MARKETING...
Beef Education Headlined Briarwood's Farm Day
Medical doctors, business people, politicians and leadership from the University of Missouri (MU) all gathered at Briarwood Angus Farms, near Butler, Mo., in early June. The purpose? To learn more about agriculture, specifically quality beef and what it takes to get it to their tables.
Curtis Long and his wife, Ann, invited acquaintances and area leaders to the field day Saturday, June 4. It kicked off with a Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand steak dinner.
"This brand is more than a great marketing program," said Sara Scott, executive account manager for the company, who presented at the event. "It's based on sound science. It's defined by 10 quality-based specifications." Read more.
Darrell Mark
In the Cattle Markets
Basis changes
Basis is the difference in the price of a commodity in a particular cash market and the underlying futures market. As such, basis varies across geographic areas according to local supply and demand factors. Lower supply or higher demand for a commodity in a local cash market relative to the overall price level represented by the futures market is reflected in higher (i.e., stronger, or more positive) basis values. Conversely, higher supply or lower demand results in lower (i.e., weaker, or more negative) basis values. The past several weeks have resulted in favorable basis changes for cattle feeders, despite price levels generally becoming less favorable. Read more.
David MacVane
CAB® 3QQ
Three quick questions with David MacVane.
Grocery stores aren't foreign or exotic, but everyday, ordinary places. Everybody has been to one; they serve the fundamental purpose of providing a place to buy food. There are the basic departments: meat, produce, bakery, etc. But no matter how similar the stores might seem at the base level, they are certainly not the same.
Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) draws on the expertise of David MacVane of Middletown, N.Y., to help find those differences and capitalize on that understanding. He gets the company into stores, learns who the influencers are, and then talks the talk — easy enough because he is one of them. Read more.
Cattle on Feed
U.S. cattle on feed up 4% according to June 17 NASS report.
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.9 million head on June 1. The inventory was 4% above June 1, 2010.
Placements in feedlots during May totaled 1.81 million, 11% below 2010. Net placements were 1.73 million head. During May, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds (lb.) were 415,000; 600-699 lb. were 355,000; 700-799 lb., 480,000; and 800 lb. and greater; 560,000.
Marketings of fed cattle during May totaled 2.00 million, 7% above 2010 figures.
Other disappearance totaled 80,000 during May, 18% below 2010 figures.
Sara Snider
The Source
Why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today?
Without realizing it, I have become a firm believer in the old saying, "Why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today?" My husband, on the other hand, is a staunch supporter of the Scarlett O'Hara philosophy: "I'll think about it tomorrow because, after all, tomorrow is another day." It drives me crazy. I like to have things done in advance. That way I am not stressed or caught off guard when uncontrollable things happen.
It seems summer has finally come to stay in Saint Joseph, Mo. The warmer weather brings with it a very long "to do" list. It seems endless. Each task we check off the list is quickly replaced with three more things we noticed while we were completing the last one. And we live in town!
Growing up on a diversified farming operation, I can truly appreciate how busy you are this time of year and how long your "to do" list is. I want to make sure you don't let the marketing plans for your spring calves get pushed too far down on that list. With so much to do, it is hard to think about things that don't really affect you until this fall, but we know that when fall arrives you are busy with harvest, and working calves can sneak up on you. Read more.
U.S. Beef Export Markets Booming
U.S. beef exports slowed slightly in April, when compared to the all-time record highs of the previous month, but still performed well above last year's pace. Exports for the month totaled 227.5 million pounds (lb.) valued at $429.7 million — an increase of 38%, according to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a contractor of the beef checkoff.
On a cumulative basis through April, 2011 beef exports were up 30% in volume to 881.3 million lb. and 48% in value to $1.63 billion.
Beef exports equated to $203.70 per head of fed slaughter in April, up nearly $63.00 (or 45%) from April 2010. For the year, exports equate to $190.80 per head. April exports equaled 14.5% of total U.S. production compared to 11.2% last year. For the year, the U.S. beef industry has exported 13.7% of total production. Read more.
Angus Calendar
To view the Angus Calendar, a complete list of
Angus sales, click here.