News Update
Sept. 25, 2009

Albers Named Assistant Director of Communications/Web site Editor

Crystal Albers has been appointed assistant director of communications and website editor for the American Angus Association®.

In this position, Albers will oversee development and implementation of the organization’s new communications program, integrating print, web, video and television, and play an instrumental role in the reorganization of the Association’s web site.

“Crystal’s communications expertise is a perfect match for the long-term goals of our organization,” said Eric Grant, director of public relations for Association. “She is one of the most recognized writers in the business who understands where technological and social changes are driving communications and public relations, but she’s also rooted in the real world of production agriculture.”

Having joined Angus Productions Inc. (API) in 2003, Albers served as associate editor for Angus Journal, Angus Beef Bulletin and the online Angus Beef Bulletin Extra.

At the 2009 Ag Media Summit, Albers was recognized as a Master Writer by American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) and awarded the “Story of the Year.”

During the last six years, she’s also received numerous writing awards from the Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ).

Albers is a 2003 graduate from Kansas State University, where she participated in the honors program and received dual degrees in print journalism and public relations, with a minor in agronomy.

Involved in farming and ranching since her youth, Albers now resides in rural Denton, Kan., with her husband, Mark, and two children.

For more information about Angus cattle and the American Angus Association’s program and services, please visit www.angus.org.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

Summer Steak Sales = CAB Record

A steak sizzling on the grill is to a consumer what a cash register cha-ching is to a grocer. Despite economic conditions, those sweet sensations were in the air this summer as demand for high-quality beef cuts picked up for the world’s largest branded beef program.

The Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand set repeat records in July and August for the most sold in a single month since the inception of the program in 1978.

Licensed restaurants and retailers marketed 60 million pounds (lb.) in July, and then bested that monthly high mark by another couple-million pounds in August.

“Historically these are big months with the summer grilling season, and retailers always carry most of that weight,” says Clint Walenciak, CAB director of packing. Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays help drive sales. “Combine that with the economy that had more people going to the grocery store, and it added up to back-to-back, chart-topping months.”

He also credits long-time partners with stepping up their efforts to push the higher quality beef. One of those is Price Chopper, a 120-store grocery chain in the Northeast.

“Our steak sales are just terrific,” says Larry Ritzert, vice president of meat merchandising for Price Chopper. “The conventional wisdom would be that things are tough so people are going to move down from middle meats to a tougher steak or to burgers.” If you thought that, you’d be wrong this time.

“We’re seeing an influx of people buying steaks,” he says. “It’s the people who want to have a good eating experience — if they’re spending money they want to enjoy it.”

In response, the retailer has run more weekly features on beef. Prices are lower compared to last year’s averages, but Ritzert says the spread is still relatively similar.

“If steaks last year were $5.99 and this year they’re $4.99, the same is true for other cuts and quality grades,” he says. “They could eat cheaper if they wanted to, but they’re choosing those higher-quality steaks.”

Ritzert says they offer many different-sized packages and thickness of cuts and have a well-stocked, large display.

“Folks have responded very well to it,” he says.

Walenciak notes that cattle grading trends have also bolstered the brand’s success.

“We’ve really been able to capitalize on the supplies available,” he says.

— Release by Miranda Reiman, CAB Industry Information Specialist.

Rare Opportunity: Limited Number of A Historic Angus Journey Available

A limited number of A Historic Angus Journey, the book by Keith Evans that chronicles the history of the American Angus Association from its beginnings in 1883 to 2001, is available through the Angus Foundation.

Evans, who served the Association for 35 years, completed the book in 2001, following 16 years of research and writing. Today, it is considered the pre-eminent resource on Angus history in the United States, exploring the key events, decisions and people that led to the establishment of Angus as the largest beef breed in North America.

“This book is really a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the U.S. cattle industry,” says Bryce Schumann, Association CEO. “Not only is it an important piece of research, it’s also easy to read and entertaining as well.”

While supplies of these books are limited, both cloth- and leather-bound editions are available for purchase. These include a signed and numbered edition of leather-bound copies. The cloth-bound copies sell for $25 each and leather-bound sell for $50 each. The signed and numbered books sell for $150 each.

To order your copy, please contact Kris Sticken at ksticken@angus.org or 816-383-5100.

CWT Competes Eigth Herd Retirement Round

Farm audits for the second herd retirement implemented by Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) in 2009 have been completed, and the majority of the 74,114 cows that produced 1.5 billion pounds (lb.) of milk have been sent to processing plants. In addition, 2,958 bred heifers also were removed through CWT’s eighth herd retirement round.

In this most recent round, CWT removed 274 herds in 38 states. When combined with the herd retirements completed last winter and earlier this spring, CWT has removed 225,783 cows that produced 4.5 billion lb. of milk. In addition, the nearly 3,000 bred heifers taken in this herd retirement bring the total removed by CWT in the past nine months to 5,016.

CWT received 312 bids from dairies in 39 states during the bidding process in July, which offered a set maximum acceptable bid price. As a result of the selection and auditing process CWT follows, along with some withdrawals by bidders, the final number of bids processed totaled 274, down 20 from the initial tentative tally.

“In recognition of the severity of the financial crisis in the dairy industry, CWT auditors moved quickly to audit the selected farms, completing their task in just 30 days,” said Jim Tillison, chief operating officer (COO) of CWT. “The national dairy herd is 230,000 cows smaller this fall because of CWT’s actions since this winter.”

As with each of the seven previous herd retirements CWT has carried out, CWT auditors verified the information submitted by bidders, and then applied a special tamper-evident CWT ear tag to every milking cow and dry cow, as well as to the bred heifers, if a producer chose that option.

Tillison said farmers’ names from this eighth round will be posted on the web site as they are sent their payments. He noted that additional CWT herd reduction actions are possible in 2009, given the continuing cost of production-milk price squeeze farmers are in.

— Release provided by CWT news release.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.