that start with nothing but a dream, and others that are legacies that continue carrying on.
We tell them so you don’t miss a beat at your operation. Learn a thing or two without ever leaving home.
Big Thinkers
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.
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.
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.
Consumer Connection
North Dakota Partnership Earns CAB Progressive Partner Award
The Bruner and Wendel families earned the 2023 CAB Progressive Partner award by selling high-quality beef through Dakota Angus, LLC, as part of the CAB Ranch To Table program. They focus on their commitment to quality, data-driven decisions, achieve impressive CAB and Prime percentages and offer high-quality beef directly to consumers in their communities.
More Than Steak and Potatoes
Yesterday’s steak and baked potato is today’s beef brisket from the restaurant downtown. The food scene is changing, driven by a new age of consumers who want more. They seek new flavors and attributes on the packaging, but still expect beef to taste great.
2022 Was as Predicted
If there was a lesson in 2022, it was that the beef market is very sensitive to declines in quality grade, as evidenced through price signals. It’s the first time in recent history where we’ve gone backwards — albeit ever so slightly — and customers are telling us they have unfulfilled demand. That’s reflected in the premiums paid, and that’s saying something after two years of extremely high premiums.
Research Drivers
The Resistance
Antibiotic resistance in cattle is a growing concern for producers and consumers. The goal for cattlemen and women is to implement strategies at the management level with good animal husbandry practices, routine health exams and vaccination.
Relationship between carcass merit and maternal traits in beef cattle
While the emphasis of this analysis is on maternal reproductive traits and their relationship to carcass merit, an additional unique dataset allowed us to evaluate direct marbling relationships with semen and scrotal traits in yearling bulls.