News Update
February 23, 2017
Here’s the Premium
While the cattle market fell from record highs in 2014 in a steep dive to last fall’s low, the relative demand for quality and premium bids for Angus calves fared better.
“It pays to use Angus genetics in any market,” said Steve Suther, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) director of industry information.
That’s what the 2016 “Here’s the Premium” (HTP) calf price tracking study found in the latest edition of a project started in 1999. Data has been analyzed by Iowa State University livestock economist Lee Schulz since the 2014 study.
“The difference in calf prices between those two years is very wide,” he said, “but the rate of decrease in the Angus premium has been less than the overall feeder cattle price decrease.”
Feeder cattle futures lost nearly half of their value in that time, with a 48.3% drop, Schulz said. The lighter, 5-weight calves targeted in HTP surveys fell more sharply, by nearly 56%. Angus steers held onto more value with a setback of just 32.2% in their premium over non-Angus steers in the same two years.
For more information, view the Angus Media news article online.
850,000 Records Say: Marbling still Matters
Just missed it. Just missing a flight, a deadline for a major rebate, or watching your child’s winning shot at a ball game. The feeling is much the same.
What if you knew you “just missed it” when it comes to cattle qualifying for the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand?
For many cattle across the United States that’s the difference in a marbling score of 492 versus 500. Those commodity Choice carcasses are just a few fat flecks away from upper two-thirds Choice and their share of the $50 million that packers pay each year for cattle earning that high-quality designation.
“I don’t think many producers know just how close they are to being ‘in the money’ so to speak,” says Justin Sexten, CAB director of supply development. “So many cattle sit right on that line and shifting that line ever so slightly is a big deal.”
For more information, view the Angus Media news article online.
Beef Leaders Institute Reaches 10-year Milestone
The Beef Leaders Institute (BLI) is a premier leadership experience for American Angus Association members that provides a look into the entire beef supply chain, while enhancing participant knowledge of the Association and strengthening their leadership skills.
Now in its 10th year, Angus producers between 25-45 years old are invited to apply for the five-day tour hosted June 19-23, 2017. Applications are due by March 1.
Thanks to generous support from the Angus Foundation, BLI offers producers a chance to tour all facets of the beef production line. With a trip to the Association, tours to feedlots, harvesting and packing plants and industry leading genomic companies, all the way to Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) in Wooster, Ohio, Angus cattlemen and women receive elite hands-on learning and insight into quality cattle production.
Read more in the Angus Media news article online.
Planning Ahead
Many cattle operations are multi-generational enterprises. That means that at some point a successor is going to have to take over the operation from the previous generation. Farm succession planning can be tricky and fraught with tough decisions.
Danny Klinefelter, Texas A&M professor and extension agriculture economist, was a recent guest on Angus Talk, a weekly radio program on Rural Radio, Channel 147. Tune in at 10 a.m. CST each Saturday morning on SiriusXM Radio.
Q: When considering a succession plan, how do beef producers get started?
A: I think one of the things you need to do, and people see this as kind of academic, they really need to have a statement of vision and some goals. “What are we about? What are we trying to accomplish?” They’ve got to be able to maintain good financial information, because almost all these decisions are going to have a financial consequence or are only going to be possible if they have strong finances.
The other thing as they’re going along, they need to be thinking about what attributes the succeeding generation is going to need as the cattle business and economy move forward.
Continue reading in the Angus Media news article online.
Capturing Value of Genetics and Management
Two cow-calf producers shared their perspectives on “capturing value” for calves during a Cattlemen’s College® session Feb. 1 at the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Making remarks were Richard Meadows of Alabama-based Meadows Creek Farm and Sam Hands of Kansas-based Triangle H Grain & Cattle Co.
Meadows shared how his family operation has grown into a seedstock and commercial entity over the past three decades by working with others and looking for opportunities to add value. What began as a small herd from 4-H show animals has now evolved into working with cooperator herds and marketing 150-170 2-year-old Angus and Charolais bulls via three annual sales.
Meadows credited their growth to “finding the right people” with whom to work. This has included establishing the Southeast Alabama Feeder Calf Sale, which he and a majority of his customers sell calves through as a means to offer uniform lots in greater quantities. During the years they’ve added protocols for vaccinations, preconditioning and, most recently, even offering promotion for genetic data on calves.
For more information, view the Angus Media news article online.
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