News Update
March 20, 2015
Create, Capture Calf Value
Cattle feeders need more calves to fill their pens, but the market has an additional need for more selective bidding. Any calves feedlots buy at premium prices must pay their way in the feedlot and on the grid, says Tom Brink, president and founder of Top Dollar Angus Inc.
His company is sponsoring a give-away of Angus genetics and related tests and tools worth thousands of dollars.
Results of a 16-year price survey from the Certified Angus Beef® brand (CAB®) indicated Angus calves still bring a record premium above the historically high average for other cattle at auction.
“That’s a great place for cow-calf producers to start, especially if they breed to Angus bulls near the top of the breed for gain and grade potential,” Brink says. “Calves are born on the ranch, but the premium opportunity for outstanding genetics starts with greater value capture at the feedlot, filtered back through their bids.
“The extra dollars that verifiably better cattle can earn leads cattle feeders to differentiate and that is de-commoditizing the markets,” he says. “We can be confident this trend will grow because improved value capture by feedlots is paving the way.”
Supply is short of demand for the best Angus calves.
That’s why Top Dollar Angus® has partnered with leading bull studs to sponsor a drawing for five winners of 10 straws of semen from each of five companies that provide artificial insemination (AI) services, along with Easy-Breed™ CIDRs and GeneMax® DNA tests, Brink says.
Each of the 19 Angus sires from ABS Global, Accelerated Genetics, CRI-Genex, Origen and Select Sires feature $Beef Index numbers above $100.
Five winners in the May drawing, randomly matched to an AI company, will select one of that company’s eligible sires. Semen will be shipped to that company’s customer-service representative nearest to the winning producer. Zoetis will provide the CIDR® inserts for estrus synchronization and, for those with 75% or greater Angus cattle, 10 GeneMax Advantage™ or Focus™ DNA tests.
Brink says the website at www.topdollarangus.com features easy directions for entries, which close April 30.
For more information, please visit www.cabpartners.com.
‘I Am Angus’ Season Finale Airs March 23
America’s farms and ranches are filled with generations of stories — historic tales and dreams for the future. The American Angus Association® celebrates the individuals and families dedicated to raising cattle and caring for the land during I Am Angus®, an hour-long documentary series featured on RFD-TV.
Catch the next episode at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central) Monday, March 23, on RFD-TV. The program is produced entirely by the Angus Media team, and Merck Animal Health and the science of healthier animals will sponsor the upcoming episode.
Spring is a special time of year on the ranch, as the grass begins to green and temperatures start to rise. The March 23 episode sheds new light on optimism in the cattle business and shares perspectives from cattle producers from Arizona to Pennsylvania. You will meet lifelong Angus breeders and families who make their living producing quality beef off the land.
For more information, access the full release online.
Western Coalition Files Data Quality
Suit Against Feds on Greater Sage-Grouse
The Public Lands Council (PLC), as part of a coalition of western counties and ranching, mining, and energy associations, has filed three Data Quality Act challenges to the information that the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey are using to make public lands and Endangered Species Act listing decisions for the Greater sage-grouse. The coalition is challenging the reports the agencies are using to justify top-down restrictive measures that will damage western communities, while discouraging more effective state and local conservation efforts.
Together, the coalition supports state, local and private sage-grouse conservation efforts over the one-size-fits-all measures being imposed by the federal agencies. Brenda Richards, PLC president, said the reports do not address specific cause-and-effect threats to the Greater sage-grouse. Rather, the agencies have turned a blind eye to sound science and on-the-ground solutions in order to push their own overreaching agenda.
“The reports push a one-sided, anti-grazing agenda by ignoring a large body of scientific literature,” said Richards, who ranches on public and private lands in Idaho. “The states and private landowners have invested millions of dollars and a considerable amount of time developing management plans, improving habitat and implementing conservation measures. The agencies are using faulty logic to justify a top-down approach to sage grouse management, where states are much better suited, with their expertise as wildlife managers, to protect the sage grouse. Many studies show misguided federal management will harm the sage grouse, as well as the 11 states it inhabits.”
For more information, please view the full release here.
Farmers and Ranchers Warn: Estate Taxes
Can Kill Family Businesses
Farm Bureau member Brandon Whitt March 18 urged Congress to repeal the estate tax to free up farmers and ranchers to build stronger businesses and benefit their local communities. Whitt, who farms in Tennessee, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, where he outlined the harmful impact the estate tax has on family-owned businesses.
“Agriculture looks different on farms from state to state, but we all face the same reality that an uncertain tomorrow can bring,” Whitt said. While facing unpredictable weather and fluctuating markets, farmers and ranchers make decisions to expand their businesses and remain competitive. “Why should uncertainties over estate taxes be added to these others? Our job is hard enough as it is.”
Whitt’s family knows the harmful effects of the estate tax firsthand. Batey Farms, which Whitt runs with his wife — the 7th generation on the farm — and father-in-law, changed completely when his father-in-law was forced to sell off land to pay estate taxes: The land was lost to development, never to be recovered. Today, they continue to face expensive, long-term decisions to make Batey Farms viable far into the future, but they are committed to preserving the land for their community and future generations.
“We believe that our farm adds value to our town, that our neighbors value our open space, that our customers value having a local food source and that our farm market creates a sense of community,” Whitt said.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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