Association Perspective
Position yourself to maximize the peaks and elevate the valleys.
As we move into exciting times in the beef cattle industry, we are presented a fork in the road. On one hand, it is probably human nature to enjoy the supply and demand position that is receiving its share of the credit for cattle price increases. During this upturn in the market, many producers will be so pleased with the added value being rewarded to them compared to less lucrative markets of the past that maximizing this upward wave will not cross their mind.
We have all been guilty of enjoying good moments in life without recognizing there is a difference between riding a high tide and placing yourself on top of the wave. We know ebbs and flows are part of cattle markets. With “natural” momentum on our side, why not position yourself to maximize the peaks and elevate the valleys?
With that in mind, it’s prime time for commercial cow-calf producers to become a part of a program that can help make the ever-changing cattle markets play in your favor. A program perfectly suited to aid in your success is offered to you by the American Angus Association under its AngusLinkSM program. AngusVerifiedSM is a USDA Process Verified Program (PVP) verifying calves are out of registered Angus bulls. The Genetic Merit Scorecard® (GMS) allows producers a means to objectively describe the genetic merit of their calves. These programs offer commercial cow-calf producers an avenue to separate their calves from the everyday run and position themselves to garner maximum value for their calves.
These programs are offered through a collaboration between the American Angus Association and IMI Global. Both entities are deeply submerged in the fed-cattle industry and have a passion for helping individual producers be rewarded for the high-quality calves they’ve worked hard to produce. This program offers claims that include AngusVerified, Source, Age, Non-Hormone Treated Cattle (NHTC), Verified Natural Beef and more.
This partnership between AngusLink and IMI Global provides commercial cattlemen greater access to the AngusLink GMS, giving you the ability to effectively communicate the genetic potential of your feeder calves to buyers. Scores for each value — Beef, Feedlot and Grid — range from 0 to 200. The higher the score, the better the genetic potential is for that group of calves to perform within that respective category. A score of 100 would be considered industy average.
An additional tool offered by this partnership to aid in setting your premium Angus-sired calves apart from the droves of black calves brought to markets across the country is AngusVerified. This documents and verifies that your group of calves are a minimum of 50% Angus, sired by Angus bulls registered with the American Angus Association.
As you think about ways to set yourself apart from a sea of ships enjoying a rising tide, I would encourage you to position yourself for the market ebbs and explore value-added programs, like those mentioned above. These programs can keep upper-tier buyers looking your way for cattle that will ultimately be more sought after by cattle feeders, packers and the end consumer. Please feel free to contact the American Angus Association for additional details on the programs, as well as enrollment process details. Information is available online at https://www.angus.org/AngusLink.
