AngusSource ’08 contest winners
by Miranda Reiman
The top groups in the 2008 AngusSource® Carcass Challenge (ASCC) “blew the doors off” average quality grades, says program director Sara Snider.
Three feedlots won more than $1,000 in cash and prizes for first through fifth place finishes during the inaugural year of the contest. Entries consisted of at least 38 head of age-, source- and genetic-verified calves fed through the network of Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB)-licensed partners.
“Our goal was to illustrate the value of those calves in the feedyard and recognize those procuring AngusSource calves and targeting the brand,” Snider says.
Beller Feedlot, Lindsay, Neb., received $500 for the winning group that went 80.7% Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) and Prime. That’s more than four times the national average.
Those 62 steers were purchased from longtime Montana customers Mike Green, Dennis Green and Scott and Traci Glasscock.
“We scanned for high marbling and took the top 62,” says Terry Beller, feedlot owner-manager. “These were kind of the heart of them, but even the ‘out’ cattle did extremely well.”
The third-place entry, at 68.2% CAB and Prime, also belonged to Beller Feedlot. That earned them an additional $100.
Neighboring feedyard, Beller Corporation, scored second and fifth place in the ASCC. The cattle purchased from Gray’s Angus Ranch, near Harrison, Neb., went 69.1% CAB and Prime. Their number five group went 67.4%.
“There’s a big advantage to buying from the same source: You know what you’ve got,” Doug Beller says. He, along with brothers Dennis and Duane, collected $350 in prize money.
Cattleman’s Choice Feedyard, Gage, Okla., and Jimmy Taylor, Elk City, Okla., split the $100 prize for their fourth-place entry. Taylor’s first time retaining ownership showed 66 steers going 67.7% CAB and Prime.
“We set the standards pretty high here. I’m going to have to work really hard to keep it at this level,” says Dale Moore, owner-manager of Cattleman’s Choice.
In the fourth-quarter 2008 ASCC results, 45 heifers harvested Nov. 24 at the Cargill-Schuyler (Neb.) plant surpassed national quality grade averages but did not make it to the final round, Snider says. Still excellent, high-value cattle, they were fed by Beller Feedlot, which bought them from Schroeder Ranch, Thedford, Neb. Second- and third-quarter ASCC winners were previously announced.
Snider says the American Angus Association is looking forward to this year’s contest, which will continue to name quarterly winners in each region before bestowing a national title at the end of the year.
“We’d really like to see the contest grow,” she says. “If you’re feeding at or selling to a Certified Angus Beef licensed feedyard, just make sure they know you are interested in the ASCC. There’s no cost to enter and the paperwork is minimal.”
In addition to the 38-head minimum, cattle must be harvested in one lot. They can be steers, heifers or mixed-sex groups and can come from multiple operations, if all are AngusSource enrolled.
To learn about the AngusSource program or the ASCC, visit www.AngusSource.com, contact Snider at 816-383-5100 or email her at ssnider@angus.org.