At Triangle H, problems are met with careful consideration of every possible outcome, solutions executed with care and evaluation. It’s simply how they deal with every challenge from people to cattle to equipment. Work to be the best in everything they do – a mindset Hands is passing on to his daughter. Their sharp focus on quality and thoughtful customer service earned Triangle H the 2022 Feedyard Commitment to Excellence Award from CAB.
Certified Angus Beef regularly collects data on millions of fed cattle to discover how cattlemen can capture more value for high-quality carcasses beginning on the ranch. When black-hided cattle don’t earn the CAB stamp, it’s most often for missing the mark in marbling, HCW, REA and backfat.
Much of the cattle feeding business is outside a manager’s control. But quality cattle caretaking, that Kendall Hopp can guarantee. He plans for the volatile, hopes for the best, and deals with the rest as it comes. The first thing on his list begins with treating people right because Hopp knows happy folks manage cattle more consistently, leading to healthy cattle that perform.
Ross Humphreys’ adept gait tells of many days in and out of the saddle checking his herd, fence lines, water tanks, and grass availability. Yet at 72, he can still drop down and roll under the barbed wire fence quicker than most men half his age. But Humphreys is not your typical cowboy. He’s a chemist, book publisher, family guy, conservationist, and rancher.
Grit in every venture makes Ross Humphreys a successful businessman, and his unrattled spirit makes the best of challenges. However, it’s his relentless drive for raising high-quality beef that earned him the Certified Angus Beef 2021 Commercial Commitment to Excellence Award.
Much of the cattle feeding business is outside of a manager’s control, but quality cattle caretaking is one thing Kendall Hopp can guarantee. Shaw Feedyard’s teamwork and values earned Shaw Feedyard the 2021 Feedyard Commitment to Excellence Award.
Not every ranch, pen or feedlot is alike or ideally suited to handle the same class of cattle. Here is a 12-point checklist of ways cattlemen can help themselves when selecting a feedyard.
Backgrounding calves can open gates to new revenue paths, though not without risk. When more cattle are sent to the grazing fields or grow yards, there’s a shift in the seasonal pattern of the market and more opportunity to take advantage of better prices.
For the 70% or more of beef calves born last spring, more than the usual share veered from traditional roads to the feedyard come fall. Backgrounding those calves opened gates to several new revenue paths, though not without risk.
Choosing a feedyard is a bit like selecting a life partner. Feedyards offer different marketing opportunities and strategies. A manager should be able to look at a customer’s pen and know, “I have a good market for those cattle. I can handle it.”
