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Tag: CAB acceptance

CARCASS DATA THAT MATTERS, PART II

Yesterday, we talked about marbling and Quality Grades. Today, we conclude Paul’s advice on carcass data that matters.

Muscling, primarily represented as ribeye area in carcass data, is an important element for producers to focus on.

“This is a concrete measure of the size of one of the most valuable cuts of a beef carcass and, while not perfect, it’s a good indicator of overall carcass muscle content,” Paul says. “It’s most important when selling cattle on a carcass value-based system to maintain enough ribeye size in order to avoid Yield Grade discounts.”

Yield Grade is a measure of the relationship of subcutaneous fat to red meat yield. So, we’re shooting for more red meat yield and less subcutaneous fat and, consequently, larger ribeye areas. 

The USDA grading service has a formula that indicates that a carcass of a certain weight should also have a ribeye area of a certain size. For instance, an 850-pound carcass should have a 14.0-inch ribeye. Any deviation from that 14.0-inch size will either indicate a higher than average amount of overall carcass muscling or a lower than average amount of muscling. 

Consequently, the Yield Grade assigned to that carcass will reflect the positive or negative deviation from “average” and the producer will either receive a premium or a discount if the deviation is enough to warrant such an adjustment. 

A cow-calf producer should strive to keep ribeye size somewhere between 12 to 16 inches, with the optimum being 12 to 14 inches for the end-users of our product. 

Paul points out that restaurants and retailers generally favor ribeyes smaller than 14 inches, but he is not aware of a value-based payment system offered by any of the major packers that rewards the seller for these somewhat smaller ribeyes.

The Certified Angus Beef® brand requires ribeye size to be between 10 and 16 inches to qualify for the brand, so we’ve set a limit on both the lower and upper end of the scale to try to control variation in the size of important beef cuts.   

Muscling also impacts dressing percentage, which measures final hanging carcass weight as a percentage of live weight. Higher muscle content, as well as subcutaneous fat content, positively impact dressing percentage.  Higher dressing percentages mean more hanging weight which will be paid for on a grid pricing system. In the end, producers should strive to include muscling as criteria in selecting genetics, without going overboard, and while maintaining a balanced approach to evaluating all traits. 

Improving Yield Grade need not hurt your cowherd goals.

Paul explains that there is a diminishing point of returns at the ranch, where extremely heavily muscled cows will not re-breed and are inefficient.  Therefore, balance is the key.

While backfat can have a significant impact on fed cattle value, Paul doesn’t think it’s an appropriate area to focus on when making herd decisions.

“I believe that the cow-calf producer’s job is to apply pressure to maintain muscling, which impacts Yield Grade directly, instead of selecting against backfat,” he says. 

Indeed, less backfat has a positive impact on Yield Grades, but it also has a potential negative impact on cow efficiency and fertility. 

“I think we have more important things to place focus on than backfat when using EPDs and Indexes, as long as the backfat EPD isn’t extremely high,” Paul says. “As well, if we get enough muscle in our cattle and manage their condition at the feedlot through nutrition and marketing cattle ‘on time’ when they reach 0.55 inches of backfat thickness, on average, we won’t have to worry about Yield Grade.”

Any questiongs about how to apply carcass data that we didn’t cover? Leave us a comment and we’ll get you the answer!

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Quality Wins, Again

Quality Wins, Again

by | Oct 9, 2023

Sara Scott, Vice President of Foodservice for Certified Angus Beef, emphasizes the importance of taste over price in the beef market during the Feeding Quality Forum. As consumer demand for high-quality beef grows, Scott highlights the need for increased supply and encourages communication with packer partners to meet the demand for Prime beef.

On-target at Pratt

by Lyndee Stabel

November 21, 2011

Of all the words that could describe Pratt Feeders, “quality” best fits the staff, the cattle they feed and the way they feed them. Over the past year, the south-central Kansas yard has ramped up its connection with the “Q” word.

There was a big step in March, when the yard demonstrated it could hit the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand target at the Silver level. That means harvesting more than 1,000 head, cumulative, in the CAB 30.06 Program, which highlights groups with 30% or better CAB and USDA Prime with no more than 6% outliers.

Then it became Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certified last summer. That’s an educational program “to ensure cattle are raised in the best possible manner to create the highest quality end-product for consumers,” says Tera Rooney, veterinary research assistant for the Beef Cattle Institute.

Manager Jerry Bohn says CAB and the BQA program are another great fit. “We originally became licensed to assist both CAB and our customers in generating more high-quality beef at a premium price. The BQA program is the perfect addition to it because it extends the quality, control and care we need to have to supply the best product to consumers,” he says.

In September, the yard won CAB’s Quality Focus Award for yards with more than 15,000-head capacity.

It was a great year, but the program was built up over a decade, says Gary Fike, beef cattle specialist for CAB. “Since March, they have already added nearly 500 head to the total qualifying 30.06,” he says, noting that is especially hard to do for big yards.

The smallest eligible 30.06 harvest group is 10 head, so small feedyards can build up incremental success with several sets where 7 of 10 are accepted, for example.

“Bigger feedyards may send in 30 to 50 head at a time, so more cattle in each group have to qualify,” Fike says. At 40,000-head capacity, Pratt Feeders is definitely not a small feedlot.

But staffers use scale to a quality advantage, Rooney discovered in her work doing BQA audits.

“With the detailed training for people and assessments for both people and cattle, it’s no surprise to me that they also excel in raising quality cattle for the Certified Angus Beef brand,” she says.

It’s a calculated approach. “We are focused on attracting quality cattle and constantly improving management to help them attain higher levels of CAB acceptance,” Bohn says.

Part of the management includes extensive sorting and advanced data communication with customers, even to those who do not retain ownership of cattle on feed. Of course, the system isn’t perfect.

“There’s still room for improvement,” Bohn says. But the focus on quality cattle, handling and customer service says quality will keep filling the room.

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First-born beef advantage

 

by Wyatt Bechtel

Early-born calves have a better chance than the later born of making a profit for their owners.

That’s what a 2010 study of Iowa Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF) data helped confirm. The analysis looked at birth date and age of Angus-Simmental rotational crossbred calves, compared to their feedlot performance and carcass traits.

Birth-to-harvest data on 1,369 spring-born calves from 2002 to 2007 on a central Missouri ranch were divided into four groups by date of birth.

Those born in the first 21 days qualified for the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand 28.6% of the time compared to only 11.24% for the calves born after 63 days in the sequence. Calves in the mid-early (22 to 42 days) sequence went 24.37% CAB while those born 43 to 63 days managed only 16.28% qualifiers.

“I didn’t expect to see that large of a difference in quality,” says Darrell Busby, TCSCF manager. Carcasses from the early-born calves earned approximately $11 more than those from the two middle groups, while outperforming the late group by more than $40 (see table).

Busby was also surprised at how the later-born calves did not catch up to their earlier-born herd mates in terms of weight gain. The oldest calves each year had higher weights entering and leaving the feedlot compared to their younger counterparts.

“In other words, you are going to have higher quality grades and more pounds in the earliest born calves,” says Gary Fike, beef cattle specialist for CAB, who presented the findings at last year’s American Society of Animal Science meeting in Denver. The abstract and slide presentation may be viewed at https://cabcattle.com/news/research/index.php

Another somewhat surprising note from the research indicated the earlier a calf was born, the better its disposition. Busby found logic in that, however: “The more time you interact with cattle, the more it allows them to adapt to you. That’s probably why we saw more docile disposition scores in the earlier-born calves.”

The University of Nebraska pioneered this area of research with a study that looked at progeny of a Red Angus-Simmental herd at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman, Neb., finished at the West Central Research and Extension Center near North Platte, Neb.

Nebraska animal scientist Rick Funston says the study, which aimed to underline the importance of a short calving period, showed 30% of calves born in the first 21 days of calving graded average Choice or higher. Fewer than 17% of later-born calves hit that mark.

Carcass weight was positively affected as calves were born earlier. There was a 45-pound (lb.) difference in final carcass weight between the earliest born calves and those born after 42 days.

It all added up to a $77 advantage in carcass value for the oldest calves, but there are other  advantages, too. “Probably the biggest impact is that those cows that calve earlier are going to have a longer period in which to rebreed,” Funston notes, adding the resultant increase in cow longevity will decrease the need for replacement heifers as well.

The study also looked at the impact of heat synchronization on pasture mating, as one possible intervention method. Cows injected with prostaglandin five days after bull turn-in had more calves born in the first 21 days of the calving season and weaned heavier, more valuable calves. Both studies show the benefits of a more uniform calf crop.

“Extension and universities have been telling us for a long time to tighten up your calving season from the basis of marketing your calves and making them as uniform as possible,” Fike says.

When retaining ownership on feed, he recommends selling the latest born calves at weaning to help increase uniformity in the rest: “Let someone else manage those late calves as you reap the benefits of the older calves.”

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Certified Beef Brands

Historical sketch shows dynamite comes in small packages

By Kristen Odom

What began as an idea to create specifications for beef with a breed connection has sparked the interest of many over the years to create their own branded programs. The founding brand remains at the top, but the proliferation of others has arguably made the entire beef industry more consumer driven.

“The Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand started in 1978 and, after a few years, others saw the success of that kind of program,” says David O’Diam, CAB brand extension manager. “Many of these brands have taken advantage of the fact that USDA will certify a program, giving validity to their brand in terms of the specifications they set forth.”

In the late 1980s, USDA began approving more programs under various schedules, many of which were not involved with Angus but focused on other beef characteristics.

Larry Meadows, chief of the Meat Grading and Certification Branch at USDA, explains that creating a program means specifying quality grade and yield grade requirements. Upon applying to USDA’s Standardization Branch, the document is sent to the Food Safety and Inspection Service and other USDA staff. Once all parties agree, the program is approved and officially published.

As of December 2001, 30 of the 41 USDA Certified Programs were Angus focused. That year, 20 programs had specifications of premium Choice or Prime, and 12 of those were Angus focused, but so were nine of the 12 Select programs.

By 2005, the total number of programs had increased to 63 while the number of Angus programs rose to 46.

And as of February of this year, there are 111 programs total with 76 focusing on the Angus breed, but only 29 of those were in effect in 2005. Twenty-four of the 43 premium Choice and Prime programs are Angus focused, but so are five of the six Standard or lower quality programs. “That shows us Angus does not necessarily equal high quality,” O’Diam says.

Through the years, the numbers fluctuate as new programs are added and others are removed.

“A lot of programs don’t survive,” Meadows says. Groups may have good ideas, “but their brands can’t compete in today’s very competitive marketplace.”

Cargill’s Sterling Silver program, not connected to any breed, was the second schedule approved by USDA and is still in existence. Though it has the same marbling criteria as CAB, it accepts A and B maturity cattle, whereas CAB accepts only A maturity. 

O’Diam notes that almost three-fourths of the programs are Angus connected: “That shows the power of the breed.”

Meadows elaborates. “A lot of retailers are requesting Angus because the Angus breed is viewed very favorably by consumers.  Firms look at CAB and see their market share and want to create an Angus-based program for their customers.”

About 80% of the product certified in the upper two-thirds of Choice goes to the CAB brand, explains Meadows.

When CAB made changes to its specifications in 2007, other programs converted the same way to fit the sorting process at packing plants. If CAB and other brands have identical requirements, then any product not sold through CAB can be sold through those others as a fallback.

“Packers are very, very good businessmen,” O’Diam says. “And ultimately, if it doesn’t make them more money in a CAB box, they aren’t going to put it in that box. We have to continue to be more relevant than any other brand, and in the packer’s mind that means not only marketability but ultimately profitability.”

Being the most recognized brand of beef in the country took more than product specifications, he adds, noting that all branded product is tracked from packer to consumer to ensure positive eating experiences.  

“All of the 120 people that work for this brand from Ohio to Kansas and all across the U.S. wake up each morning thinking about how to build on that,” O’Diam says. 

CAB presses on with quality and profitability even in a recession. “I think it shows the value of the brand that it continues to grow when most people are uncertain about consumer demand,” he says.

What’s up?

Quality grades… and a new research paper explains why

By Miranda Reiman

Three years ago, a 30-year decline in beef quality grades was apparent, with only half of fed cattle grading USDA Choice. The Choice/Select spread hit record highs in 2006, but today the picture is much different (see chart). July figures show 60.1% of the harvest mix graded Choice the first half of this year, but why?

Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) animal scientists recently authored a research paper on those trends. “Quality Grade: What is driving the recent upswing?” by Larry Corah and Mark McCully, delves into regional differences, how quality improved so quickly and why it changed.

Nationwide, the share of Choice grading cattle made a 7.5-percentage-point leap in just two years.

“The main reason for that rapid shift is that a large number of cattle marbling scores are very close to the USDA grading lines,” Corah, CAB vice president, says. Just adding 20 more units of marbling, going from Slight-80 to Small-0, results in 5.71% more cattle grading Choice.

“That seemingly tiny change has an even greater impact on those qualifying for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand,” he says.

After a low of 14% CAB acceptance in 2006, the brand will beat 19.5% during this fiscal year. That’s nearly a 40% increase in three years.

The Central Plains show the greatest improvement and distillers grain byproducts might be part of the answer, although potentially part of the problem if they get above 40% of the dry-matter ration content. By 2007 these byproducts were fed in 82.5% of feedlot rations, but at a moderate 15% to 30% level.

When held to those levels, research shows distillers corn byproducts actually result in higher grades, partly by increasing appetite, and especially in starter diets.

“Higher dry-matter intake, better calf health and higher daily gains support higher quality grade,” says McCully CAB assistant vice president, noting that Elanco Animal Health Benchmark® Program data reveals positive trends in all of these areas.

That’s coupled with herd liquidation, which has boosted the heifer share of the harvest mix to 37.4%, a few points above normal.

“Heifers tend to grade 9 to 10 points better than steers, so that may account for at least a half a percentage point increase overall,” he says.

Use of Angus genetics is on the rise and at the same time, the expected progeny difference (EPD) for marbling score in Angus has moved up 7 points since 2004.

“It only moved 9 points in the first 25 years of the EPD’s existence,” Corah says. Angus bull usage increased from 39% to a 55% share of all bulls from 1994 to 2008, and nearly 70% of commercial cows are now considered primarily Angus.

Iowa feedlot futurity data shows only 52.7% of calves with less than a quarter Angus breeding grade Choice, compared to their counterparts that are at least three-quarters Angus, at 86.2% Choice and Prime. CAB acceptance rate nearly quadruples with the greater Angus heritage.

Although quality grade is hard to predict, this grading surge might stick. That doesn’t mean producers counting on grid-based premiums should be discouraged.

“If quality grades do not decline within a year, it could mean the infusion of higher-marbling genetics has had a lasting effect,” Corah says. “Coupled with smaller cattle numbers, consumer demand in a recovering economy will likely drive the Choice-Select spread to higher levels.”

To read the entire paper, visit https://cabcattle.com/about/research/

Full-throttle flexibility

Panhandle Feeders wins CAB Quality Focus Award with pedal to the metal

 

by Miranda Reiman

If you can’t find the type of cattle you want to feed, create them, share the genetics and buy back the progeny to feed. Monitor results and keep improving over time.

It’s all part of the plan at Panhandle Feeders, a 20,000-head Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) partner yard at Morrill, Neb. But the plan, unlike that of any other CAB feedlot, delivers performance and quality on a grand scale.

The CAB Quality Focus Award for feedlots larger than 15,000 head often features a Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance rate near 30%, on perhaps 2,000 enrolled cattle sorted for a grid.

Panhandle enrolled nearly 20,000 head, June through May 2009, sold them on the live market and achieved 28.2% CAB and Prime. Most of them, 16,540 head, were eligible for the brand.

Winning the award was just an outward sign of an integrated performance program that hits the quality target. Manager and co-owner Chris Melson accepted at the CAB annual conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., Sept. 18.

“We’re not in this for recognition, but because we want the information,” Melson says. “We don’t try to guess which ones are good. We enroll every pen we can.”

Success is a team effort, from Larry Rice, who bought the yard in 1994, to Melson and assistant manager Steve True, cattle clerk Diane Ulrich and a crew of 20 others who share the vision.

The program was built on experience. Rice has been a stocker operator and order buyer for 30 years and Melson was a Cargill order buyer for 21 years, buying into Panhandle in 2003. They bought and sold thousands of cattle, tracking profit. True held previous positions at Continental Grain and Horton Cattle Co.

“Money in feeding still comes from a combination that has more to do with performance than carcass,” Rice says. He used to feed more Continentals than Angus, because that was the only way to get performance.

Too many Angus cattle matured early and then marbled. So when Rice started Snake Creek Angus 10 years ago, “we started with Angus outliers that had the genetics to marble early in that growth curve.” After dispersal and rebirth as Flag Ranch, Rice maintains registered bull sales, rapid turnover in his commercial herd and a customer buy-back program that fed 10,000 calves last year.

Rice, Melson and a few others make up 90% of the customer base at Panhandle. Their common goals are profit and the flexibility to achieve it. “With the volatility and capacity issues in this industry, we want to market based on our opinions rather than commitment to the grid systems,” Melson says.

The focus on quality keeps the cash sale option available. “We get our premiums from the way our cattle feed,” he says. “We’re marketing cattle while they are still going up on the efficiency curve.” They hit the show list the day they plateau and therefore win in the yield-driven system. “Anything that is high or low CAB gets talked about,” Melson adds. “We want the ones that can do it all under constant pressure to perform.”

That pressure can produce diamonds. Last year, the calves from Rice’s commercial heifers were implanted three times before they were a year old, yet finished with 7% Prime, 88% Choice and less than 5% Yield Grade (YG) 4s at 13.5 months. They were sold live, without grid premiums, but they hit a home run.

“CAB helps us define our product, but it’s not a premium market for us,” Melson says. “Having that acceptable quality helps us get cattle sold when we don’t have heavies or YG 4s. If you don’t have the quality, then you can’t get them sold and you are forced to grid them.”

Neither Continentals nor yesterday’s Angus cattle will do. “But you take the right black steer, high-percentage or straight Angus, and he will eat the ration more consistently and on a better consumption curve than the Continental,” he says.

“We couldn’t find those cattle 10 years ago, but our group has been able to bring all that to the table, along with the product attributes Angus cattle are known for, the marbling and the CAB brand of steak,” Melson says.

Not perfect yet

Marrs Ranch honored with CAB 2009 Commitment to Excellence Award

 

by Miranda Reiman

People on the Marrs Ranch, Whitewood, S.D., say their cows have a long way to go. They’re not just talking about the trip to distant summer ranges, or finding their way to hay in a blizzard.

They’re talking about imperfections in their 600 commercial Angus cows that others can’t see. You could scarcely find fault in the 19 years of records from feeding their calves. But if you knew every nuance and measured against perfection, you might agree there is still work to be done.

It will get done. The cattle already gain and convert at rates often starting with a 5, and grade more than 95% Choice with up to 80% Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance. But the Marrs Ranch will find ways to improve them. That’s why the brand honored the family with the 2009 Commercial Commitment to Excellence Award at the CAB annual conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., Sept. 18.

Dan and Anna Marrs, with their young son Matthew represent the cattle specialists on the diversified operation northeast of the Black Hills. It includes older brother Paul, the hay and machinery specialist, along with his wife Linda and their children, and the wisdom and experience of parents Ray and Alice.

Ray passed away in August, leaving a legacy of service and leadership from community to cattle. The foundation he helped build included a switch from Hereford to Angus bulls in 1978, and the courage to feed some of the first calves in 1980, when the market fell to barely 50 cents a pound (lb.).

“Our buyers said we might as well try feeding them,” Paul says. “So we did, and then turned around and got 70 cents for the fats. That was a good ticket.”

Price didn’t always work in their favor, but the Marrs family soon noticed their cattle were champion performers, with steers that could gain 5 lb. per day. Aiming for top genetics, Dan admits to buying a few of the wrong bulls in the 1990s, before the Angus breed had today’s balance.

Records show what works and what doesn’t produce “cows we can live with,” he says. Experience more than records revealed some off-track “bull families,” daughters of certain bulls with problems in common. “We don’t live with them. If a female gives us any trouble, she can’t stay here,” Dan says.

Cows that do stay are in groups of 100 to 150; they also stay with the same bulls across several years, he explains. Cow capabilities are proven, so any problems come back to the battery of 30 bulls. Pasture mating is the rule, but heifers are usually synchronized and artificially inseminated (AI), followed by ample bull power. That resulted in 97% bred in 2008.

In all the years of custom feeding, the Marrs Ranch had not seen much individual carcass data until they began sending yearlings to a standout CAB partner yard, Chappell (Neb.) Feedlot, in 2004. Ultrasound sorting there has been especially helpful in finding outliers, Dan says.

After building a successful record feeding their cattle, manager Tom Williams nominated his customer for the CAB award using few words “– Marrs cattle excel both in performance and carcass value –” and an added page of data to prove it.

The 2007 calf crop of 260 steers posted an average daily gain (ADG) of 4.55 across nearly five months, with a dry-matter conversion rate of 5.9 lb. of feed to gain, 94% Choice and 51% CAB. The 106 heifers culled from replacements were a couple of points back in performance but 68.3% CAB. 

“There’s no other sorting here at the ranch,” Dan says. “You’re seeing the good, the bad and the ugly; we feed them all.” He credits Williams, along with reputable Angus seedstock suppliers, family, longtime top hand Raymond Riesland and veterinarian Jim Myers for keeping the herd on track.

Dan has taken a greater interest in carcass traits since touring Cargill plants in Nebraska and Colorado several years ago, and then visiting with the people. “As we talked, I just realized that the packers have always been painted as our enemies, but if you try to get along with them, you can learn a lot,” he says.

Straightbred Angus cattle have allowed the Marrs family to develop just the kind of cows and performance results desired. “Crossbreeding may work for some people, but we know what our Angus cattle can do in the feedlot, as replacement heifers and in our herd. CAB is really a bonus, and it’s a benefit I don’t see attached to any other breed,” Dan says.

“The good beef for a superior dining experience starts on the ranch. You’ve got to know what you produce,” Dan says. It takes hard work, every day, and all family members pulling together. “But we also have fun out here,” he say. “Somehow, God has let us do what we enjoy doing.”

Dix honored at McPherson County Feeders

 

by Laura Nelson

Dara Dix will tell you there’s no secret to her success, though she may balk at taking credit for it.

You could call her “the secretary” at McPherson County Feeders Inc., a Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) licensee near Marquette, Kan. But neither that nor her job description are enough to justify her selection as 2009 CAB Quality Assurance (QA) Officer of the Year. Still, she earned the honor.

Dix’s attention to detail and friendly demeanor help the central Kansas yard enroll more than 6,500 cattle each year in CAB’s Feedlot Licensing Program (FLP) with an 84% data capture rate. That’s the ratio of how much information actually gets through the process from start to finish, and it’s one of the highest among 65 CAB feedlots nationwide.

The QA award honors commitment to quality and dedication to the program. Beef cattle specialist Gary Fike of CAB says Dix shows all that and more. “She always wants to do what’s right,” he says. “Her cheerfulness and willingness to serve customer needs has enabled McPherson County Feeders to become a stellar partner in the FLP.”

Although Dix has helped improve results at the 10,000-head feedlot in many ways, she never thought she would work in the beef cattle industry for long, let alone eight years. She wasn’t raised on a farm or ranch, nor did she grow up showing cattle at the local county fair. As a girl in Plainville, Kan., 120 miles to the northwest, her agriculture knowledge consisted of watching trucks bring wheat to the town elevator where her father worked.

After going to college for accounting and working at a convenience store and for a cable company, Dix says, “I never thought I would know cattle prices and why marbling is important.”

McPherson County Feeders works with customers from Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, to name a few. Dix reports carcass information from the CAB database back to those producers on a regular basis.

“I talk to customers about anything and everything,” she says. “They may want to know their pay weights or if their cattle have come in, or we may just talk about how their family is doing.”

Feedlot manager of 28 years and recently owner as well, Allan Sents knows the importance of having a strong customer base. He says Dix understands the goal of serving through the CAB program.

“Sharing the recorded feedback on carcass information with our producers is a priority,” Sents says. “Dara is always on top of it and works hard to maintain our feedlot’s credibility.”

Efficiency and effectiveness clearly define the methodology for success. She uses color-coded labels to manage all the accounts. “My CAB labels are green and my source ID labels are purple; that way they are all easily accessible to me,” Dix says.

Duties such as feed inputs and billing became routine long ago. “If it is a billing day, I will immediately start inputting feed right away to print off commodity sheets so Allan can figure pricing.”

Between talking with producers and corresponding with CAB data manager Wendy Nichols, communication is crucial for all. “If Allan and I didn’t communicate about pricing or certain data entries, then that could hurt our customers,” Dix says. “When one of us is going to be gone, we make sure to have our ducks in a row before leaving.”