The Angus taste of quality

Unprecedented availability of high-quality cattle fulfills ever-growing consumer demand

by Laura Conaway

When more cattle mean better cattle, the beef industry’s better for it. That’s the story for today’s cattleman supplying premium-quality beef to consumers asking for more. The Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand is in the middle of it all.

Extending a 14-year streak of year-over-year growth and the third year for sales above 1 billion pounds, the first and largest branded beef company reported record sales of 1.21 billion pounds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, ending Sept. 30. That was an 8.1% increase, or 91 million pounds.

“For the past 40 years, a community of people from farm to plate have shared a passion for excellence, a dedication to quality and ideas and inspirations to achieve our goals,” CAB President John Stika said. “Through a shared vision, what started out as a simple idea among a small group of cattlemen has become the world’s leading brand of beef.”

Via a proven pull-through demand model, CAB set sales records in all 12 months of its 40th anniversary year, with more than 100 million pounds in March, May, June, July, August and September. Seven of the brand’s 10 highest months in history were in FY 18, with August the most successful ever recorded.

None of it could be done, Stika said, without the commitment of cattlemen across the nation; 25,000 Angus ranchers own and help supply the brand.

Responding to economic signals from the consumer marketplace, ranchers aligned their genetic decisions and management practices in an unprecedented way. Access to an increased and focused supply led graders to certify nearly 100,000 carcasses per week – an increase of 650,000 head for the year, or 14.3% more than 2017, totaling 5.18 million.

In 2008, only 17.8% of the eligible cattle sold through licensed packers qualified to earn the brand name by meeting its 10 exacting standards. That year, 36% of fed cattle graded USDA Select. Consumers made their desires known and, quickly, Select fell to just 17.8% in 2018 while a record 32.5% of Angus-type cattle qualify for the brand. CAB’s market share grew in tandem and represented 18.5% of all fed cattle harvested in FY 18.

“When you look at that dramatic of a shift in the quality of this industry, that strongly suggests what you’re doing with your efforts is having a direct impact,” Stika told producers. “By changing its direction, aligning it more closely with consumers, you’re creating a more sustainable future for all of us.”

Quality-minded ranchers benefit, too, and stand to earn $50 or more per head as a share of the $75 million in grid premiums CAB cattle earn each year.

It takes a team to get their premium product to the finish line. That’s where a global network of nearly 20,000 licensed partners found their individual business success through brand recognition in retail meat cases and on restaurant menus. Manageable prices in concert with strong demand led to sales records in every division of CAB.

The most explosive growth took place in the International Division, with 207 million pounds exported to 50 countries outside the United States – an 18.6% increase over last year and the best in the brand’s history. What comprised more than one-third of total brand growth was due to the strong market in South Korea followed by Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and Mexico.

Quality-focused retailers remained the largest contributor to brand sales. A favorable price spread relative to other commodity beef options led to more CAB items featured in circulars, thus growing retail sales by 8.3% to a new high of 494 million pounds.

Nearly 11,000 licensed restaurants comprise the Foodservice Division that netted sales of 405 million pounds – a 5.3% increase. Known for consistency in growth, the division boasted a ninth consecutive year of record sales, further proof of the brand’s value to chefs who prize its consistent quality, and patrons who crave its flavor.

Processors responded to growing consumer demand for high-quality convenience meals in both retail and foodservice with branded value-added products. Sales rose by 8.1% to 29.2 million pounds, driven most by smoked brisket, marinated fajita meat and burgers in the frozen case.

Illustrating a steady desire from the industry’s most discerning customers, sales of the brand’s exclusive Prime product extension achieved its highest growth ever at 31.2%. Expected to keep climbing, the 26.5 million pounds in 2018 sales were made possible by the precision of cattlemen from ranch to feedyard.

Continuing a trend from last year, the brand experienced a more balanced rate of growth across divisions and product categories. Reflecting consumer appeal for a “better burger,” ground beef led the charge with sales up 1.6 million pounds, a 10.3% increase over 2017. Sales of roasts and other end meats, often the centerpiece of family meals, rose by 8.2%. Backed by traditionally strong demand, particularly for celebrations and special occasions, sales of middle meats such as premium steaks grew by 6.5% over last year.

CAB grids pay $75 million per year

by Steve Suther

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.

It seems to go against the laws of market economics, but that’s what happened from the start of 2016 through last December. After a long string of sales records that reached 1.14 billion pounds last calendar year, many wondered if Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand premiums would keep fostering profitability for producers.

A biennial survey of licensed packers, including Cargill, JBS-USA, National and Tyson backs up the brand’s trademark, “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.

“It started with the believers 40 years ago, but this is how it’s supposed to work,” says John Stika, president of the brand founded as a subsidiary of the American Angus Association in 1978.

A foreshadowing of the USDA-reported $14 per hundredweight (cwt.) premium for CAB in one extreme week last year came 30 years earlier, when USDA reported a Colorado packer had bid an extra 50 cents. Ten years after that, with some 1.5 million head accepted for the brand in 1998, packers were paying $4.4 million per year in specific CAB premiums at $2 to $3 per cwt. on each accepted carcass.

“We celebrated any producer who could make 30% CAB, nearly twice the national average then,” Stika recalls. “Now 30% is the national average and we’re making all beef better.”

Nearly two-thirds of last year’s 4.54 million Angus cattle accepted for the brand sold on packer value-based “grids” that varied widely but averaged more than $5 per cwt. for CAB. USDA reports premiums paid on negotiated grids, but those make up less than 5% of fed cattle marketed these days. The rest of value-based marketings, about 60% of all fed cattle, sell through what USDA calls “formula pricing,” relying on a base other than spot-price negotiations.

Most feeders call it all grid marketing, because all determine value per carcass through premiums and discounts. Association Board member Dave Nichols, Bridgewater, Iowa, remembers when Ohio-based visionaries started the program.

“Those were really tough times for Angus, when everyone from the ranch to the consumer had bought into the ‘War on Fat’ and the federal government lowered marbling requirement for Choice,” he says. “As a young, performance-oriented breeder, I doubted CAB would succeed but supported it nonetheless.”

Skeptics were everywhere: how could a program that starts with phenotypic screening for a black hide ever hope to pay Angus producers? Carcass specifications were the key, of course.

“Fred Johnson, Mick Colvin and the resolute supporters saw it as the only way to achieve critical mass, to get millions of Hereford cows bred to Angus bulls,” Nichols says. “Astute Angus breeders rose to the occasion by ultrasounding and gathering carcass data to improve the breed, to where now CAB is the gold standard for almost everyone who enjoys beef. This saga is the thing dreams are made of.”

In the 1970s, current CAB Board Chairman David Dal Porto was just starting his herd in the rolling foothills near Oakley, Calif., always supportive of the brand but not directly affected until the early 2000s.

“I saw all CAB did, not just for commercial and seedstock Angus producers, but linking them to feeders,” he says. “We started a relationship with Beller Feedlot in Nebraska and have been feeding high-quality Angus there ever since.”

Annual CAB grid premiums were at a short-term peak in 2002, having increased by nearly five-fold in three years before easing off a bit. That was partly because of less grid marketing and partly because the supply of CAB-accepted cattle was static for the next five years. The number of those cattle grew 67% in the three years after the Great Recession, but total CAB grid premiums declined in the uncertain times.

Then grid marketing took off while the annual inventory of CAB cattle went back to a flat trend through 2015. That squeeze catapulted grid premiums for the brand to double in two years, adding up to more than $230 million in those five years alone.

What’s so unique about the last two years is the simultaneously large increase in both CAB supply and grid premiums, Paul Dykstra says. The beef cattle specialist for CAB calls it “a remarkable development over the last 10 years.”

Consumers realized the value of premium beef in the bleak economy a decade ago when the wholesale CAB cutout price was only $12 per cwt. more than Select grade. Then as all beef prices increased, the Choice-Select spread was slightly wider than the CAB-Choice spread in 2011 and ’13, encouraging more beef marketers to step up to higher quality.

“That’s underpinned by the fact that the Choice share of fed cattle grew from 55% to more than 70% in the last decade while Select fell to less than 20%—yet the Choice-Select spread has averaged greater than $10 for the last two years.” The CAB-Choice spread has been wider in 8 of those 10 years.

Stephen Koontz, Colorado State University professor and cattle marketing analyst, says those factors may help explain why premiums remain strong for top quality beef even as supplies increase, “but it’s too soon to know for sure.”

One thing’s for sure: consumers have changed.

“Right when we had the peak in beef prices, they kind of got tired of paying so much for beef as a commodity, so we had a little demand softness,” Koontz says, “except for the highest quality, which continues to be pursued from foodservice to retail, across the board, especially now that it’s come off the really high prices. They just can’t get enough of the really high quality, and that’s for the entire food sector.”

Some of that is timing, and includes the impact on Baby Boomers reaching retirement age. It could be a demand shift, depending on metrics.

“As a consumer gets a little older and has money, it’s not more beef he’s looking for,” Koontz points out. “Economists measure income elasticity of demand based on how much more we consume when income goes up. I’ll bet the added quantity is not very much, but the quality, that’s where they go.”

Stika notes a University of Missouri model shows premium beef may add $1 billion to the beef economy beyond the commodity level this year. CAB could account for 40% of that, according to 2017 figures for the brand as compared to the overall category.

“That level of business generated in our global economy, through 19,000 partners and their customers, serves as a foundation that will keep generating more premiums,” he says. “With commodity beef, there are winners and losers; at the premium level, everybody’s got to win, many partners, all with an indispensable role to play.”

The shift reaches beyond consumers, Stika says. “We’ve moved the bell curve in production, with $75 million in CAB grid premiums representing one of the largest market incentives available,” he says. “Some knew since 1978 that this would happen. Then we had pockets of producers who began to realize the profit potential. Now it’s industry-wide, as you can see by the Prime percentage in the mix [quadrupling in four years].”

Can the trend lines keep pointing upward for high-quality beef?

“Keep an eye on two things,” Koontz says. “Exports, because with lots of protein out there, we need some serious pressure relief beyond the domestic market. Secondly, our consumers’ growing preference for high quality has been a driver for the last couple-three years and should be for at least the next couple-three years.”

Older consumers may have started that trend, but Koontz says, “Millennials have decided to go for high quality for their own reasons, from self-professed ‘foodies’ to the growing number who preorder online groceries. As a generation, they have so many boxes they want to check, so many things they want to do, living reasonably but trying a variety of things to find what works.”

Just as beef is not beef, he says consumers are not consumers in this era far removed from anticipating what “your average housewife” will buy, he says. “Sort out consumer groups. Whatever they’re listening to, figure out how to talk to them.”

Dal Porto, the CAB Board chairman, says to maintain leadership in the beef cattle sector, Angus breeders must “constantly improve at every level. We have to offer products that are good for consumers, good for the beef industry and good for the market.”

Raising the right kind

2 Bar Angus wins CAB seedstock award

by Miranda Reiman

September 2018

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.

With one flush, he’d start his embryo transfer program. Today, it’s still about 75% embryo transfer and 25% artificial insemination.

“My dad always told me to just make do with what you’ve got. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing ever since,” Knoll says.

It’s been more than two decades now, and “making do” means growing into a program sought after by large commercial ranchers who want high-performance genetics that work back at the ranch, too.

Steve and Laura Knoll’s focus on quality earned their 2 Bar Angus business the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand’s 2018 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence Award. The couple accepted the honors during the brand’s annual conference Sept. 28 in Maui, Hawaii.

Back home, repeat buyers depend on functionality.

“Most of them have been here generation after generation, and they make a living off of these cattle,” Knoll says. “They’ve got to have a calf every year.

“Then if you can add these other bells and whistles, like a little more growth and maybe a little more marbling—that’s more money they can put in their pocket, pay their bills to keep their place,” he says.

The bulls in their March catalog had an average marbling expected progeny difference (EPD) of 0.93, compared to a breed average of 0.53.

“Cattle that marble don’t cost any more to have in your herd,” Knoll says.

Born and raised a Texas ranch kid, he took his degree from then-West Texas State University in Canyon to work for Cactus Feeders.

“I was getting to see enough of the information that I knew there was a difference in cattle that would yield and cattle that would grade,” he says.

In between the seven years at Cactus and that Angus bull sale, Knoll married Laura, moved to Hereford, began running Salers cows on his in-laws’ land and got a job in maintenance at a local feed plant.

“It was pretty much eight hours of work in town and then eight to ten hours of work at home, then get a nap and go back,” he says.

The couple welcomed firstborn Wesley into the world and Knoll went to full-time ranching all in the same year. They switched to Angus the next breeding season.

“You kiss your income and your insurance goodbye, and my bet was I had to generate stuff to cover that,” he says.

Today, Wesley, 24, works full-time on the ranch. Joe, 18, and twin daughters Anita and Marie, 17, fill syringes, gather cattle and record numbers.

A licensed pharmacist, Laura traded her first career away in 2005.

“I decided I kind of liked this business better,” she says.

Having HD50K DNA-tested bulls that can handle the heat, mesquite and wind is part of the draw for customers.

The other part? “I believe whenever they bought that bull from me, they paid a membership to get their cows bred. Whatever’s got to happen for them to get their cows bred, we’re going to try to do,” Knoll says.

Last fall, CAB started a “Targeting the Brand” incentive program to encourage Angus producers to use that trademark to identify bulls more likely to improve CAB qualifiers in a herd. Cattle must meet minimum requirements for grid value ($G) and marbling before the mark can appear next to specific animals in the catalog.

Out of 117 bulls in their sale, 97% qualified for that logo—the highest of any breeder using it.

That tells a story, says Kara Lee, CAB production brand manager. “It may be the first year we’ve been asking them to put a logo in the catalog, but it’s not the first year they’ve been emphasizing quality,” she says.

Jim and Lucy McGowan run cattle between Paducah and Childress, and wean calves on farm ground near Hereford.

“I was actually Steve’s first customer,” Jim McGowan says. “We select for dollar-B ($B), but also conformation of the bull. I go pretty heavy on EPDs, but I like the bull to be good looking also.”

Last year’s calves sold after weaning and the feeder who bought them shared a closeout showing 41% Prime.

“If you’re not improving, then you’re backing up, because everyone around you is improving,” Knoll says.

Cow lessons seamlessly transfer into life lessons. Knoll often says raising cattle and raising kids go together.

“I hope the kids take away that when you’re responsible for something, you don’t walk away from it. Good intentions are one thing, but you’ve got to figure out a way to make everything work,” he says. “We were only able to be where we are today because of the Lord’s blessings we’ve received.”

California rancher chairs CAB Board

By Sarah Moyer

When California rancher and Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) Board chairman David Dal Porto steps into a meeting room, he carries experience, a broad perspective on beef and pride in his own Angus herd.

With his first heifer dating back to a 4-H project at age 9 and his lifelong, diverse involvement with cattle groups, the rancher’s engagement prevails as personal tradition.

Time spent on regional, state and national boards has been well worth it.

“It makes me realize is how important it is to serve the industry that we make our living with, that we raise our family with, and that we’re fully engaged with,” he says.

Even CAB meetings serve as familiar territory, because Dal Porto was on the Board for three years prior to this leadership term.

“David is a dedicated Angus breeder who truly appreciates how the brand fits into the larger beef supply and merchandizing chain,” CAB President John Stika says. “That perspective has served the brand and fellow Angus breeders well.”

The rancher’s personality benefits group discussions, too.

“David contributes a great sense of ‘practical optimism’ to each and every conversation,” Stika says. “While not one to ever discount or dismiss the real challenges that stand in front of the brand’s progress and growth, he has never chosen to merely dwell on those issues. Instead, the vision and input he brings to the Board keeps dialogue centered on solutions, and on exploring new opportunities for the brand to further fulfill its mission.”

Dal Porto shares his own perspective on the role.

“Being a member of the Board, or specifically Board chairman, I just kind of guide the thoughts of the members and meld those with the management at CAB so that everybody’s always pulling in the same direction,” he says.

The chairman chats on his cellphone, moving from spot to spot on his ranch in rolling hill country to discuss what may lie ahead for the brand. Goals parallel those of his family’s ranch, Dal Porto Livestock. “When we are working with our livestock and our animals here at the ranch, we are always trying to improve,” he says. “Nothing is ever perfect, so we have always had to keep moving forward.”

Sales quickly come to mind when assessing the year and prospects ahead; 2018 projections show positive outcomes for the brand.

“I think we’re going to have another record year as far as growth in sales,” the chairman says confidently.

More specifically, research in international markets continue.

“Exports have shown tremendous growth the first half of this year, and we’d like to continue to see that to grow based on what’s going to happen with some of the trade policies,” he says. “But we’d certainly like to see export growth in trading countries that we deal with.”

“There’s huge growth potential internationally. There truly is,” he continues. “The sky’s the limit I think, especially for a high-quality product like Certified Angus Beef ® as we separate ourselves from commodity programs.”

Stika supports Dal Porto’s leadership on those subjects.

“David might never describe himself as an expert in beef retailing, distribution or export,” he says. “Yet, I have found him to be a proven student of those things that influence his business as an Angus breeder and his effectiveness as a Board member.

“Thus,” Stika continues, “it is no surprise that during his time on the CAB Board, David has built a solid, applied understanding of how the brand must be relevant to consumers and those partners we depend on to merchandise our product. Ultimately the goal is to grow the benefit Angus breeders receive from the CAB brand’s presence and promotion in the global marketplace.”

Past the packer, Dal Porto says partnerships reinforce work done to promote the brand to consumers.

“We’d like to see all of our packer and wholesaler and retail partners continue to feature the brand where it makes economic sense for them, and continue to provide the consumer with a wholesome, good-tasting product,” Dal Porto says.

His third main topic, technology advancements, links new innovation with how the beef community changes breeding strategies when data is available.

“Genomics has just moved extremely rapid in the last two or three or four years, and it’s going to continue to move fast as we move forward,” he says. “That and all the good producers out in the country that are raising good genetics have seen our CAB brand acceptance rates go from 17% not too long ago to where 32-33% is the norm every month. And that’s a huge jump.

“The main thing is to keep the brand growing—that we rely on staff to do, and they’re doing a great job,” he says.

When the rancher steps back from the chair, he’ll remain a family man who enjoys working with the cattle at home.

“Here on our operation, Jeanene and I and our family members and our employee, we really enjoy what we do,” he says. “And of course it’s a business. It’s a business we want to make some money at and feed our family, but we really enjoy just caring for the animals.”

K-Stater interns with CAB

by Sarah Moyer

Sarah Moyer, Emporia, Kan., joined the Certified Angus Beef^® brand’s Producer Communications team as an intern this summer at the brand’s headquarters in Wooster, Ohio. The senior in ag communications at Kansas State University (K-State) aims to improve her writing by sharing stories of high-quality beef producers.

Working with the CAB writing team across the country, Moyer creates technical news releases, columns, features on brand partners, posts for the Black Ink ® blog (www.cabcattle.com) and video scripts. Interviews include ranchers with registered Angus bulls, culinary chefs and other partners in the beef cattle community.

Writing for The Agriculturalist and The Collegian at K-State, and special projects with High Plains Journal, have prepared Moyer to bring experience and enthusiasm to her work. Broadcast experience from K-State Research and Extension’s “Agriculture Today” radio program also helps. As for knowing about beef, her parents run a cattle backgrounding operation in the Kansas Flint Hills, where she grew up an active 4-H’er.

Certified Angus Beef LLC, a nonprofit company owned by members of the American Angus Association, adds value to Angus cattle through specification-based premium beef. Now in its 40th year, the brand and its 19,000 licensed partners market more than a billion pounds annually in 50 countries. For consumer information, visit www.certifiedangusbeef.com; producers may learn about profitably producing for the brand at www.cabpartners.com.

What happens in Wooster?

It’s a question we hear often, “So what DO y’all do up there in Wooster?”

Anyone on our team is proud to answer, but it’s not something that’s easily summed up in a few words. In fact, it’s something we all could write, talk, tweet about, photograph and capture on video for years. We have and continue to do so.

The kicker is, nothing beats seeing it for yourself.

We have lots of cattlemen groups visit over the course of a year, but not everyone gets the opportunity to walk through the doors of our Culinary Center, meet the staff who work passionately every day to build demand for high-quality beef (and in turn, registered Angus cattle) and taste the beef innovation.

I’ve always been a “show me, don’t tell me” type of person, so I think the next best thing to being here in person, is for us to show what it is we’re doing up here in the Buckeye State. To do just that, we teamed up with the American Angus Association communications folks to produce an episode of the RFD-TV show, The Angus Report, focused on what’s happening at Certified Angus Beef LLC headquarters.

Aired on March 12th, the show takes you behind the scenes of our brand.

We walk you through the doors of our offices and share our history.

Then tell the story of how we track pounds, sales, cattle and where the brand is used.

We share how our chefs are leading and collaborating with the culinary community.

And last, but not least, bring viewers into the meat lab where we teach about our 10 science-based specifications.

Watch the entire episode over on YouTube or The Angus Report website.

These special segments just scratched the surface of what all the team in Wooster is doing on behalf of Angus cattlemen. There’s a lot more we’d love to show and tell you about, which is why we hope we’ll see you in here during the National Angus Convention, when we’ll be a stop on the National Angus Tour and host an open house.

Visit and experience the brand for yourself — I promise, it’s better in person. And keep those questions coming — we love providing the answers.

Until next time,

Nicole

An Olympic throwback

Surprises – who doesn’t love ’em?

I’m thinking flowers, an upward swing in the market, a calf crop from a new bull that turned out even better than anticipated – these are the things that put a little pep in your step.

I’ve been watching the Olympics as of late (because who hasn’t?) and it got me thinking: I bet those expected to win hate surprises. I bet those managing these games hate surprises.

10_03 Jason carrying torch-2 — Jason Clever, a designer at CAB, carries the famous Olympic torch.

There are the out-of-nowhere upsets, persons or teams that started near the bottom and snag the gold. They’re loving it, but not the favored ones displaced. These guys and gals come well prepared, if only they can execute as flawlessly as we flawed humans are capable of doing.

Gets me pumped just thinking about it.

So in the spirit of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and the fact that we’ve been a bit reminiscent celebrating the brand’s 40^th anniversary year, let me tell you about a little surprise that involves CAB and the world’s foremost sports competition.

10_01 frank eater bu02 — One fan showed American patriotism along with his love of quality beef.

The year – 2002. The Olympics – the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The surprise – a shortage of frankfurters.

Our own Deanna Walenciak was closest to the 2002 games. A marketing team member at the time, who now heads our education efforts, she led the Olympic charge and remembers how the CAB item became the surprise story.

13_03 Olympic Media Event 2000 — Then CAB president Jim Riemann answers questions at the Olympic signing.

“You do all of this marketing and try to plan stories around the games,” Deanna says. “We also put a lot of work into having the correct amount of product. We really wanted to get that right.”

In this particular case, not “sticking the landing” turned out to be an even sweeter victory, one CNN and various news outlets felt compelled to share.

It wasn’t that they actually ran out, Deanna says, but had Usinger’s sausage company, out of Milwaukee, Wis., not stepped up to the plate and increased production, the story could have been different.

10_01a menu board-1 — Available at all concessions throughout the games, as well as Olympic Village, the CAB frankfurters and chili were hits. The latter was developed specifically for the games; both are still available today.

There was no one to blame, Deeana says. Simply a surprise – one of the good kinds.

“All of the models assumed how many we would sell but people stayed at the events even longer and were ordering frankfurters at 9:30 in the morning, all morning long,” she says. “The food at the concession stands was just that phenomenal.”

10_02 Retailer wins trip to Games-1 — In anticipation, CAB held competitions with retailers and consumers alike. Lucky winners won trips to the games.

A bit of a history buff when it comes to the brand and an Olympic fan to boot, I thought that was a pretty fun fact.

As the games come to an end, here’s wishing all Olympic athletes the best. Even more, here’s to good surprises.

Thanks for allowing me to tell your story,

Laura

More than a logo

I wasn’t around for the first pound sold.

A decade away from walking this earth, October 18, 1978 came and went.

I try to think back to when I first learned what the Certified Angus Beef^® brand was, where and how I came to know the meaning behind those words and iconic logo.

Artist Scott Hagan painted the inaugural barn.

Maybe it was in college, or some time before then; I don’t fully recall. What I can attest to are the years since.

Since…

A 2010 college internship from afar
A move to Wooster, Ohio, five days after graduation
A return home to the ranch to work remote

My story, like so many, is riddled with CAB through its seams.

It may seem small but we all smiled wide as Scott made the first brushstroke of many.

What’s your story?

I’m all but certain you have one – a special meal, a plentiful payout, a herd with a goal?

There have been moments for me, let me tell you. Conversations across kitchen counters, hand shakes evident of an industry that’s endured, tears that tell stories of victory over defeat. I hold them close, honored to be the girl to bear witness firsthand.

By this time quite the crowd had gathered to see this logo come to life. The Baldwin’s barn is visible from Florida’s busy I-75 so perhaps even drivers took notice.

This year, the 40^th anniversary of the Certified Angus Beef ^® (CAB^®) brand, is about those stories: retelling old ones and establishing new.

For starters we kicked off the #BrandtheBarn campaign, celebrating the brand’s heritage through art and appreciation, first in Florida.

“I know my honey’s smiling down from heaven today,” Sharon Baldwin told me.

Mrs. Sharon stood watch from the beginning until the end. The gratitude she felt was mutual.

The matriarch of Baldwin Angus, near Ocala, Fla., was married to and raised three children with her husband, Leroy, before his passing. The early Angus advocate served as the American Angus Association president in 2002.

Family and friends, farmers, brand partners and even the mayor came to see the logo painted. Our hope is many more will see it for years to come.

A family affair, the Baldwins were beaming as Scott began the finishing touches.

You see, I don’t look at it as an individual unit, this brand, but rather the ranchers, their cattle, the consumers, their sellers – all intertwined and working as one.

If you’re reading, thanks for being a part of our story. If you’d like to share yours, leave a comment.

Otherwise follow along this year as we #BrandtheBarn.

Big Picture focus guides farm, CAB

by Hannah Johlman

Don Schiefelbein’s role on his family’s registered Angus farm near Kimball, Minn., is all about managerial and financial oversight. That’s why he’s comfortable looking out for the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand’s future while serving as chairman of its board of directors.

“It’s important that we continue to push the envelope,” he says, “and make sure what was successful back in 1978 when we began continues to be what makes us successful as we go forward.” Schiefelbein says.

The same holds true back on the farm, which made high-quality beef a priority from its beginning with 50 cows and 170 acres in 1955. Today nearly 60 family members work to run 850 registered females, farm 5,600 acres and feed out 25,000 purchased customer cattle each year, everyone bringing their own special talent to the operation.

“Dad grew the farm as he grew his family,” Schiefelbein says. One of his father’s requirements was that each of his nine sons must leave the farm for four years before returning. “Even then, when you came back you didn’t just come back automatically. You had to come back with a plan of how you would add value to the operation.”

“My job there directly impacts Certified Angus Beef,” Schiefelbein says. First, he aims to keep improving the registered bulls. “Once they are out in the commercial industry, we want to purchase their calves back and share the reaped benefits of what those genetics do in value-added programs like CAB.”

Back when carcass data collection seemed like the brand’s main producer focus, the Minnesota breeder worked on submitting the farm’s data to the American Angus Association. Since then, he says he’s enjoyed watching the brand grow and emerge as a dominant force in the industry.

“From those beginnings, I just got involved through having a complete understanding of what Certified Angus Beef does and really wanting to get more hands-on in the direction of the program,” Schiefelbein says.

While serving on the American Angus Association board, he recently chaired a committee on long-term planning for CAB.

“We have been adopting strategies and beginning to focus our efforts on a strategic path five years down the road, and that is what it is going to take for CAB to continue to be successful,” he says. “Our job is to make sure we look at key areas and ensure progress is being made on an annual and quarterly basis, to make sure we are following the path that we said we were going down at the onset of strategic planning.”

Progress can be made in many areas, from optimizing CAB’s presence in the natural market to exploring avenues of greater source verification, he says.

“I think it’s important after all the success we’ve had, that we keep pushing the envelope, and that’s still the right business approach today,” Schiefelbein says.

CAB President John Stika considers the Minnesotan an excellent “brand chairman.”

“He never claims to have all the answers,” Stika notes, “but he sure has the ability to ask the right questions when it comes to strategically planning for the future.”

Colvin Fund: $40,000 for 7 young leaders

by Hanna Johlman

Seven college students in beef and related studies have been awarded $40,000 in scholarships from the Certified Angus Beef ^® (CAB^®) brand. That’s up nearly 54% from last year’s total.

Established in 1999, the Colvin Scholarship Fund supports education of future leaders in agriculture and animal sciences and honors the brand’s founding executive director of 21 years, Louis M. “Mick” Colvin. The program carries on his legacy of making dreams a reality and inspiring others to do their best.

2017 Colvin Scholarship Awards:

$7,500 – Sierra Jepsen, Amanda, Ohio – The Ohio State University

$6,500 – Terrel Platt, Pilot Rock, Ore. – Colorado State University

$5,000 – Chandler Steele, Midland, Mich. – Oklahoma State University

$4,000 – Austin Wenck, East Troy, Wis. – University of Wisconsin-Madison

$3,000 – Elisabeth Loseke, Columbus, Neb. – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Graduate Awards:

$7,500 – Lauren Eastwood, New Braunfels, Texas – Texas A&M University

$6,500 – Andrea English, Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech University

In a future with even heavier beef carcasses, undergraduate essays explored what the CAB brand can do to keep beef competitively priced while delivering the high-quality product so much in demand.

Top award winner Sierra Jepsen, senior in agribusiness and applied economics at The Ohio State University, stands out as the only repeat Colvin winner – not just twice but three times, including second place last year. She said quality and marbling will always be the highest “dollarization factor” for beef.

“It is a simple correlation that, if a producer can increase marbling in beef more quickly, those cattle can be sent to market at a younger age; thus, a more moderate carcass weight,” Jepsen wrote.

She noted several studies suggest selection for marbling and docility, proper feeding and knowing when to harvest cattle can all lead to higher quality grades sooner. Granted, fewer pounds go against market rewards, but Jepsen argued CAB can partially offset that through education across all sectors of the production chain.

Terrel Platt, senior in animal science and agribusiness at Colorado State University, won second-high honors with an essay about inconsistency from the heavier weights. The Oregon native wrote that the brand could further restrict ribeye size to those from 12 to 16 square inches and encourage greater sorting of cuts for boxed beef for unmatched consistency.

Animal science senior Chandler Steele, Oklahoma State University, wrote that CAB will remain synonymous with quality, that brand loyalty accumulated over 38 years will endure, no matter how drastically the market changes. She noted genetic change can only add so many pounds before it becomes non-functional to the animals carrying the weight, and that demand from the foodservice sector will increase if a beef supply for their needed specifications should diminish.

Winner of the $4,000 award, Austin Wenck of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote that CAB is both the mediator and idea coordinator between farms and consumers, a unique position that allows for credibility with producers. At the same time, the brand can lead research efforts such as those at Texas Tech University that found a cellular-level protein receptor linked to marbling.

University of Nebraska animal science and pre-veterinary senior Elisabeth Loseke wrote that she has seen how niche marketing opened producers to creative ways to stay competitive, and the CAB brand leads those categories. Perhaps a return to the 1,000-pound carcass weight limit could initiate a downward trend in frame size, she suggested, noting producers have proven interest in qualifying for the brand and will work to fit breeding programs to the standard.

The Colvin Scholarship Fund began its graduate student awards in 2012, opening doors to anyone in a recognized, full-time masters or doctorate program related to high-quality beef production.

Lauren Eastwood’s research demonstrates her interest in ensuring consumers get quality beef products. The top graduate-award winner and animal science Ph.D. candidate at Texas A&M University examined “Possible quality defects in beef caused by multiple applications of antimicrobial interventions.”

She wrote, “Overall, findings from this study support that these food safety inventions, while effective in reducing microbiological counts on product surfaces, do not negatively impact beef quality.”

After completing her doctorate this fall, Eastwood plans a career that bridges the U.S. and international meat and livestock markets.

Second-high award winner, Andrea English seeks her Ph.D. in animal and food science at Texas Tech University. Her work in meat science and food safety explores “Alternatives to sub-therapeutic antibiotics in beef cattle feeding to improve performance and mitigate emergence of antimicrobial drug resistance.”

English said her research “provides an alternative to those antibiotics… that can maintain performance of the cattle while also reducing the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens” that could enter the food supply.

As the top scholarship recipients, Jepsen and Eastwood receive all-expense-paid trips to the 2017 CAB Annual Conference, Nashville, Tenn., September 27-29. There, they will interact with leaders in beef production, packaging, retail and foodservice.

Launched in 1978 and owned by 25,000 American Angus Association members, CAB is the largest brand of fresh beef in the world. Fiscal year 2016 set a record of more than 1 billion pounds sold through its 18,000 partners in 50 countries. Learn more about the brand at www.certifiedangusbeef.com, or access producer resources at www.cabpartners.com.

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