November 20, 2019 | Vol. 12 : No. 11
When it comes to growth implants in cattle, animal scientist Robbi Pritchard only worries about three things: getting enough premium if you’re not using them, using them wrong and using them with too little insight.
Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand sales growth continues to become more challenging as we’ve just posted our 13th straight record sales volume in FY 2019. Supply of qualified traditional CAB carcasses will need to gain traction in the coming months for the string to remain unbroken.
Another factor in sales gains lies hidden to most in the category of CAB Prime.
According to recent data, the number of breeding beef females will most likely be lower than anticipated heading into the new year. There has been a larger cull-cow rate, and the pace has heightened in the last two weeks. The week after Labor Day normally sees cow harvest spike in the range of 15%-20% higher than the holiday-shortened Labor Day week head counts. A 15% increase was tallied this year, but we’ve since seen only further increases.
They were raising children with diverse skill sets and diverging dreams.
Veteran cattle feeders Norm and Sharon Timmerman of McCook, Neb., encouraged their children to follow their own passions, and they did. After college, Jason started with Timmerman Feeding near Omaha, while CPA Kristin ran her own accounting firm, and Ryan pursued a degree in business management with a sports and recreation option.
Today, they have all returned to the family business that now includes Jason and Wendy, Kristin and husband Jeff Stagemeyer, and later Ryan and wife Nicole.
Fed-cattle, feeder-cattle and calf cash prices have all been stronger than expected through this fall. Live-cattle and feeder-cattle futures contract prices have also shaken off the pessimism of abundant supplies compounded by the unexpected closure of the Tyson beef plant in southwest Kansas. How did the market turn this corner?
Harvest means there aren’t enough hours in the day. Taking grain to the elevator can be a little frustrating when you only drive a semi during harvest. Zipping down those four lanes with traffic merging in right and left can definitely raise the hair on the back of your neck. I don’t mind driving up and down our highway, but those four lanes make me look a few more times in the mirror before I change lanes. Next year AngusSource® will be merging all the Process Verified Programs into AngusLinkSM.
When you enjoy a great steak, it’s largely because of those little flecks of intramuscular fat.
“Marbling is like butter in the pan of potatoes,” says Dale Woerner, Texas Tech meat scientist addressing the recent Feeding Quality Forum in Amarillo. “The more marbling in the beef, the more flavor and performance we get.”
