If you walk into Darnall Feedlot–whether you’re lost on the quiet western Nebraska county road or you’re a rancher looking to feed some cattle–there’s a smiling face that’s sure to greet you.

Meet Ruth Ammon. At first glance, she may look like a typical administrative assistant, answering phones and doing bookwork. But if you were to observe her role at the feedyard, you’d see it’s much more than just keeping the iced tea jug stocked.

“I really like all of it and working with all the people,” Ruth says. “I like working with the employees. I like working with the owners. I like working with the customers. I like answering the phone…” The list continues.

Marriage and career opportunities took her away from Harrisburg, Neb., but it was a family matter that brought her back to Banner County and she says she’s never felt more at home. After her brother passed away, Ruth and her husband felt the call to help her sister-in-law raise her two young sons.

“It was a divine appointment,” she says.

During the last 10 years, the University of Wyoming animal science graduate has incrementally added both hours and responsibilities as office manager at the 24,000-head feedlot.

Ruth weighs trucks, answers questions and figures a breakeven with ease. Her entire goal is to make everyone else’s job easier.

She brings a problem-solving approach and smart ideas to the table to do just that. When anyone, from cowboys to feedyard owner-managers Gary and Lane Darnall, wants to know what’s going on for the day, they look no further than the central bulletin board. She posts announcements and updates daily.

“It doesn’t seem to matter where you are, communication is critical,” she says. That’s true externally, too.

A rancher inquiry? Ruth has it covered.

“I can answer more and more questions all the time,” she says, noting that her ag background helps. “The terminology is all familiar.”

Many cattlemen are anxious to get their carcass and feedlot data back, and because it’s important to them, it’s important to Ruth. She’ll track it down.

“The customer really wants to know how they perform and how that compares to the rest of the industry,” she says. “They want to know if they’re doing everything right.”

When I asked about her style, Ruth says, “I’m pretty much the same all the time. I’m steady.”

In a business where trucks break down, vendors call at unexpected times, cattle need treatments, and weather changes on a whim, I can’t think of any trait more coveted in a feedyard employee. Steady.

As we work together to provide consumers with consistent, high-quality beef, we’re thankful for dedicated, conscientious people like Ruth who help make that happen.

May your bottom line be filled with black ink,

Miranda

PS–Want to catch up on the whole series? Check out these links below:

Introduction: Nice to Meat Ya
Day 1: Ashley Pado
Day 2: Scott Redden
Day 3: Jesse Stucky
Day 4: Bridget Wasser
Day 5: Amanda Barstow
Day 6: Josh Moore

Quality up in the face of drought

Darnall Feedlot earns back-to-back Quality Focus Awards from CAB

by Jill Dunkel

What’s better than winning first place? Doing that three out of four years, including two in a row and despite one of the worst droughts in history.

That’s exactly what Darnall Feedlot, Harrisburg, Neb., managed to do with Quality Focus Awards in 2010, 2012 and 2013 for Certified Angus Beef LLC partners with more than 15,000-head capacity. This year’s mark of 49% Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand and Prime shot past the previous year’s 40% and 33% in 2010.

The time span is for cattle fed from June through the end of May.

This year, Darnall Feedlot managed to increase the grade while dealing with a harsh climate and high feed prices.

“Ranchers around here changed some management systems because of drought,” explains Gary Darnall, who manages the yard with his son Lane. “Many weaned early to reduce nutrient requirements on the ranch and to try and salvage as many cows as possible.”

That led to an influx of light-weight calves, some as light as 300 pounds, and a few, even lighter. Darnall put them on a grower ration, making sure they consumed good protein and energy, and grew the cattle until they were five-weights.

“At that point, we started treating them like other cattle in the feedyard,” he says.

In the process, Darnall realized first-hand what research has proven before: early-weaned calves have some advantages.

“Yes, we did get better carcass quality than we normally do,” he says. “I think it’s because of having a higher energy diet earlier in the life of the feeding period.”

Gary and Emilie Darnall accepted the award at the Certified Angus Beef LLC annual conference in Palm Desert, Calif., Sept. 18-20.

Cattle in the family’s yard are ultrasound-scanned and a projected marketing date is set as a matter of routine. With that system, Darnall says some of the calves in his program brought $4-plus-per-hundredweight (cwt.) in premiums. Those premiums were a blessing considering the cost of feed.

“It was high priced corn and as a result, these cattle lost money,” says Darnall, basing his calculations on their value as feeder cattle. But the premiums helped buffer the large losses other cattle feeders endured. Some of the cattle were off his Darnall Ranch, while others were from ranchers who retain ownership.

“We are fortunate in the fact we have ranchers that retain ownership with high-performance cattle. We’re very fortunate to be able to feed those cattle,” he says.

Most of the customers represent repeat business, some feeding with him for 10 years or more.

“The ranchers come back, year in and year out, so they have a program set up. They don’t vary much. But through retained ownership, they have definitely had a positive profit margin,” he says. “Now, last year they probably had red ink on the bottom line, like all of us did. But if you average that over a period of 10 years, they’ll be on the positive side of it.”

Looking at the next six months, Darnall says many ranchers have weaned early once again and are anxious to get into new-crop corn and the feeder-friendly prices that come with it.

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.”

$100,000 Up for Grabs with 2024 Colvin Scholarships

by Courtney Weekley | 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

by Lindsay Runft | 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

by Courtney Weekley | Nov 8, 2023

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DNA: feedlot strategies

by Miranda Reiman

November 3, 2011

Recently, animal scientist John Wagner and his team set out to answer one question: “Is there potential application for DNA technology in the feedlot?”

The research completed by Colorado State University (CSU) says, “Yes.”

“We know precious little about the cattle when we go into a feeding situation with them,” Wagner says. “We all know that millions of dollars have been spent to map the bovine genome and tools have been developed to help with selection of breeding stock.”

Yet adoption of DNA technology has been somewhat limited to purebred producers.

The CSU team collected DNA from 1,100 yearling steers, selected 360 of them based on results and then sorted those into one of four groups: low tenderness with low marbling, low tenderness with high marbling, high tenderness with low marbling, or high tenderness with high marbling.

Harvest results showed the accuracy of the DNA forecast.

The group that was predicated as lower quality had an average marbling score of 437. That’s compared to a 464 score for the high marbling group.

“That’s almost a third of a quality grade,” says Larry Corah, vice president of supply for Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB). “That’s significant when you look at the value difference between grading Choice over Select or premium Choice versus Choice.”

That high marbling group graded 80% Choice and higher, while only 64% of the low marbling group met that threshold.

‘This proves that DNA technology works to sort cattle into predictable outcome groups,” Corah says.

The low and high tenderness groups backed that up. Using the industry standard Warner-Bratzler shear force test, the low tenderness group had a higher score, 3.92, compared to more desirable 3.59 rating for the high tenderness group.

Wagner suggests the biggest limitations to widespread use right now are turnaround time and cost, but some producers might already be set up to easily implement it.

“There are some producers who are on a revaccination program or who are doing a delayed implant program,” he says, noting that they could get samples upon receiving and re-sort cattle during that second trip through the chute.

He envisions a point in time when there will be chute-side tests.

“That would have been unheard of several years ago, but I think the sky’s the limit as far as what technology will be available to us in the future,” Wagner says.

Another key will be reaping a reward for the investment.

“You’d have to get some kind of value-based marketing program to receive benefits,” he says.

Corah suggests it might help determine which cattle are sold on a grid rather than a flat, live price. It could also assist with management decisions made on a pen-by-pen basis.

Wagner says feedlot-oriented DNA test applications aren’t limited to feeders. Cow-calf operators might be able to use the technology as a marketing tool.

“They could test cattle and put together packages of high-marbling or high-tenderness calves,” he says. Of course they’d face the same issues of time and money, and would also need to be rewarded for that extra information.

“It’s an exciting age, to think of all we can learn about cattle before harvest,” says Corah, who expects to see more commercial-level DNA tests made available in 2012. “This just shows DNA is one more tool that producers can add to their toolbox.”

The research was funded in part by the by The Beef Checkoff and commissioned by the industry’s Joint Product Enhancement Committee. Merck Animal Health and Merial Limited also provided financial support.

Excellent and getting better

The Angus world wonders, how good can these cattle get?

by Steve Suther

It’s fun to hit the target. Osborn Farms, Savannah, Mo., repeated its 2010 achievement with even better numbers as the Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) 2011 Quality Focus Award winner for partner yards with less than 15,000-head capacity.

This is just a 600-head yard that enrolled 535 head with CAB last year, but the point is 90% of those were accepted for the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand, including 28% CAB Prime.

An hour spent talking shop with owner-manager John Osborn and his longtime consultant and cattle partner Pete Mitts is like an hour on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Many of the jokes are inside, obscure, personal insults or physiological, but you catch the drift and join in the grins.

In reference to the CAB acceptance, Osborn will deadpan, “Is that good?” Mitts completes the thought, “Because we know we can do better.”

There’s evidence to support that. If you followed the AngusSource® Carcass Challenge last year, you might recall their champion pen of 42 heifers went 100% CAB and 55% Prime. The September 2010 harvest date fit the contest year for this June-through-May annual CAB award, too.

Still, the award wasn’t automatic or easy. This is the fourth consecutive year that a Missourian won the category, and the top three contenders nationwide were in Missouri this time as well.

The other two were Circle A Feedlot, Huntsville, Mo., and Performance Blenders, Jackson, Mo., and depending on the week, each of them spent time in the top spot. The contest was not decided until the last few weeks of May.

All three feature cattle of known genetics.

Osborn and Mitts have proven that their already excellent cattle will keep getting better. They all trace back to bulls from Green Garden Angus, Lorraine, Kan., genetics stacked in cow families backed by Mitts’ no-nonsense records and the duo’s program of low-stress management.

That’s low stress on the cattle, they would point out. Stress for the cattlemen is sometimes unavoidable in these days of volatile markets.

They find time to get away from it all sometimes. Mitts and his wife Lois have a fishing boat, and sometimes they travel to the Missouri lake country or down to his western Oklahoma home county where son Miles now works at another CAB partner yard.

Osborn and his wife Toni got away from the farm Sept. 20-22 to accept the award at the CAB Annual Conference in Sunriver, Ore. That was after a tractor pulling season when he and son Joel like to see what their somewhat modified John Deere models can do for fun.

When it comes to performance and cattle, these guys are all business. They know their pool of 1,200 related cows. They either own or used to own most of them, and all current owners are friends, neighbors and associates. They know the market is crazy, but they also know carcass data feedback still runs the engine of herd improvement and keeps it on track.

As long as Osborn Farms can feed these predictable cattle, no current quality records will be safe. Fair warning.

$100,000 Up for Grabs with 2024 Colvin Scholarships

by Courtney Weekley | Mar 20, 2024

Raised with Respect™ Cattle Care Campaign Launched This Fall

by Lindsay Runft | Dec 20, 2023

Drought Impact and Cattle Industry Dynamics

by Courtney Weekley | Nov 8, 2023

« Older Entries

What the heck is a CAB- licensed feedlot anyway?

March 14, 2011

I’ll admit it. Some myths are of our own making. We throw around terms like “CAB-licensed” when talking about everything from restaurants to packers to feedlots.

So what exactly does that mean? Well, various things on various levels. Ultra-simplified, it’s a close working relationship with the Certified Angus Beef^®brand. It is the right to advertise and sell CAB burgers or stamp carcasses as accepted. When it comes to the feedlot sector, I can tell you what it doesn’t mean, as I debunk this puzzler:

Myth—Cattle must be fed at a “CAB feedlot” to qualify for the brand.

Fact—For cattle to be evaluated for the CAB brand, they simply need to be marketed to a licensed packer. Good news: that includes 85% of the North American packing base. All the “big” packers, like JBS, Tyson, Cargill and National Beef are on that list, so it would be more likely that you bring cattle to a CAB licensee than not. Continue reading “What the heck is a CAB-licensed feedlot anyway?”

‘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.

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.”

Straightforward success

GG Genetics awarded 2009 CAB Small Feedlot of the Year

by Laura Nelson

A couple of empty semi-trailer trucks and a signed, blank check arrived at a southwest Montana ranch late one fall. The rancher helped load some of his best calves, and then watched the trucks head back to GG Genetics feedyard in Ida Grove, Iowa. The check stayed in Montana; the value returned to Iowa.

That’s the kind of businessman Mason Fleenor is.

“He’d just tell me to fill in the numbers on the check,” recalls Ron Benson, Dillon, Mont., one of the Iowan’s early feedlot customers. “That’s just how honest he is.”

Fleenor sure doesn’t skate around the truth when it comes to the kind of cattle he likes to feed, either. “They’re all pretty purely Angus. I won’t buy anything else – I don’t even want them. I guess I’m kind of prejudiced,” he laughs.

Not just any black cattle will do for the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB®) brand’s 2009 Small Feedlot of the Year. “I think it has to be CAB or USDA Prime to have a good carcass. That’s my opinion – that’s what quality is.”

Fleenor refuses to raise or feed anything short of the best at GG Genetics, where he has combined a successful registered Angus bull business with a small feedyard. He fills the 500-head yard with home-raised cattle and calves from bull customers. It’s stock-full of genetics he and wife Diane have been perfecting for two decades. The couple accepted their Feedlot of the Year award this September at the brand’s Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Fleenors started in the feeding business in the 1980s. Once they realized the overall influence of genetics in the feeding process, they decided the bull business was next. Last year, their 413 CAB-enrolled cattle averaged 81.1% Choice, 16.7% Prime and 74.6% CAB, including CAB Prime.

“One of the main reasons our cattle grade so good is that they’re all out of our genetics,” Mason says. “We don’t buy commodity cattle. We want to know what we’re getting when we buy cattle to feed.” What they get is a return on the genetic package so painstakingly guided toward perfection. They’ve kept carcass data on every animal in the feedlot for more than a decade.

Although he owns full interest in all cattle fed, Mason still makes a point to share that information with the previous owners. Taking a further step, he tries to help ranchers make decisions in their cow herds that will complement the bulls he sells to produce the best calves.

Then it’s up to Mason’s feedlot management to bring home the real value. They use minimal implants and feed a high-energy, high-roughage ration. Close proximity to three ethanol plants allows the judicious use of distillers grains as well.

“We don’t push our cattle like a lot of the feedlots do,” Mason explains. “If you start with the right genetics, you don’t have to.” Mason then relies on a skilled eye and rigorous sorting to make up consistently uniform loads.

While their cattle look uniform, the Fleenors put little stock in aesthetics. “To me, the biggest issue with the cattle industry is looks,” Mason says. “A lot of guys want to use bulls because they look good. But you’ve got to have a commitment to use the right genetics. If a bull doesn’t meet the trait, forget about it. Just because he looks good – why use him? You get the hide off of ’em and looks don’t matter much.”

What does matter, Diane says, is focusing on the final product. “Everybody says, well, if all the cattle in the market were Prime, then the market for quality would go away. I say if every calf was Prime, our consumption would increase so much it wouldn’t matter, because overall cattle prices would rise,” Mason says. “Nobody is going to complain about an extra 50 cents for a good steak. But you know they’ll complain about getting a bad steak.”

Complaints are few and far between when it comes to GG Genetics – from the bulls the Fleenors breed to the calves they feed to the steak they put on the table. Customers from every end of Mason and Diane’s varied enterprises will tell you, that’s the honest truth.

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.”

Tag: feedlot

Quality up in the face of drought

Darnall Feedlot earns back-to-back Quality Focus Awards from CAB

by Jill Dunkel

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Excellent and getting better

The Angus world wonders, how good can these cattle get?

by Steve Suther

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What the heck is a CAB- licensed feedlot anyway?

‘Steer party mix’ yields top quality beef

by Jackie Eager

Not perfect yet

Marrs Ranch honored with CAB 2009 Commitment to Excellence Award

by Miranda Reiman

Straightforward success

GG Genetics awarded 2009 CAB Small Feedlot of the Year

by Laura Nelson

Dix honored at McPherson County Feeders

by Laura Nelson