The latest headlines

News Release: Certified Angus Beef brand elevates beef industry

Dec 9, 2018
It’s a Cinderella story that never seems to grow old. An Ohio Angus breeder went out to eat and ordered an Angus steak that turned out terrible. The experience sparked an idea for a certified brand of beef that would be enjoyed 40 years later, in the U.S. and 50 other countries around the world.

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News Release: Apply now for CAB Colvin Scholarships

Dec 7, 2018
Students already helping lead the beef community could win a share of $33,500 by applying online for the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand’s Colvin Scholarship. The Fund has awarded more than $250,000 to 76 college juniors, seniors and graduate students since 1999.

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News Release: Health, Vaccinations Not Synonymous

Dec 4, 2018
Victory in war starts long before the battle. The same is true in combat against cattle diseases. “My job as a military commander is to take a soldier and make him resilient,” Col. Sam Barringer said at the Feeding Quality Forum in Sioux City, Iowa this summer. The veterinarian and technical specialist for Diamond V illustrated the point by stretching a rubber band: too much pressure, no matter the reason, may cause it to break.

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News Release: Vaccinate Healthy Calves: Wait On Illness

Dec 4, 2018
You vaccinate to keep cattle healthy, but if they’re already coming down with a bug or your timing is off, your efforts could be worse than a waste. That’s what Brian Vander Ley, veterinarian epidemiologist at the University of Nebraska, told 200 cattlemen at the Feeding Quality Forum in Sioux City, Iowa, this August.

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News Release: Grid Marketing, Ranch View

Dec 4, 2018
Hitting a target takes practice, careful calibrations, attempts and recalibrations over time. Cow-calf producers make decisions every day, but how many of those relate to the calves’ ability to realize their potential and hit a high-quality beef target? At the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand’s Feeding Quality Forum this summer in Sioux City, Iowa, the brand’s own beef cattle specialist, Paul Dykstra, summarized the rancher’s dilemma.

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News Release: Vitamins, Part of Doing the Right Thing

Dec 4, 2018
Like pieces of a puzzle, vitamins are essential in keeping cattle healthy year-round. Price spikes in the last year, however, have producers taking another look at how to fit savings into concerns about source and efficacy over time. Jeff Heldt, with Micronutrients Intellibond, explored cost-effective vitamin and mineral strategies.

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News Release: Cows that fit, calves that fit

Nov 29, 2018
Genetic selection for ranch environment or meeting market demand? That’s a choice cattlemen don’t have to make, said Dan Moser, president of Angus Genetics Inc., speaking at the Feeding Quality Forum in Sioux City, Iowa, this summer.

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News Release: Balanced Approach to Vaccine Safety, Efficacy

Nov 26, 2018
You want a cattle vaccine that’s both safe and effective, but sometimes you have to choose which of those ideals gets the upper hand. That’s according to Paul Walz, the Auburn University veterinarian who spoke at the Feeding Quality Forum late this summer in Sioux City, Iowa. Vaccination programs must be true to the label protocols, yet individualized for each farm or ranch and the level of risk they can accept.

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News Release: Chinese Key to Cattle Market Prospects

Nov 21, 2018
The one thing certain in commodity markets is ambiguity. Ag Resource Company president Dan Basse, however, provided a bit of clarity and foresight at the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand’s Feeding Quality Forum in Sioux City, Iowa.

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News Release: Seek Answers for Better Beef

Nov 21, 2018
Presenters at the Feeding Quality Forum, August 28 to 29 in Sioux City, Iowa, encouraged questioning the routine. More than 200 took in the two-day meetings, where they got practical tips to use now as well as the “10,000-foot view” to spur thought, said Justin Sexten, director of supply development for Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB).

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News from the road

ON TARGET: Cause and effect

We sometimes associate cause and effect without knowing the real link, or as an academic buzz phrase has it, “correlation does not equal causation.” A quick search provides a humorous example. Did you know ice cream sales and shark attacks are highly correlated? While true in a broad sense, the actual reason for similar seasonal trends is that hot weather brings greater ice cream consumption as well as more swimming along beaches where sharks lurk.

On Target: Balance vs. the trade-off

One of the big challenges of livestock judging is explaining “balance” to a new evaluator. As we attend county fairs, state previews and junior nationals, we’ll hear the term used to describe cattle in nearly every class. After the judge remarks on the calf’s balance, they’ll follow up with a collection of terms that support their view of balance.

On Target: Weaning diet options

Weaning diet options by Justin Sexten, Ph.D. Spring calving herds, depending on rainfall and temperatures, may be weeks or months away from weaning. For many operations, that will bring the challenge of feeding weaned calves for a short transition period. That’s when...

On Target: Better than average

Better than average by Justin Sexten, Ph.D. Few producers strive for average—from cow productivity to cost reduction, we all want to be better than that. Yet half of every herd is below its own average, so the bar we compare against is important for context. As the...

On Target: Too much, too early

Too much, too early by Justin Sexten, Ph.D. Fall- and spring-calving herd managers don’t often find themselves facing the same decision as those who buy calves for backgrounding, but this is one of those times. Should you implant the calves and if so, what product...

The Angus Taste of Quality

When more cattle mean better cattle, the beef industry’s better for it. That’s the story for today’s cattleman supplying premium-quality beef to consumers asking for more. The Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB®) brand is in the middle of it all.

Extending a 14-year streak of year-over-year growth and the third year for sales above 1 billion pounds, the first and largest branded beef company reported record sales of 1.21 billion pounds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, ending Sept. 30. That was an 8.1% increase, or 91 million pounds.

CAB Grids Pays $75 Million Per Year

Angus producers can increase supply for the world’s leading premium beef brand in just two years—and still earn 44% more premium dollars for the greater supply. It seems to go against the laws of market economics, but that’s what happened from the start of 2016 through last December.

After a long string of sales records that reached 1.14 billion pounds last calendar year, many wondered if Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB®) brand premiums would keep fostering profitability for producers.

Packer Talks Transparency, Trust and Demand Drivers

Beef packers bridge the gap between producers and consumers, but even “the largest packer in the world” is nothing without its suppliers, John Gerber said.

Stating the obvious to 200 cattlemen at the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB® ) brand’s Feeding Quality Forum this summer in Sioux City, Iowa, the longtime procurement head for Tyson Fresh Meats set the tone. Every link in the supply chain from ranch to consumer has a role to play.

Black Ink: Unconventional risk management

Unconventional risk management by Nicole Lane Erceg Sounds of thunder interrupted the radio blaring on our front porch. With binoculars we watched lightning strikes in the distance, waiting for a dispatcher’s voice to say the call number 9210. When those numerals rang...

Black Ink: Perspective and Context

Perspective and Context by Miranda Reiman “You know, a dredge ditch…” I was explaining the Minnesota farm I grew up on and I was met with blank stares from some of my South Dakota State University classmates. “…where you drain water off the field,” I continued. They...

Black Ink: Changing with the environment

Changing with the environment by Nicole Lane Erceg I have a teal dinosaur that sits on my desk. It’s an unusual office ornament, but he serves a valuable purpose. When plans change, when the unexpected pops up, when I’m tempted to say “we’ve always done it this way,”...

Black Ink: Time Tested

Time Tested by Miranda Reiman We’ve dubbed it the “ the “smiling house.” On my family’s regular route through the Sandhills, there’s a lonely old place; rain and time have left the wood devoid of color. Yet, with its classic, square farmhouse design—and a little...