Beef beyond our borders

$352 per head.

Why is that number significant?

That’s what exports added to each beef animal in 2014.

During a Cattlemen’s College session earlier this month in San Antonio, I heard from three experts who had a unified message for producers: global consumers want your beef, they’ll add value to it, and quality counts.

“Our main advantage is premium quality beef,” Jay Theiler, of AgriBeef, told us. “We are recognized as the gold standard around the world. It’s pretty fun to go out and sell our products because of the demand.”

Here are a few quick facts I picked up about beef exports and their potential:

An estimated 80% to 82% of all grain-fed beef is U.S.-produced.
Not only is demand good in the here and now, but the future looks even brighter. Today, 96% of the world’s population lives outside the United States.
80% of global middle-class growth is projected to come from Asia.
Trade is also “good risk diversification,” Jay said. For economic growth last year the U.S. ranked 166^th out of 196 countries.

So what do exports mean to this brand that makes up about 15% of all fed cattle marketings?

Certified Angus Beef ^®is sold into 80 countries worldwide.
Around 13.5% of our total sales were in the international division last year. Of that 120 million pounds, 60% were end meats, or items from the chuck and round, compared to the strong domestic demand for such middle meats as strip loins and tenderloins.
The top CAB international markets are Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, but in the last decade we’ve expanded our presence in popular tourist areas in the Caribbean and in South America.

“The upside potential in the global marketplace for a brand like ours is immense,” our own Larry Corah told session attendees. “The international market is critically important.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

May your bottom line be filled with Black Ink,

Miranda

—

To read more coverage of this session, including information port concerns and drop credits, check out the Angus Productions Inc., article: Why Export Markets for Beef are so Valuable.

Stacks and knowledge grow in tandem

You know when you come back from a conference and you’re all caught up and have plenty of time to make sense of all the good information you took in? Yeah, me neither.

After attending the Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show last week, my stack still looks like this: Clutter

I’ve added new projects, sticky notes and reminders and I perhaps learned more in those few days in San Antonio than I did my entire senior year of high school.

So this post is just a smidgen of what I picked up, overheard or wrote down.

Here are the four takeaways I heard repeated throughout the week:

Exports are important. They could contribute as much as $500/head to the value of a beef animal in this next decade, according to CattleFax. Today it’s $352/head.

Larry Corah2_small2 — Larry Corah, Certified Angus Beef LLC

“The U.S. is the home of grain-fed beef,” said our own Larry Corah. We produce 80%+ of the world’s grain-fed product. That is our niche.

“We are recognized as the gold standard around the world. It’s pretty fun to go out and sell our products because of the demand,” Jay Theiler, AgriBeef, said.

Health costs, health pays. How do many producers get a disease in their herd? “They pay good money for it,” says Mark Hilton.
Mark Hilton, Purdue University

He was talking about buying bulls, females or yearlings and all the possible health threats. That’s why paying attention to all the details is important.

Walking through the economics of weaning calves, giving them proper vaccinations and starting them on feed, the veterinarian said, “2014 was the biggest ‘no brainer’ year in history to precondition calves; 2015 could be even better.”

Ranchers need to share that they care. For much of the country it’s calving season. You don’t need me to tell you about missed sleep and sacrifices and how much you worry about your herd. But you do need to tell others about that.

Texas chef Mike Erickson opened up Cattlemen’s College and told attendees, “People want to know what you do. They want to know more about it. If those of us preparing the beef are educated on how it is raised, we can help spread the positive story of beef.”

Watching the Environmental Stewardship Awards, I heard many sentiments that we should be communicating with consumers. Take this one from Iowa Angus breeder Dave Nichols, “One of the reasons that we are placed on Earth is to save the soil…to grow two blades of grass when others grew one.” So, my plea to you is to go forth and share.

Quality matters now, more than ever. Randy Blach, of CattleFax, said the industry has done a better job of “listening to consumers” in the past 15 years. Congrats! Bravo! A job well done.

Well, maybe not done….

“We are asking consumers to pay more than ever. They’re going to ask us to hit certain and higher specifications,” said PMS director or research Pete Anderson.

When talking that price-value relationship that we preach all the time, Texas A&M meat scientist Jeff Savell said, “We’ve got to wow people now.”

There’s no neatly organized summary from me on this post (hey, I’m still trying to catch up on sleep), but be assured that we’ll be sharing more nuggets in the coming week. In the meantime, feel free to check out last week’s coverage on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where we captured a lot of “in the moment” updates.

May your bottom line be filled with Black Ink,

Miranda

A tough bunch

The only thing better than sitting down with a cowman is gathering together with 8,000.

Three days into the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show, it’s likely that the streets of San Antonio reflect a bit more grit than glamour. Whether apprehensive to leave behind those first-year heifers or eager to reacquaint with friends from afar, they’re there to offer support of common goals and one another.

Ask John Stika about cattlemen and you’ll get a straightforward answer.

Creative. Resilient. “They’re a tough bunch,” he says.

With every description the confidence in his statements only builds. Like the Kansas ranchers he knew as a child, his thoughts don’t waver.

But what is it that makes you so special? If only it were that simple.

Efficiency: you coupled traditional production practices with brilliant technology.

Urged to increase supply and demand: you do it every day.

Higher quality: they asked for it and you provide.

The list goes on.

“This is a very creative industry. It’s not just through technology,” John says. “It’s about focus, it’s about discipline, it’s about being intentional and the choices and decisions we make in breeding and the management of cattle.”

Events like these serve as a safe spot, a sounding board for ideas from a group willing to run with them.

“There’s nothing I would put past the beef community here in the U.S. and what they’re able to do when given the tools and given the signals of what consumers want,” John says.

This week and every day, we’re proud to work alongside you.

Thanks for allowing us to tell your story,

Laura

Educate, Network, Engage!

For many college students across the country, this week is when the spring semester kicks into full swing. The long winter break back home at the family farm or ranch has come to an end. It can be a bittersweet transition trading chores for studying – for at least part of the day. However, some beef industry scholars took this year’s winter break as an opportunity to fit in some extra and unique classroom time.

Last fall we encouraged young Angus leaders from across the country to apply for five additional seats to our Building Blocks for Success Seminar, and were we ever impressed with the young adults who answered our call!

DSC_0119s — Scholarship recipients (L to R): Tara Leytham, Iowa; Ben Conner, Kentucky; Tyler Thomas, Oregon; Travis Schiefelbein, Minnesota; Cheyann Lovett, Nebraska

Today’s blog post is dedicated to their experience as a part of the class, and some of my observations as a lucky staff member who got to be with them for the event.

Education

Whether you’ve read about one of our staff members in our “Nice to Meat Ya” series or you’ve been intrigued by one of our “Myth Buster Monday” posts, we hope that somewhere along the way you’ve learned that the scope of what Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) does is broader than what you may have initially thought. Our Building Blocks attendees get hands-on experience that allows for an elevated understanding of that scope.

From brand assurance, to value-added products, to high-end restaurant marketing – we want the next generation of cattle producers to understand how leveraging their brand adds value to what they are doing back at the farm and the ranch.

“It’s really neat to see how CAB is able to take that brand and impact all aspects from gate to plate,” said Ben Conner, one of the scholarship recipients from Kentucky. “It’s really neat to see what they’re doing for the Angus industry, but also the beef industry as a whole.”

Networking

The cattle business is as much about people as it is cattle. The Building Blocks seminar brought our scholarship recipients together with several young leaders including the National Junior Angus Association Board and the National Beef Ambassadors. Connecting with peers provides broader industry perspective and gives our staff a chance to stay in touch with what the cattle business looks like from your point of view.

Staying Connected

NJAA Board member Evan Woodbury stayed engaged with the Black Ink team via Facebook after Building Blocks to win a GeneMax jacket last week at the National Western Stock Show!

Two years before I accepted my job with CAB, I got my first impression of the company at a Building Blocks seminar. Some of our attendees will go back to their family cattle business and take on leadership positions. Others may go on to work in ruminant nutrition, large animal pharmaceutical sales, ag journalism, or pursue careers in academia. The point is – no matter where your career takes you, the CAB team wants to keep you engaged.

Our social media outlets are a start, but anytime we have a chance to interact with our breeders face to face, the opportunity is welcomed!

Congratulations to our scholarship winners who joined us this year, and special thanks to the Angus Foundation for their help in funding the effort.

We look forward to another great class next year!

~Kara

Reproduction matters, Part II

From “cowculators” and other tools to specific selection and management advice, yesterday’s post on the Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle (ARSBC) Symposium was full of take-home points for cattlemen.

Today, I’ll continue with helpful advice from day 2 of the conference:

Avoid reproductive failures. Sexed semen and embryo transfer (ET) are more advanced technologies, so how and when should cattlemen use them?

John Hall, University of Idaho, said the biggest value of sorted semen is for smaller producers to shift the calf-crop gender, depending on their replacement heifer needs or desire to market more steers.

Donor and recipient management are crucial to a successful ET program. “The most common mistake in ET is selecting an old, dry, fat cow within the herd as a recipient female,” said veterinarian Brad Stroud. Donors, on the other hand, are in their peak production between 2 to 10 years old and when they have calves nursing.

Stroud also spoke on proper semen handling techniques: “Just because the straw is still frozen doesn’t mean accidental thermal exposure hasn’t happened to decrease fertility.” Eight to 10 seconds of exposure, even in the neck of a Dewar container, can damage a straw of semen. He encouraged a liquid nitrogen (LN2) bath for all inventory, cane breaking and transfer activities to protect viability.

It’s not all about the female. Robert Wetteman, Oklahoma State University, said even short-term heat stress has long-term effects on bull fertility. The average time to recover normal sperm motility after heat stress is six to eight weeks. Do an early and full breeding soundness exam of all sires, too, he said.
Improving repro rates takes focus. “Culling open cows is not a selection for fertility,” said Matt Spangler, University of Nebraska. “Breeders need to actively select traits to improve, not just remove bad ones.”
Build with the best. To avoid propagating genetic defects producers need targeted management of carrier and potential carrier animals when retaining females. Allison Van Eenennaam, University of California-Davis, showed how to use DNA information to help. “Computerized mating programs avoid breeding recessive carriers but keep the genetic merit of those animals,” she said.

DNA parentage tests can also indicate bull all bulls pull their weight,” Van Eenennaam said. “The average progeny by natural-service bulls in the study was 20, but some sired zero, others sired more than 20.”

Replacement heifers must calve early. Rick Funston, University of Nebraska, said it takes the profit of two early-calving cows to cover the loss of one late-calving one. Current cow inventories aren’t sustainable and challenge the infrastructure of the industry, he said, noting the importance of not only herd rebuilding but doing so with emphasis on reproductively sound females.

Marbling (and management to increase it) is generally the first topic we share information on as we look to increase Certified Angus Beef ^® supply. But that starts with more pregnant females and subsequent calves on the ground. Improving that factor is good for you and good for us.

– Katy

For complete coverage of the conference, including PowerPoint presentations and audio, click here.

Reproduction matters, Part I

It’s really hard to raise a high-quality calf if the cow doesn’t get pregnant in the first place.

A few weeks ago I attended the two-day Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle (ARSBC) Symposium, held this year at Oklahoma State University. I’ve been to ARSBC before and always find the combination of research and real-world application on the ranch valuable.

Here are some of the 2014 highlights:

Fertility is a lowly heritable trait, but largely impacted by management. George Perry, South Dakota State University, says synchronization increases the uniformity and profitability of a calf crop due to added age (and thus weight) of artificial insemination (AI) calves. The genetic gain from proven AI sires is another bonus.
AI doesn’t have to be complicated. Sandy Johnson, Kansas State University, shared the Beef Center Estrous Synchronization Planner (ESP). The free, downloadable Excel-based planner provides step-by-step guides to simplify protocols and schedules. It also estimates costs per pregnancy. You can even get it on your smart phone or tablet here.
Match your herd and environment. “Seventy percent of energy to produce 1 pound of beef comes from cow maintenance,” said Dave Lalman, Oklahoma State University. He pointed to tools like the American Angus Association’s Optimum Milk Module.
To heat up reproduction rates, cool it. Peter Hansen, University of Florida, spoke on measuring heat stress in cattle, as the long-term implications carry throughout the reproductive cycles. The normal rectal temperature range for beef cows is 101.3 F to 101.5 F. Conception rates can decline when temperatures reach 102.2 F, with an afternoon reading of 102.5 F. being “critical.” He encouraged the use of an iButton (inserted in a CIDR) for proper temperature monitoring.
Synchronization pays. Cattlemen Roger Wann talked about his use of synchronization and fixed-time AI on his ranch in southeastern Oklahoma. “We can’t improve genetics if we can’t get cows pregnant,” Roger said. “Synchronization is the delivery method for genetic improvement.” It adds up to a $120 return per female exposed to estrous synchronization and timed AI compared to natural service—and that’s not including genetic gain.
To easily calculate the benefits, just Cowculate. Use the AI Cowculator, that is. Cliff Lamb, University of Florida, introduced the smartphone app that helps producers determine costs and value of estrous synchronization.

Lamb re-emphasized what seemed to be a theme all day: using reproductive technology is not as difficult as it sounds – and it pays.

“Calves born earlier in the calving season stay longer in the herd and are more productive in their lifetime,” he said.

Fall intern Katy Kemp is currently pursuing a master’s degree in ag communications from Oklahoma State University. A nice coincidence, given that put her in the perfect place to cover this renowned reproduction conference. Watch for more highlights in tomorrow’s part II post.

For complete coverage of the conference, including PowerPoint presentations and audio, click here.

Chef coats and cow pastures

“How many of you grew up on a farm?”

That was the first question Mary McMillen posed to a group of 19 culinary students, from the Charlotte, N.C., Johnson & Wales University (J&W), as they stood in their brand new chef coats under the barn at Back Creek in Mt. Ulla, N.C.

No hands moved.

“How many of you have ever eaten a hamburger?” Mary asked next.

All hands stretched high in the air.

Hosts Joe and Robin Hampton began Back Creek in 1981. — Hosts Joe and Robin Hampton started Back Creek in 1981.

“They all eat hamburgers. They all know what a good hamburger or a good steak is,” Mary explained. “So that was the point of entrance into engaging them in what we were going to do. We had to interact with them in a way they would understand.”

Mary, CAB public relations director, continued the conversation by asking what makes that hamburger or steak stand out. She answered for them this time.

“It’s the beef.”

As the 2011 American Angus Association President, Joe traveled extensively sharing the story of CAB. — As the 2011 American Angus Association President, Joe traveled extensively sharing your story.

During a busy summer, full of events both in Wooster and afar, this one to Back Creek’s Angus Farm wasn’t exactly planned.

“It was a quick turnaround, a spur of the moment,” Mary said. “Two of the J&W staff went on our chef tour in May and came back charged up. One called me and said, ‘This is amazing. I want to take some students and faculty to a farm right now.’”

The next month the group was standing on one, just an hour outside of Charlotte.

For the majority of the students, this was their first introduction to beef production. — The visit to Back Creek was the first glimpse into beef production for all of the J&W students.

While it’s typical for CAB to host staff from the esteemed academy to educate them on beef quality and production, working with students was a first. Having just begun their culinary expeditions, many questions were posed – and then answered through first-hand experience.

“It’s a special thing to catch them as they’re starting their careers,” Mary said. “These students had only been in their classes for two weeks. One kid had literally just graduated from high school. So it was a good thing.”

I’d tend to agree.

As a result, the future chefs will carry more than culinary expertise into their new careers.

Thanks for allowing us to tell your story,

Laura

Back to school, part II

Yesterday Kara talked about seeing the familiar with a different perspective. Read on today as she discusses other valuable takeaways from her involvement in the Young Cattlemen’s Conference.

New Classmates & Professors

The networking and relationship-building I took home from YCC was one of the most valuable pieces. It made me stop and wonder: how many other seminars have I attended where I flock to the people in the audience I know and go home with very few (if any) new contacts? Since YCC, I have reached out to at least one classmate or presenter – who I never knew prior to the conference – at least once a week. It’s been a great way to build mentors and have industry peers for idea sharing.

My challenge: The next seminar you go to, seek out at least one new face. Find out what they do and try to find a way that you can learn from them and make your business better. Listen to a session with a speaker you’ve never heard (or heard of), and approach them afterwards with questions. You might want to reach out to that person in the future and they are more likely to remember the person that came up to talk to them afterwards.

Make Time

I know it’s easy for cattlemen to neglect off-site learning opportunities because you just don’t have time. Make time. It’s as simple as that. I am certain the workload I left behind for my 10 days at YCC was very light compared to many of my classmates and it’s easy to worry about what’s going on back home, but the long-term benefits for your business are counting on your professional development.

My challenge: Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to make yourself better. Each summer the American Angus Association hosts their Beef Leaders’ Institute, which is a great week-long opportunity to broaden your horizons on high-quality beef production. Heading to San Antonio for the annual Cattle Industry Convention & Trade Show next February? Check in a day early and take in the Cattlemen’s College sessions. Find a new educational opportunity and take hold of it! For some, it may be as simple as formally completely a BQA certification that you never finished. Set a goal – maybe you think in semesters and choose two a year, but identify your opportunities and start today.

~Kara

Back to school

Brooklyns First Day of Big Presschol (1 of 1) — I enjoyed seeing many pictures in my newsfeed the past few weeks, including this one of Miranda’s oldest daughter.

Around our house the changing of the summer season is usually commemorated by the turning of crops, preparations for weaning, and a little relief from sweltering humidity. When you don’t live in a world that runs on semesters, it’s easy to forget that the end of summer also means back to school for so many families.

For the last few weeks it’s been impossible to overlook all the signs that school is back in session. Parents post photos of their kids, college students have moved back to campus, and my mother, a high school math teacher on Eastern Time, tends to be a little grumpier when I call her at 10:00 p.m. on a school night from my Central Time zone (Sorry, Mom!). It’s enough to make a person just a bit nostalgic about the days when you could dedicate the majority of your time to formal learning.

As cattlemen and women, it’s sure easy enough to get caught up in all of the chores and responsibilities around the farm and ranch. We try to keep up with the news and research articles as best we can. Although, if your coffee table is anything like ours, it carefully cradles every Ag magazine and newspaper published between the start of planting and the end of hay season. You know you’ll get to them eventually after you get those spring calves weaned.

Sometimes there’s a lot of value in geographically removing yourself from your cattle business to take time and enhance your own learning. This summer, I had the opportunity to do just that through NCBA’s Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC).

It’s a big commitment to spend 10 days jet-setting between three different time zones, but the value was ten-fold the sacrifices to be there. Not every learning excursion can be so in-depth, but there are several fundamental lessons from off-the-ranch training beyond just the new material.

Reviewing Current

It’s true. Some of the material we covered in YCC wasn’t all that new to me. I had a relatively decent grasp on some of the consumer beef demand topics, but it was not a waste of my time to hear it again. It’s valuable to see someone new present familiar information. I learned new ways to explain answers to common questions, and likewise heard questions I’d never considered.

My challenge: Don’t let an old familiar topic deter you from attending a cattlemen’s meeting. You may have a great vaccination program in place for your herd. A public forum on herd health might have new research to make it even better. Never become complacent about the things you’re already really good at.

Perspective

All our tours were at operations that were “all in” for their segment of beef production. As it turns out, there’s a lot that ranchers can learn from burger processors, farm equipment developers can learn from legislators, and feedyard managers can learn from meat scientists. Spending time with people who are some of the best in their business is a great way to gain perspective. Even though we all have different jobs along the way, there are a lot of strategies that aren’t that different. While visiting with the JBS corporate team, one leader said the packing industry used to look at everything as one big pie and everyone was trying to get a bigger piece. He said today we need to challenge that thinking by figuring out how we can make the pie bigger. We can all put that logic to work.

My challenge: Chances are all your focus lies in whatever segment you’re in. If you’re a cow-calf operator, you spend the minimal amount of time necessary understanding the world of cattle feeding. When you head to a conference, take in a session that is targeted towards a different arm of the beef business.

New faces and making time—tune in tomorrow to read the rest of Kara’s lessons learned from YCC.

Feed prices down, risk ever apparent

“You must manage your risk.”

Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company, has headlined the Feeding Quality Forum for the past six or seven years. He’s covered $2 corn to $8 corn, but that message remains constant. Sure, the risk changes, but it’s important to manage it.

This year he told us the “bio boom” is over, exports are down and supplies are up. That all boils down to corn prices decidedly down, around $3.60 he predicts, with poor basis in the north due to infrastructure challenges.

“We’re back to waiting for a significant climatic event to cause a rally,” he says. We’ve spent so much time worrying about feed prices. Now they’re in check, so what’s the risk now?

Scott Brown, of the University of Missouri, told us about the real danger (makes economics sound fairly dramatic, doesn’t it?) that comes in producing low-quality beef.

Brown2 — Scott Brown, University of Missouri

“Statistically pork and chicken make better substitutions in the Select market,” he says. “We don’t see the same substitution competition for Choice and Prime.”

A 10% increase in Prime prices equates to very little change in consumption, but that same 10% increase in Select price moves the consumption down at a much quicker pace.

Lately the Choice-Select spread fluctuates wildly, but the Prime-Choice spread remains wide and fairly constant. Looking at demand curves and economics, Brown says the message is clear.

“Quality can become a risk management tool for the industry in the long run,” he says.

At the university-run Thompson Farm, the Angus-based herd provides an example. “The most profitable cows were those whose offspring graded Prime.”

Brown was almost urgent in pleading with the feeder-centric audience to take this message to their suppliers.

“If we don’t do it now, we never will,” he said. Drought has broken in many parts and herd rebuilding needs to include a focus on animals that will gain and grade. “Investment in the genetics of that herd will pay dividends.”

May your bottom line be filled with black ink,

Miranda

PS—Thanks to all the forum co-sponsors (Purina, Feedlot Magazine, Zoetis and Roto-Mix) who helped us bring this great set of experts to cattle feeding country.

Beef beyond our borders

You may also like

Stacks and knowledge grow in tandem

You may also like

A tough bunch

You may also like

Educate, Network, Engage!

You may also like

Reproduction matters, Part II

You may also like

Reproduction matters, Part I

You may also like

Chef coats and cow pastures

You may also like

Back to school, part II

You may also like

Back to school

You may also like

Feed prices down, risk ever apparent

You may also like