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Tag: Feeding Quality Forum

Feeding Quality Forum Registration Opens

Save your seat by July 31 for this premier cattlemen event.

By Morgan Boecker

May 31, 2022

As cattlemen continue to experience black swan events and rising input costs, so does their need for information on the latest production trends that pay.

The 17th annual Feeding Quality Forum (FQF), hosted by Certified Angus Beef (CAB), brings together people, insights and solutions to generate greater revenue for cattle feeders and cow-calf producers. The event will be at the Hilton Kansas City Airport in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 23 and 24, 2022.

“Feeding Quality Forum creates an environment of like-minded cattlemen and industry partners who want to be on the forefront of high-quality beef production,” says Kara Lee, CAB director of producer engagement. “If you’re interested in raising, managing and marketing the best finished cattle, this event brings together the people and information to do so.”

FQF attendees learn more about practical, profitable and progressive ideas for raising cattle in high demand.

To stay on the cutting edge of premium beef production, register at FeedingQualityForum.com. Early registration is $100 for those who sign up before June 30. Late registration is $200 from July 1 to 31. Student registration is $50.

Tuesday’s afternoon sessions will kick off with Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company, sharing a global market update. Other sessions include risk-management strategies, how to earn premiums for high-quality carcasses and an overview of shoppers’ meat purchasing habits.

“We’re in a fast-paced, ever-changing business,” Lee says. “To stay ahead of the curve and be profitable, you have to be in the room for tough conversations and be willing to work together to find answers.”

The evening program will recognize the 2022 Industry Achievement Award recipient, Randy Blach, CattleFax CEO. Blach has dedicated his career to analyzing cattle, grain and protein markets around the world to provide timely insight to cattlemen to make risk-management decisions. He joins the ranks of such industry legends as Paul Engler, Topper Thorpe, Lee Borck, Larry Corah, John Matsushima and Bob Smith, who have also been recognized for their contributions to the feeding industry.

“This conference is all about cultivating success and innovations in the fed cattle industry,” Lee says. “Honoring an influential leader who helped pioneer those successes has become a signature part of the program. It’s always a treat to showcase their contributions and celebrate among their peers.”

Wednesday morning will start with a look into CAB’s sustainability efforts to maintain its premium beef market share. Other topics will highlight cattle health at the feedyard, the beef-on-dairy landscape and best practices for getting the most for your feeder calves.

For those interested in learning more about how beef gets to restaurants, sign up for the exclusive, pre-event Beef Blitz the morning of Aug. 23. The special tour is limited to the first 45 attendees who claim a spot. The visit will include a tour of CAB-licensed distributor Sysco Kansas City, followed by lunch before the opening FQF program. Beef Blitz is a free addition to registration, space permitting.

Find more information on the event and register today at FeedingQualityForum.com.

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$100,000 Up for Grabs with 2024 Colvin Scholarships

$100,000 Up for Grabs with 2024 Colvin Scholarships

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.

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

Raised with Respect™ was developed as part of a strategic cattle care partnership between Sysco and CAB. The collaboration focuses on supporting farmers and ranchers, equipping them with continuing education to stay current on best management practices and helping to increase consumer confidence in beef production.

Drought Impact and Cattle Industry Dynamics

Drought Impact and Cattle Industry Dynamics

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?

Register now: Backgrounding for Quality seminar

 

by Laura Nelson

Everybody is paying more for cattle now than ever before.

That should be reason enough to attend the “Backgrounding for Quality” field day, says Gary Fike, of Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB).

Set for Thursday, March 8 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., the event aims to help stocker operators reach profitability by focusing on their output. White Brothers Cattle Co. will host attendees at their ranch south of Chickasha, Okla.

“With tight feeder calf supplies, rising feed costs and all the other market dynamics, backgrounders may have to manage cattle a little differently than they have in the past,” says Fike.

The speakers will provide data and ideas.

Darrell Peel, Oklahoma State University (OSU) economist, kicks off the program with a market outlook.

Then, three rotating breakout sessions will cover management and marketing practices:

  • “Backgrounding best practices,” by Mike Nichols, Pfizer Animal Health, and Chickasha veterinarian Bruss Horn
  • “Managing stockers for a quality endpoint,” by Gerald Horn, OSU
  • “What a feeder wants,” by Dale Moore, Cattleman’s Choice Feedyard

Pfizer’s Greg Quakenbush will cap off the program shedding light on industry myths with his presentation, “The truth about…”

“We have some of the foremost experts on stocker research and education lined up,” Fike says. “They’re good at stating the hard facts, comparing numbers and giving practical advice.”

The field day, sponsored by OSU, CAB and Pfizer, is free, but interested stockers must RSVP by Friday, Feb. 24 to Marilyn Conley. Call 800-225-2333, ext. 298, or e-mail her at mconley@certifiedangusbeef.com.

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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.

Packer says cooperate, modern technology

By Miranda Reiman

October 12, 2011

If national trends are the equivalent of a beef industry report card, then ranchers and feeders are making the grade.

But Glen Dolezal, of Cargill Meat Solutions, warns that they need to pay attention to stay at the top of the class.

“Beef quality has been up each of the last three years, but we do have some concerns,” he said during a presentation at the Feeding Quality Forum. The company’s assistant vice president of business development and field sales leader outlined both the bright spots and challenges at the meetings in Omaha, Neb., and Garden City, Kan., in late August.

“Beef demand is linked to the great taste of beef,” Dolezal said. “We like to think of it as a three-legged stool made of tenderness, juiciness and flavor. If any one of them is broken, the eating experience doesn’t work.”

Trying to ensure that consistency, three out of every four carcasses in Cargill’s plants are destined for branded programs, and the increased quality of the past few years has helped them fill those orders.

“We think a lot of that is related to changes in genetics,” he said. “We’re seeing a high percentage of black-hided cattle entering our facilities.”

Dolezal talked about a Colorado State University study that evaluated eating experience at several different marbling levels. He noted that as the researchers selected carcasses with trace amounts of marbling or Standards, only 49% were “A-stamped,” denoting “Angus-type” at the plant. Compared to 92% of all moderately abundant (Prime) that received the same classification.

Cattle feeders are also using more ethanol co-products to economically extend days on feed.

“We think all of this is positive to beef quality,” he said.

What’s not? The increased intensity of implants along with the use of strong beta-agonist feed additives.

“At Cargill, we won’t buy cattle that knowingly have been fed zilpaterol [beta-2 agonist],” Dolezal said.

“Our point of view is that if we get too aggressive (with regard to growth) throughout the animal’s lifetime it can have an impact on the consumer attributes of size, quality and tenderness,” he said. “So we need to find a balance. The message there is that we ask you to be careful.”

As cattlemen make genetic and management decisions, it’s important to have good data to compare year-to-year.

“If you were trying to make genetic change or changing an implant program or feeding ration and you drew a grader that required more marbling to call it Choice, you’d think your cattle aren’t very good,” he said. “But on a different day you could draw a grader that required less, and you’d think you had really good cattle.”

The USDA and packers worked together for many years calibrating and testing camera systems before implementing them to call marbling scores. Currently about 10 plants in the U.S. use the technology to determine quality grade.

“The cameras have been a big win, a big success story,” Dolezal said. “Our customers have been very pleased with the consistency they’re getting box to box, based on marbling levels and other traits.”

Cattle producers should be happy, too.

“Data for grid payments and pre-harvest decisions are more accurate, consistent and repeatable,” he said.

Dolezal said that each part of the beef industry needs to rally together to continue pleasing the consumer.

“We’re all in this together, and if we can ever get in the same spirit on the same page, working together, we’re going to put out a greater product and more of it to compete with other proteins or even the vegan diet,” he said. “We have to be on the same page to promote beef and grow demand for it for every segment to be profitable into the future.”

The Feeding Quality Forums were co-sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Feedlot Magazine and Purina Land O’Lakes. More information and proceedings are available at www.cabcattle.com.

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by | Mar 20, 2024

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Carcass Quality Set to Climb Seasonally

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by | Jan 4, 2024

With the arrival of the new year the beef market will rapidly adjust to changes in consumer buying habits. This will remove demand pressure from ribs and tenderloins, realigning the contribution of these most valuable beef cuts to a smaller percentage of carcass value

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

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by | Dec 20, 2023

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angus heifers looking over fence

Happy cattle, happy consumers

October 6, 2011

“If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

Surely you’ve heard that phrase and you get what it inherently means. If the household caretaker isn’t in a good mood, it trickles down to the rest of the family.

Don Tyler, Tyler and Associates, addresses the Feeding Quality Forum attendees.

As I was listening to management consultant Don Tyler talk at our Feeding Quality Forum in August, it got me thinking how applicable that same philosophy is to animal caretakers. When they’re not happy, the herds aren’t happy. When feedlot employees aren’t happy, how much pride are they really taking in the job they’re doing?

And a growing body of research proves cattle that never have a bad day do better on the rail. Continue reading “Happy cattle, happy consumers”

Tell the story, curb those regs

By Miranda Reiman

Agriculture stays ahead of the curve in caring for land and livestock, but that’s too much of a secret, according to a Nebraska Cattlemen environmental specialist.

One of Kristen Koch’s first slides at the Feeding Quality Forum in Omaha this August set the tone for her talk with, “Eat our dust, EPA.” She talked about public misconceptions and strategies to rebuild the beef industry image.  At the Garden City, Kan., event a couple of days later, Clayton Huseman of the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) delivered related comments on regulations.

“I want to arm you with an arsenal of scientific facts so you can feel comfortable and confident talking about the great job the beef industry does managing its environmental impact,” Koch began.

Shooting down bogeys in order, a myth about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock was first. Noted at 18% of the total by a still-quoted 2006 United Nations report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2009 put it closer to 3%.

M&M feedyard pen

Efficiency helps the planet, she pointed out, as we generate more beef with less feed, energy, land, water, fossil fuels and even fewer cattle. Of course, that also decreases the GHG methane and ammonia produced per unit of beef.

“We can talk positively and confidently, with our heads held high,” Koch said. But even though the livestock industry’s impact is small and technology is further reducing that impact, “we’re one of the most heavily regulated industries.”

Huseman, director of KLA’s Feedlot Division, said in Garden City that all those regulations began by targeting issues outside of agriculture. He detailed how the regulatory aim shifted and expanded its impact on the beef industry, especially large confinement operations, and then reviewed current and pending laws.

Koch and Huseman agreed beef producers must become more efficient communicators. They see public misinformation as a big reason for the increase in governmental control, which Huseman said brings even more operational challenges and uncertainties.

As a call to action, he said producers must become more aware of what they are actually doing. “Too many times we obtain permits for production without truly knowing the contents, except for how long it lasts.”

He also stressed the need to look at regulations, in and outside of agriculture, in a new light: Consider not only the effects they could have today but in the future as well.

“We’ve got to review absolutely everything,” Huseman said.  “Even if it’s not directed at our industry now, someday it will be.”

Gaining that awareness, producers need to pass the information along.

“I think every single environmentalist, animal activist, scientist, homemaker—anyone in the world—would agree the purpose of animal agriculture is to generate high-quality food at an affordable cost, low environmental impact and in an animal-welfare friendly way,” Koch said. “Find the common ground on the purpose of the industry.  Then start speaking up about your practices.”

The Feeding Quality Forums were co-sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Feedlot Magazine and Purina Land O’Lakes. More information and proceedings are available at www.cabcattle.com.

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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.

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

by | Dec 20, 2023

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Drought Impact and Cattle Industry Dynamics

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?

Some discounts lead to profit

Counterintuitive keys to feeding cattle expensive corn

By Miranda Reiman

Corn is high. Logically, that means feeders will sell cattle lighter with fewer days on feed, right?

Not exactly. That’s what Shawn Walter, Professional Cattle Consultants (PCC), told attendees at the recent Feeding Quality Forum.

“Every time we see another spike in corn prices you hear another analyst talking about how the higher ration prices are going to force fewer days on feed and cut carcass weights. I don’t think that’s ever happened,” he said. “Our dataset goes back to 1971 and every time the corn prices increase, we see a resulting increase in out-weights as a result.”

PCC research shows it’s a sound strategy for those selling on a carcass basis.

“With the high costs of gain, do we need to sell cattle earlier and avoid the grids?” Walter asked. “Actually, it’s the opposite.”

He explained “carcass transfer.” As cattle get heavier, a higher percentage of the live weight gain goes to the carcass.

“Putting on carcass weight becomes more efficient than putting on live gain,” he says. As feed costs climb, that’s magnified.

In their database, using a $340 ration price, it is profitable to feed cattle for a live endpoint up to 100 days – which means every day you feed cattle beyond that point, your breakeven selling price is increasing instead of decreasing. However, cattlemen can continue to feed for another 60 to 90 days for a carcass endpoint.

PCC sorted cattle records into high, middle and low-profit thirds and compared their characteristics.

“Average daily gain is obviously the most important factor in overall profitability,” he said, noting the highest money-getters put on 3.3 pounds (lb.) per day, compared to 2.8 for the least profitable.

“But as you dig into the data, as cattle improved their grade, we also saw improvement in that average daily gain,” he said. “Those two are positively correlated.”

That makes sense, he said, because, “Cattle that are able to gain efficiently are also able to gain fat deposition and increase grade. If you think about it, grading and performance should go hand-in-hand, especially with the improved genetics we have today.”

The high-graders, gainers and profit-getters also had a common, perhaps surprising, theme. They also had the most discounts.

“There tends to be an aversion toward having any heavyweight carcasses, any yield grade (YG) 4s and 5s or any discounts on the grid,” Walter said. “If you don’t have some discounts, you haven’t taken the entire pen to the level you need to.”

Those penalties are balanced by increased pounds sold.

“Because of the additional days on feed and weight, you’re going to get additional grade, including higher percentages of CAB (Certified Angus Beef ®),” he said. “That’s good, but you can’t just weigh premium versus discount.  You’re actually going to get a premium on heavier cattle that are going CAB and that more-than offsets the few YG 4s and 5s you’re going to get as a result.”

Walter’s main message was that times have changed and management and marketing strategies need to match these new economic times.

“If you’ve never sold cattle on a carcass weight basis, you’ve always been a live seller, maybe this is the one time you need to look for opportunity to sell cattle on a carcass basis,” he said.

“Regardless of the market, there are cattle that make money and cattle that lose money,” Walter said, noting the average $200 spread in monthly profit or loss.

Knowing cattle history can help feeders make sure they hit the top end of that range.

“When you know how the cattle are going to grade and perform, you can put all that together and use that to push the envelope,” he said.

The meetings, held in Omaha, Neb., and Garden City, Kan, were sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, CAB, Purina Land O’Lakes and Feedlot Magazine.

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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.

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

by | Dec 20, 2023

Raised with Respect™ was developed as part of a strategic cattle care partnership between Sysco and CAB. The collaboration focuses on supporting farmers and ranchers, equipping them with continuing education to stay current on best management practices and helping to increase consumer confidence in beef production.

Drought Impact and Cattle Industry Dynamics

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?

Beef picture: record prices in, out

 

by Miranda Reiman

If there was ever a good news/bad news story in the cattle feeding industry, this year is a classic example. 

Market analyst Dan Basse, AgResource Company, warned cattle feeders of continued upward pressure on input prices while also pointing out the “bright spots” of increasing exports and high cattle prices.

Basse spoke at the Feeding Quality Forum in Omaha, Neb., and Garden City, Kan., last month.

“It’s another year of struggle between an economic landscape that’s less than favorable—we don’t see domestic beef demand rising this year—and this new worry about the price of feed and forage,” he said.

Utilizing field agronomists, weather data and historical trends, his company predicts an average corn yield of 148 bushels (bu.) per acre this season. Southern drought, combined with very high nighttime temperatures in the upper Midwest, all contribute.

“Extreme heat during the day, we never cooled off at night and that gets us back to problems like ear tipping, pollination blanks, long silks and, unfortunately, a less than desired corn crop,” Basse said.

Global stocks of corn are tight, and that’s why he sees a trading range of $6.50/bu. to $8.50/bu. going forward.

Of course, corn isn’t the only feed resource with bullish pressures. The extended drought in the Southern Plains is pushing forage and pasture prices upward. The drought has already devastated those regions, but if it extends into 2012 its impacts could be magnified for the entire beef industry.

“What does that mean for forage prices? What does that mean for wheat crops? What does that mean for future cattle availability?” he asked.

The decline of the U.S. cowherd is rapidly intensifying—a trend that’s being realized south of the border, too.

“Mexican cattle imports into the United States have been very, very high,” Basse said. “I don’t think we can continue that trend, though.”

Their domestic per-capita meat consumption is increasing. In contrast, the U.S. beef demand has been on a slow decline since 2006. Fortunately, imports to Mexico have stepped up.

“For the longest time it used to be that as retail price went up, beef use went down,” Basse said. “Now we are in this environment where retail prices are rising but we are also seeing an increase in total demand. That is due to the export segment.”

Ag Resource Co. projects exports reaching 12% to 13% of supply in the near future.

“That takes us above the pre-BSE (“mad cow”) levels and will keep cash cattle prices very high,” he said.

As Chinese consumers start encroaching on annual incomes above $5,000, the tipping point for including more meat in the diet, they are a target market.

“We think that U.S. beef is on the doorstep of making it to a greater degree into China,” Basse said.

Demand seems easier to pinpoint than supply right now.

“Could we have cow numbers to a low enough level that would send beef prices up to $2 on a live basis by sometime in 2013 and 2014?” he asked. “To some degree cash cattle prices will try to keep at a high price level so we don’t liquidate any more of our cowherd.”

Feeder prices will stay in the $125 to $140, range and may even climb to $150 in the next year.

These high numbers mean there are going to be more discerning diners.

“We want quality to be maintained at a very high level in beef, because if we’re going to have this elevated beef price we want to make sure the consumer is rewarded for that consumption,” Basse said.

The main take-home message is this: “Margin, margin, margin is the new mantra for feedlots if it hasn’t been already,” he said. “It’s just a challenge of margin—what goes in and what goes out—and how do we manage both ends?”

The meetings were co-sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Feedlot Magazine and Purina Land O’Lakes.

More information and proceedings will be posted when available at www.cabcattle.com.

It takes time to build a good relationship — time, trust and technique. Yesterday, in Part I of “Making calving season a breeze,” we talked about how important it is to develop those good relationships early in an animal’s life. It starts with putting in some extra time, but Dr. Tom Noffsinger had a few more ideas focused on technique to will build that trust between animals and caregivers.

Dr. Tom speaking at the Feeding Quality Forum

Here are a few other great animal handling tips Dr. Tom shared that day at the Feeding Quality Forum:

For calving:

  • “Cows should never go through a gate without her calf by her side.” If they must be transported, move them as pairs. In grazing situations, don’t force mammas and babies to separate to find food.
  •  “We as caregivers can enhance the number of times a baby nurses.” If a cow doesn’t trust her caregiver, she’ll hide her baby and only go back to nurse 2-3 times a day. That decreases the amount of transferred immunity and other vital maternal bonding the calf gets. Continue reading “Make calving season (and beyond) a breeze, Part II”

I’ll start this post by getting one thing clear: I am NOT a morning person. I never have been. My family knows this better than anyone, which is why it shocked me so much to receive a 6 a.m. phone call from my father the other day.

Some of the first calves on the ground at Nelson Farms — yes, that is a second tail behind the little guy. Calving season kicked off with healthy twins and just got better with some outstanding heifers, thanks to solid handling practices early in their lives.

He called just to chat – it was 4 a.m. back in Nebraska, and he was out checking heifers. He bought this set of first-calf heifers in the fall, and had been pleasantly surprised with them so far. Things were going so well, in fact, that rather than having to assist any of their calving efforts, he had time to call his youngest daughter to chat oh-so-early in the morning.

“They’re calm, gentle, easy to work with – they just handle well. They take good care of their babies and are all nursing just fine. These ol’ girls are going to make some great cows. Someone really did some fine work with them before they arrived at our place,” he told me.

I got to the office later that morning, still pondering that group of heifers. What had gone so right at the ranch before ours to create such a peaceful condition back home? Continue reading “Start early to make calving season a breeze, Part I”

Exports key to beef demand

Feeders focus on the high-quality beef that leads to a brighter future

 

by Steve Suther

Opportunities hide within every challenge, but beef producers can find them through analysis and planning. That was part of the take-home message at the Feeding Quality Forums, Nov. 10 in South Sioux City, Neb., and Nov. 12 in Garden City, Kan.

“While domestic demand struggles, tremendous economic growth in Asia points to market potential for high-quality U.S. beef,” said Dan Basse, president of the Chicago-based AgResource Company, who reprised his 2007 role as lead speaker.

The fourth annual sessions were sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Feedlot magazine and Land O’ Lakes Purina Feed LLC. More than 150 cattle feeders and allied professionals attended.

Beef exports represent just 7% of production, compared to pork and poultry each around 19%, Basse told them. “If U.S. beef could get that export share up to 14%, it could add $9 to $13 per hundredweight (cwt.) to cattle prices.”

He suggested devoting some beef checkoff funds to building global demand. “You will need to broaden your base to generate more income and finance feed purchases in the volatile grain markets,” Basse said. In the short term, demand from a recovering ethanol industry will help support an upward trend in corn prices, he added.

Mark McCully, CAB assistant vice president for supply, pointed out reasons for the recent increase in beef quality grades and highlighted the greater demand for Certified Angus Beef ® brand product that makes it a more rewarding and stable target than simply USDA Choice.

One measure of that demand can be seen in CAB international sales. At 10% of the company’s 663 million pounds in 2009, the ratio outpaces exports of all U.S. beef.

McCully agreed that global markets hold a key to the future and noted there are few obstacles to greater supply.

“We keep finding more areas where the high-quality beef target coincides with making a profit,” he said. “Producers just have to understand their own cost-value relationships that govern the purchase of feeder calves, use of technology and marketing strategies.”

Genomics, or DNA marker-assisted selection of cattle, holds greater promise to adding more quality and profit potential, according to Mark Allan and Kent Andersen of Pfizer Animal Genetics.

The charted markers for various traits have increased from just seven in 2004 to 54,000 today. That lets seedstock producers make decisions earlier to focus on promising lines, and plans for “marker-assisted management” will open this world to commercial cow-calf, stocker and feedlot operators, Allan and Andersen said.

Making the most of genetic potential requires focused nutrition, said Ron Scott, director of beef research for Purina Mills. He reviewed data on health and weather factors relating to performance and grade before settling into a discussion of feeding strategies.

The ideal balance of grains, vitamins and minerals optimizes beef quality and producer profitability. Scott presented details on industry research into distillers’ byproducts and the most effective feeding levels, generally from 12% to 25%.

 However, finishing diets mainly just fill the marbling cells determined much earlier in life. Recent research has concluded that nutritional marbling starts with fetal programming, especially in the third trimester, Scott said.

“It’s based on the concept of epigenics, that the environment can cause genes to behave differently,” he explained. “Studies of Holocaust survivors and their offspring prove such changes are permanent and can be passed on to future generations.”

Beef cows are “the most nutritionally challenged” of livestock, seemingly by design. “We plan for them to lose weight during the winter,” Scott noted, countering, “What if we cared for the cowherd like we do pregnant women?”

In a closing presentation Alex Avery, director of research for the Hudson Institute, suggested “the tide is about to turn” in both the real and figurative “Food Wars.”

Fear of hunger has fueled war for centuries, but Avery focused on the war of ideas about how food should be produced, considering that demand for it will more than double in the next 40 years. It could triple if living standards keep trending higher.

All that added demand won’t come just from the growth in population, which should peak at 8.25 billion in 2050, but mainly from growth in disposable income in Asia, he said.

Echoing comments from Basse, Avery said the beef industry should not look to U.S. demand for its future base, because domestic demand for meat has stagnated to the point of “social debates that elevate myth over science.”

Among the myths he works to dispel are global warming, organic utopia and the supposed unsustainable nature of large-scale farming.

“Corn-fed beef and dairy are the most planet-friendly products we can have,” Avery said. “Unfortunately, some research is ignored by mainstream media and even government organizations. Pandering to perceptions justifies their budgets.”

Author of “The Truth About Organic Foods,” Avery challenged producers to engage the media by adding “planet-friendly” claims to all packaged fresh beef. “That will force them to face facts, even though it’s a debate they don’t want to have,” he said.

The event was covered by BeefCast, and audio versions of the presentations are available at http://www.beefcast.com/2009-certified-angus-beef-feeding-quality-forum. Email info@certifiedangusbeef.com for print or other details.