News Update
February 16, 2016
Evaluating and Valuing Cull Beef Cows
If you think all cull cows going to slaughter end up as hamburger, think again. That was the message shared by Colorado State University meat scientist Dale Woerner during the 24th biennial Range Beef Cow Symposium in November. Woerner said cow-calf producers might want to think of animals culled from their breeding herds as more than byproducts of their operations and give some thought to how those animals are marketed.
“Twenty percent of all beef animals slaughtered are market cows and bulls — a total of 6 to 6.5 million head,” Woerner stated. “These market cows and bulls represent 15% to 20% of a ranch’s income.”
Woerner explained that just a little more than half of all cow beef goes through a grinder. Of the slaughter plants currently harvesting market cows, all are collecting whole-muscle cuts, which provide steaks and roasts for foodservice, as well as jerky and other processed meat products.
Woerner said market cow values have undergone drastic changes, noting a doubling of value during the period of widespread drought.
To read more, access the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Mineral Boost Optimizes Reproductive Performance
For cow-calf producers, there are certain times that significantly impact the operation’s profitability. Failure to manage the nutrition of the cow herd during these critical times can hurt productivity in ways that producers often do not think about.
Research has shown that supplementing the herd with important vitamins, minerals and proteins before calving and through breeding improves a cow’s body condition and conception rates and, in turn, overall calf health and survival rates, making this a critical time for supplementation.
In a beef herd, profitability is determined by several factors, including the total weight of calves sold, cost of maintaining the cow herd, percentage of cows bred that wean a calf, and the price received for calves. The most critical times to influence these factors are the two months prior to calving and through breeding.
For more information, read the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
— Adapted from an article by Jennifer Beidle, BioZyme Inc.
Preventing Predation on Livestock
Ask livestock producers in Kansas to name the most threatening predator to their operation and most, if not all, will have the same answer: coyotes. In Kansas, this member of the canine family can be trapped year-round for fur or sport, or to control livestock predation.
Kansas State University (K-State) wildlife management expert Charlie Lee said that beyond Kansas, coyotes and other predators such as mountain lions, bobcats and even domestic dogs, have been and continue to be a problem for livestock producers nationwide.
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released data in 2010 showing that in the United States, loss of sheep and lambs to predators was nearly 250,000 annually, which resulted in a loss of about $20 million to producers. However, sheep and lambs are not the only livestock lost to predators. In a 2011 NASS report, cattle and calf losses from animal predators totaled nearly 220,000 head the previous year and resulted in a loss of $98.5 million.
For more information, read the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
In the Cattle Markets
The USDA released its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report Jan. 19, giving a closer look into beef supplies and price projections for 2016. While the numbers are an update from a month ago, they are still very helpful in formulating expectations for the year ahead.
Beef production for 2015 was revised up by 35 million pounds (lb.) from last month’s estimate to 23.7 billion lb. That number is up from 2014 when annual beef production was 24.25 billion lb.
Looking ahead to 2016, beef production is expected to be up nearly 900 million lb. from last year at 24.6 billion lb. Per capita consumption is expected to be higher in 2016 than a year ago at 54.4 lb. per person, a likely reflection of increased production, as well as lower prices. Interestingly, per capita consumption of proteins is expected to increase across the board, with year-over-year increases of 0.4 lb. per person for pork, 1.2 lb. per person for broiler and 0.6 lb. per person for turkey.
For more information, read the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Where Food Comes From Inc.
Reports Revenue and Earnings Growth
Where Food Comes From Inc. (d.b.a. IMI Global Inc.), a trusted resource for independent, third-party verification of food production practices in North America, announced Feb. 16 results for its fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2015.
“We continue to deliver strong financial results, highlighted by record full-year revenue of $10.4 million and net income of $533,900, up 133% year over year,” said John Saunders, chairman and CEO. “We achieved these results despite the impact of animal disease outbreaks that significantly reduced the number of pork and poultry audits we conducted during the year.”
Read more about the company in the full news release online.
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