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Tag: feeding Angus cattle

Darnall quality aim honored

 

by Jen Gillespie

November 30, 2011

One of the first and best Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) feeding partners, Darnall Feedlot, Harrisburg, Neb., was known for quality even before licensing in early 1999. Gary and Lane Darnall, father and son, signed on with their 20,000-head yard and quickly gained a wider reputation for consistent quality.

A few years later, CAB created the 30.06 Program to highlight harvest groups of cattle that hit the target with at least 30% Certified Angus Beef ® brand or Prime and no more than 6% outliers.

That’s not as easy as it might sound, especially for a large feedlot. But Darnall had previously won the CAB Partner of the Year for large yards (2006) and the Quality Focus Award (2008), as well as numerous awards in the National Angus Carcass Challenge a few years ago. So they know how to get the job done.

In September, Darnall reached the milestone of having enrolled more than 500 head of 30.06-qualified cattle. In fact, those 506 cattle earned a 43.92% CAB acceptance rate.

“The Darnall focus on high-quality Angus genetics starts on their ranch,” says Paul Dykstra, beef cattle specialist with CAB.

“Gary and Lane have a good sized cow herd of their own and they understand the ins and outs, from birth to harvest, choosing Angus cows as the factory for their own operation,” he says.

 With that background, the Darnalls understand the challenges cattlemen face. That helps them in building relationships.

“The customer has to have confidence in the feedlot, knowing they’ll do a good job at protecting and enhancing the value of their investment,” says Gary Darnall.

Consistent quality is a team effort. “It’s the cattle, the producers that engineer those cattle, and the genetics,” Darnall says. “We feel pretty humble in saying that we get to add some value to that product to a point where it will grade in the upper Choice category.”

Being a CAB partner is just a win/win deal, he adds: “It provides incentive to produce a higher quality product, all the way from the rancher to the retailer.”   

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$100,000 Up for Grabs with 2024 Colvin Scholarships

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by | Mar 20, 2024

Certified Angus Beef is offering $100,000 in scholarships for agricultural college students through the 2024 Colvin Scholarship Fund. Aspiring students passionate about agriculture and innovation, who live in the U.S. or Canada, are encouraged to apply before the April 30 deadline. With the Colvin Scholarship Fund honoring Louis M. “Mick” Colvin’s legacy, Certified Angus Beef continues its commitment to cultivating future leaders in the beef industry.

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by | Dec 20, 2023

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Drought Impact and Cattle Industry Dynamics

by | Nov 8, 2023

As drought conditions persist across much of cattle country, farmers and ranchers are at a pivotal juncture in the cattle industry’s landscape. What impact does this prolonged dry spell have on the nation’s herd numbers? When will heifer retention begin? How will industry dynamics influence the spring bull sale season?

Build beef quality, profit

 

by Janet Kanters

November 28,2011

Canadian feedlots and ranchers can cooperate to improve beef produced from cowherds across the nation, all in the interest of profitably growing demand.

Domestically and around the world, the beef already has a reputation for unsurpassed safety and traceability, along with the high quality of grain feeding.

The next level is to track and improve individual carcass quality.

“We’ve built our production protocols with that in mind,” says Travis Hickey, general manager of cattle strategies for Western Feedlots, with custom feeding operations near Strathmore, High River and Mossleigh, Alta. Working together, the industry can expand both supply and demand for high-quality beef by recording and sharing data, and then using it. “Today, we can provide weights on arrival, average daily gain during the feeding period, death loss, carcass weight, quality grade and yield grade, all on an individual basis,” he adds.

Charlie Fullerton, who uses Angus bulls on black and black baldy cows north of Pincher Creek, Alta., has been feeding with Western for more than 20 years. He retained ownership until the last two years when he sold directly to the feedlot, which has shared performance and carcass data for several years.

“That lets us see which cows and bulls are doing the best; I’ve culled some cows partly on their carcass data,” says Fullerton. The improvement in grade from 50 per cent AAA to 75 per cent AAA he attributes to both culling the lower end and adding more Angus genetics.

“A lot of people don’t think about premiums for quality, or even know what they have. You don’t unless you feed them,” says Fullerton. “Then if they don’t perform on the grid, you’ve got to start changing something.”

Another 20-year customer, Twin H Cattle Co., near Goodsoil, Sask., looks forward to getting individual data now. Trevor Himmelsbach and his family start calving their 800 Angus-base cows in later winter. They are weaned in October and custom fed at Western Feedlots.

“We’ve seen the group data for many years, but could not link that to our own records until now,” says Himmelsbach.

“We’ve had a big improvement, but looking forward to more,” he says. “The bulls I use for AI, I try to select those that will marble well, get a good ribeye and a little less fat – high grid bulls you might say.

Being able to select on the cow side as well, we can make more improvement in those traits.”

Group data showed Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance less than 20 per cent and no more than one per cent Prime. “That’s not where I want those to be,” says Himmelsbach. “We can make a lot of progress there, looking back on which cows are producing CAB and Prime, and AI’ing those to get even better replacements in their progeny.”

The more data, the easier it is to see the effect of a change in feeding program, implant or market weight. The more known the more value, but it’s a dynamic set of data, says Hickey.

“Genetics change from one year to another with the use of different bulls, and there can be large variation within a herd,” he says. “We work with producers in understanding how their cattle performed relative to their cohorts in the areas of performance, health and carcass attributes.”

Western sorts individual cattle into the yard and as they are ready for market to reduce variation in carcass weight and manage optimal end-points.

“We encourage cow-calf producers to get more than just carcass data back, because without other information it is of very little value,” adds Hickey. “For example, as the industry adopts beta-agonists and new implant technologies, it drastically alters the carcass composition.” Knowing the information context helps keep genetic selection on track.

Of course, marbling and quality grade are often up for discussion as part of the entire “complex puzzle.”

“All else being equal, an average yielding carcass that grades upper AAA and fits the CAB brand can be worth $50 per head more than AA of the same weight,” says Hickey.

It’s not uncommon for a load of Western-fed cattle to go 80 per cent AAA, and some 100 per cent or better, but the CAB share has been more commonly in the 10 to 15 per cent area. That can improve while making progress on feed efficiency at the same time, says Hickey, based on company data. That is, you don’t have to give up quality when selecting for feed efficiency.

That tandem focus—quality with efficiency—is the key to producing beef that will attract more consumers, both domestic and globally.

 Hickey says foreign delegations that tour Western Feedlots are “blown away” by the level of individual information and traceability. “And they trust our feeding programs. This is becoming more important with the average consumer everywhere, so Canada is in a great position moving forward.”

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by | Mar 20, 2024

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by | Nov 8, 2023

As drought conditions persist across much of cattle country, farmers and ranchers are at a pivotal juncture in the cattle industry’s landscape. What impact does this prolonged dry spell have on the nation’s herd numbers? When will heifer retention begin? How will industry dynamics influence the spring bull sale season?

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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by | Sep 29, 2023

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Marketing Feeder Cattle: Begin with the End in Mind

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by | Sep 29, 2023

Understanding what constitutes value takes an understanding of beef quality and yield thresholds that result in premiums and/or discounts. Generally, packers look for cattle that will garner a high quality grade and have excellent red meat yield, but realistically very few do both exceptionally well.

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DNA test for gain, grade available soon

Value-based tool will help commercial producers better select, manage Angus cattle

 

by Steve Suther

A new DNA test for marbling and post-weaning growth will soon help cattle producers better hit the high-quality beef target. The tool, set to debut in early 2012, will be made available under a development agreement between Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) and Pfizer Animal Genetics, the companies announced.

Exclusive marketing rights are reserved for Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), in line with the company’s continuing effort to increase the supply of cattle for the brand. AGI and CAB are subsidiaries of the American Angus Association.

The test is being designed for use on high-percentage, commercial Angus cattle sired by registered bulls, according to AGI President Bill Bowman. “It should provide a valuable tool to increase the precision of selection decisions at the ranch, as well as differentiating value for the feedlot,” he said.

Test results will take the form of an index, which is being finalized this fall, said Mark McCully, CAB assistant vice president for supply.

“There have been lots of advancements in the purebred cattle industry utilizing DNA for selection,” Bowman said. “But this will be the first test at a price point that is economically feasible for commercial cattlemen. The American Angus Association, its subsidiaries and Pfizer Animal Genetics are excited to partner on bringing this technology to market for the users of Angus genetics.”

Scott Bormann, business director, Pfizer Animal Genetics, says the development of this product is another example of the strategic partnership between the companies.

“We appreciate the American Angus Association and its affiliates continuing to foster innovation in the field of genetic evaluation,” Bormann said. “The forward-thinking collaboration should result in a DNA test that helps continue to advance genomic use and application, the Angus breed, as well as meet consumer demand for high-quality beef.”

McCully noted what are expected to be popular uses for the tool. “This is going to allow for more accurate replacement heifer selection and targeted management in feeding Angus cattle,” he said. “With demand for high-quality beef at an all-time high, commercial cattlemen will soon gain a greater ability to identify those cattle most able to access premiums in that marketplace.”

California duo wins CAB seedstock award

 

by Laura Nelson

David Medeiros and David Dal Porto – “the Davids”– have more than a few similarities. The native Californians share cattle philosophies and even a bull sale venue. Most recently, they shared the Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) 2011 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence Award at the brand’s annual conference in Sunriver, Ore., Sept. 20-22.

They each grew up showing cattle in the northern San Joaquin Valley, maintaining small cowherds. Those were put on hold when Medeiros headed to Cal Poly and Dal Porto to Chico State, where their paths continued to cross in livestock judging.

“They were real rebels… er, rivals back then,” Dal Porto’s wife Jeanene teases.

After college, their black herds seemed a bit rebellious. Rancho Casino and Dal Porto Livestock were among the few locals that focused on Angus. But they stuck with it, building those show herds up with functional, seedstock genetics.

“They both had a great customer base, but both realized at about the same time that they needed to do business differently,” Medeiros’ wife Carol says.

In the late ’70s, the men saw an opportunity that led to eventual collaboration: Commercial cattlemen were looking to Angus for balance and calving ease in replacement heifers.

“We wanted to offer a large number of bulls that had low birth-weight EPDs [expected progeny differences], and several generations of it,” Dal Porto says.

Nearly year-round forage availability means California cattlemen expect unassisted performance in the pasture, and that includes calving season.

“We believe you should never have to pull a calf,” Medeiros said. Stacked generations and strict culling deliver on that.

“We have a short breeding season, so if they don’t breed we cull them,” Dal Porto says. “There are no second chances.”

Cows from their bulls also have to calve unassisted and excel in udder quality, mothering ability and disposition.

End-product performance is a factor, too. “There are enough cattle out there that we can identify and stack generations that have the lower birth weight, wean a good-sized calf, and add some carcass to go along with it,” says Medeiros.

Their common maternal base established, the partners turn to serving diverse customers who need individual attention.

“We want to work with our customers, not just to make sure they get the right bull, but after that, too,” Dal Porto says.

Age-and-source verification (ASV), AngusSource® enrollment and compliance with non-hormone treated cattle (NHTC) protocol—those acronyms denote extra dollars for their customers.

Some, like John Ginochio of Walnut Creek, Calif., have taken the plunge into finishing cattle. Medeiros and Dal Porto often play the catalyst in developing relationships between feeder and customer, or even go in on partial ownership of calves at Beller Feedlot, Lindsay, Neb., which nominated them for the CAB award.

Ginochio uses data from Beller and CAB to improve his herd, and began building his reputation by noting his bull source 10 years ago.

“People know these aren’t just black cattle, and they aren’t just great Angus cattle,” he says.

Other Dal Porto Livestock and Rancho Casino customers have been “name branding” their calves at auction as well, often paired with another value-adding brand.

“There’s a reason people put ‘CAB-candidates’ next to our cattle,” Medeiros says. Dal Porto chimes in, “Everyone knows what that stands for, and people pay more for those.”

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Angus capital

Keeling Cattle Feeders shares data and family-style connections

 

by Wyatt Bechtel and Steve Suther

Hereford, Texas, is known as the “Beef Capital of the World.” It is also home to Keeling Cattle Feeders, CAB 2011 Feedlot Partner of the Year for all yards with more than 15,000-head capacity.

In 2007, only about one-quarter of the feedlot’s 17,000 head were Angus type, and of those just 9.6% reached Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance. Becoming a CAB partner that year added an Angus focus to the Keelings’ overall commitment to quality. Last year, the yard enrolled 6,200 head that made 21% CAB – well above the Texas average.

“We changed our whole business over the last few years,” says Scott Keeling, who owns the yard with wife Karen. The couple accepted the CAB award at the brand’s annual conference in Sunriver, Ore., Sept. 20-22.

Risk management has been increasingly important as the feedlot moved up from 25% to 50% cattle ownership while upgrading animal type. Oldest son Tyler has been a big help in that regard. He’s a commodity broker in Amarillo, and with wife Trudy, parents of the Keelings’ only grandchild, Reid.

Second-oldest son Levi is a feedlot-operations major in a nearby junior college, and Tom, the youngest at 13, is just getting into the junior-high school years with lots of activities. The Keelings always made time to attend local sporting events for the sons who span 16 years in age, devoting time to teach life’s lessons along with golf and fly fishing.

Grading effects, weather and variable lot sizes are a few of the challenges the feedlot faces. “Sometimes it’s like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall,” Keeling says. “But that’s part of what I like about our business.”

He also likes the results, as real opportunities get nailed down, herds improve and everybody from rancher to consumer wins.

“There’s a circle of friends that comes with being a CAB partner,” says Keeling, who was honored in 2008 as CAB Progressive Partner of the Year.

One of those friends is state and nationally prominent Angus producer Steve Olson, who started feeding with Keeling when it became a CAB-licensed yard.

“The feedlot is the right size to give personal attention,” Olson says. “He’s involved himself in the marketing and feeding. He knows what’s going on in his yard and that is a plus to me.”

Olson was looking for a feeder who could provide carcass data on the calves he was raising.

Keeling Cattle Feeders has served as a tour stop for chefs from big cities and other beef specialists who want to learn more about the products they sell, prepare and serve.

“We do a lot of things like that; we’re really transparent with what we do and I love to show it to people,” Keeling says. “They ask good questions and appreciate what you’re doing.”

The feedlot is a model with its beef-industry advocacy and a commitment to quality; much of its business revolves around building bridges.

“Those relationships have only gotten stronger with our CAB affiliation,” Keeling says.

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by | Mar 20, 2024

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by | Nov 8, 2023

As drought conditions persist across much of cattle country, farmers and ranchers are at a pivotal juncture in the cattle industry’s landscape. What impact does this prolonged dry spell have on the nation’s herd numbers? When will heifer retention begin? How will industry dynamics influence the spring bull sale season?

Testament to plan well executed

Pratt Feeders wins CAB award

 

by Steve Suther

A 38,000-head feedlot near Pratt, Kan., shows what can be done with a systematic approach to higher quality beef.

Pratt Feeders committed to quality in 2003 by licensing with Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), and won a national CAB award the next year because of manager Jerry Bohn’s plans.

With universal staff support, the feedyard gathered data as never before, sharing it with CAB and customers to upgrade cattle and profitability.

Back then, its 11% Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance rate on 17,000 cattle was a benchmark to leave in the dust. In the same June-May period ending this spring, a similar number of enrolled and harvested cattle made nearly 32% CAB and Prime.

That was 7 percentage points above the 2010 Pratt Feeders mark, too. It’s why, at the CAB annual conference in Sunriver, Ore., Sept. 20-22, assistant manager Dave Latta accepted the 2011 Quality Focus Award for partners with more than 15,000-head capacity.

“We made a conscious effort to procure more of the right kind of cattle,” he says. “But our retained ownership customers have made great progress as well.”

Latta heads up both areas of procurement.

“Our cattle from Florida and Louisiana customers fit in with those from Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and South Dakota, pretty much all Angus,” he says. Per-head premiums earned in June ranged from the mid-$40s to twice that above the cash market.

Bohn says a key to earning premiums is learning how to feed high-quality cattle as a category, and specific to repeat customers.

He set the course for success years ago with a strategy to learn as much as possible about the cattle he feeds while inviting higher quality placements. The feedyard has enrolled more than 150,000 cattle in the CAB database since licensing. It opened doors to Angus producers for networking and a series of options to return data, even when the feedlot buys up to full interest.

“Angus customers have made a pretty intensive selection for quality as we learned to feed them a bit more and returned the data,” Bohn says. In 2003, he knew something about the genetic potential in 15% of the cattle fed. Today that stands at 35% to 40%.

Other factors have affected quality, too, he says, including weather and instrument grading.

Over the last couple of years, Pratt Feeders has been increasingly involved with CAB in training foodservice and beef sales teams.

“Our industry has to become a little more transparent,” Bohn says. “The beef consumer is quite removed from the rural roots of years ago. We have to become advocates for our industry.”

That’s why the feedlot keeps looking for more ways to bridge the cultural and information gap between segments in the food chain.

From rancher to feeder, packer to purveyor and consumer, “everybody in the system is more willing to share information than they used to be,” he says. “All the volatility and higher prices in the system put more pressure on the need to share if we are all going to move ahead.”

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‘Steer party mix’ yields top quality beef

 

by Jackie Eager

Cattle enjoy snack foods as much as people; Herr Angus Farm, Nottingham, Pa., uses that as an advantage.

Their 600-head feedlot is an extension of the farm’s Angus breeding program that began when Herr Foods Inc. was looking for a way to make the most of snack food byproducts.

“In the daily production of snack foods there is a percentage that does not meet quality specifications for the consumer,” manager Dennis Byrne says. “That product is fed to our cattle.”

These byproducts are high in energy and extremely palatable. As part of a feeding ration, they promote fast gains and high-quality carcasses. Cattle like it so much that the feedlot crew calls the ration, ‘Steer Party Mix.’

Meanwhile, they’re all business when it comes to quality. “We pay extremely close attention to the details of our rations, health programs and implant strategy to produce as many Certified Angus Beef carcasses as possible,” Byrne says.

The focus and results make Herr Angus Farm a perfect fit for the Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) Feedlot Licensing Program (FLP), a network of 65 yards across the United States.

The FLP is designed to reward producers for high-quality cattle that meet Certified Angus Beef ® brand specifications.  Partner feedlots enroll cattle with CAB and licensed packers pay premiums for those that qualify for the brand.

“From the beginning we have always worked to hit the Certified Angus Beef ® target,” Byrne says.

Byrne knows that it takes more than just feeding snack-food byproducts to produce for the brand. The feedlot ships cattle directly to CAB-licensed packers to receive carcass data, which is then analyzed and used to help customers build more value into their Angus herds.

“In the future I hope to increase the number of producers who are serious about beef quality in their breeding program,” Byrne says. “I want to be able to get them carcass information so they can correct their programs and we can continue to move toward a higher percentage of CAB quality cattle out of our yard.”

Certified Angus Beef is the world’s leading brand of fresh beef. Since 1997, packers have paid producers more than $250 million in value-based grid premiums for cattle accepted into the brand. For more information on CAB product and recipes, visit www.certifiedangusbeef.com. Cow-calf producers and feedlots can learn more about the CAB Program by visiting www.cabcattle.com or by contacting Gary Fike at 785-539-0123.

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.”