MARKETING...
Helping Consumers Rethink the Ranch
New beef checkoff marketing campaign showcases the face of beef producers.
Promoting beef has become more complicated than it was in 1992 when your beef checkoff kicked off the Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. brand. That’s why Rethink the Ranch was born.
As the checkoff is re-introducing consumers to beef during this 25th anniversary of the iconic brand, we’re also introducing them to the real ranchers and farmers and their stories about how they produce beef.
You see, sometimes people assume that their beef comes from a nameless, faceless entity. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Rethink the Ranch is a campaign to highlight the humanity behind beef production — to connect consumers to the process and the people! Read more.
Justin Sexten
Add value by culling, feeding.
Weaning and preg-checking tell us how successful our last two breeding seasons were. While many cow herd operators enjoy calving as a time to see the fruits of their labor, I prefer weaning, when management and genetic selection come together in one package. If you fell short in meeting any challenge, like keeping pastures vegetative or replacement heifers without records, those effects are in full view when calves cross the scale at weaning.
On the positive side, if calves weigh and look at least as good as expected, we’re already fully invested in these genetics. The cows should be rebred and plans to ensure adequate fetal nutrition can begin. One key decision at weaning is how committed we are to the cows we already have. Nobody tries to maintain a below-average herd, yet the simplicity of math suggests half of every herd is below average. Read more.
Beef Market Development Efforts in China
U.S. Beef Roadshow a successful launch for market development efforts in China.
An initial and ambitious step toward developing demand for U.S. beef in China was taken as the U.S. Beef China Roadshow, a weeklong series of events organized by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), brought exporters and importers together in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These activities were made possible through support from the Nebraska Beef Council.
The “roadshow” moniker was an appropriate choice, as USMEF staff and 17 member companies began the journey Monday, Sept. 25, with a U.S. beef showcase in Beijing, then traveled to Shanghai for a similar program on Wednesday, Sept 27. By the end of the week, the contingent had moved to Guangzhou, where the roadshow concluded with a U.S. beef overview, trade networking, product sampling and an American-style barbecue reception highlighting alternative cuts. More than 300 Chinese importers — buyers who were selected and screened by USMEF — attended each of the three roadshow events. Read more.
National Beef Quality Audit: Part Two
New results released on Market Cow and Bull Audit.
Newly released audit data about market cows and bulls suggests the industry has made significant improvements in several areas, including herd management techniques, animal welfare and handling, hide damage, injection-site location, and bruises.
In all cattle types surveyed, the vast majority of cattle walked normally into the packing facility with no apparent lameness. There has been a trend toward increased body condition scores in beef and dairy cows since 2007, the research showed, while body condition has stayed relatively constant for the bull population. Meanwhile, about 98% of cattle surveyed had no visible swellings resulting from an injection of animal health products, and incidence of injection-site lesions in the round have dropped considerably since 1998. Read more.
Ginette Gottswiller
The Source
Brand loyalty pays.
We all have our favorite brands. Name a product — trucks, tractors, jeans, boots. You’re bound to have a particular brand that you prefer more than others.
A few years ago, I drove by a Ford dealership to check out a used truck I saw advertised. It had already sold, so the salesman did his best to interest me in another brand. Poor guy, I had to make it clear that my mind was made up, and I wasn’t looking for anything else. I knew what I wanted, and it was not there.
Cattle buyers don’t have it so easy. The 2016 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA) showed that nearly 60% of market cattle are black-hided. If you are looking for Angus, how can you be sure? There isn’t an Angus logo branded on a calf’s forehead to guarantee genetics. Some breed characteristics stand out; however, determining just how much Angus influence there is in a group of black-hided calves can be difficult.
One solution is AngusSource®. Read more.
In the Cattle Markets
Technicals suggest weaker future cattle prices.
I have been impressed by the strength of feeder cattle and calf markets through the fall, but what do the technicals say? Very clearly: sell. The feeder-cattle futures have shown weakness early in the third week of October after holding fast last week and rallying to fill the gap down in late September the prior two weeks. In mid-September the market rallied close to resistance formed May and June.
My interpretation of the feeder-cattle futures rally through most of late August and early September was that it was driven by a strong cash calf and feeder-cattle market pricing in a lot of the cheapening feed market. It is possible that all of this has run its course and traditional seasonally weaker calf prices are in the works. Of course, I have been saying that since August.
However, the technicals support my position rather clearly. Feeder-cattle and live-cattle contracts have rallied to levels established in the early summer. The market turned lower in mid-July and is set to repeat that now. All of these fall contracts that have rallied to resistance planes have been turned back. Do we have the fundamental support to hold or push higher? Read more.
Angus Calendar
To view the Angus Calendar, a comprehensive list of Angus sales, click here.