Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA

Factors Influencing Calf Prices

Management factors that affect calf value analyzed.

Video auctions are a popular form of marketing feeder calves, especially for bigger operations out West. Superior Livestock Video Auction introduced satellite video marketing in 1987 and now sells 2 million cattle annually, making it the largest video-sales company in the United States. Esther McCabe, doctoral student in the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry at Kansas State University, has been analyzing 24 years of data from Superior Livestock video auction, representing more than 90,000 lots of calves.

Effects of the cold, wet winter.

The returning to normal of U.S. federal government reports and data sources are revealing the effect of the cold and wet winter on the fed-cattle production. Cattle-on-feed inventories are very high: 11.678 million head in the seven major states. This is above last year’s 11.630 million head and average of the prior five years for Feb. 1 of 10.781 million head.

The Source

AngusSource has a new process-verified claim — Angus-sired genetics.

Producers can once again verify the Angus-sired genetic component through AngusSource^®! AngusSource Angus-Sired Genetics (AS-ASG) was added as the sixth AngusSource Process Verified Program (PVP) point March 15, 2019. Just like Non-Hormone Treated Cattle, AS-NeverEver 3, AS-Cattle Care and Handling, and AS-Calf Management, producers now have the option to add AS-ASG to their AngusSource enrollment.

The AngusSource verification certificate will indicate in what programs the calf crop is enrolled. Producers who choose to enroll in AS-ASG will see the registered Angus sire’s name and registration number on their AngusSource verification certificate.

Dentition, age-verification programs can help more cattle grade at the plant.

Quality grade drives the beef industry. That was the message delivered by Terry Houser at Kansas State University’s (K-State) 106th annual Cattlemen’s Day event in Manhattan, Kan.

Houser, associate professor of animal sciences and industry at K-State, spoke on yield and quality grading in the beef business, and the USDA’s recent quality-grading guidelines.

The Link

‘The future ain’t what it used to be.’

Yogi Berra, an icon to the world of baseball, once said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” We can relate this to marketing feeder cattle through today’s various platforms and the amount of information we provide, or could be providing, to potential buyers. You, as a cattle producer, have options when it comes to marketing your calf crop.

In 2017, BEEF^® magazine collaborated with Colorado State University to survey cattle producers to see how they were marketing their calves. The results found 80.9% of respondents marketed their calf crop through a local auction market, 22.2% of which indicated they marketed their cattle through a special sale.

Is the rising tide of Prime beef good news or too much of a good thing?

There was a time when targeting the Choice grade seemed like a lofty goal. But, as the song goes, “The times, they are a-changin.’ ”

While Choice numbers rose steadily since 2007, it wasn’t until 2015 that Prime carcasses in the mix really began to make an impact. Since then, they’ve continued to increase dramatically, frequently setting records. The latest of those shattered the first week of November, when 9.8% of steer and heifer carcasses qualified for the highest grade.

DemKota begins producing the Certified Angus Beef brand.

In the heart of South Dakota — a state ranked fourth in yearly Angus registrations, where cattle outnumber people four to one — there’s been a bit of a desert for marketers of high-quality fed cattle.

Many finished animals are still shipped to neighboring states for processing, but DemKota Ranch Beef, a packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., is looking to keep a higher percentage of them close to home.

ANGUS BEEF BULLETIN EXTRA

Marketing

Factors Influencing Calf Prices

Management factors that affect calf value analyzed.

In the Cattle Markets

Effects of the cold, wet winter.

The Source

AngusSource has a new process-verified claim — Angus-sired genetics.

Getting More to Grade

Dentition, age-verification programs can help more cattle grade at the plant.

The Link

‘The future ain’t what it used to be.’

It’s Prime Time

Is the rising tide of Prime beef good news or too much of a good thing?

Keeping Quality In State

DemKota begins producing the Certified Angus Beef brand.

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