Agricultural News
Cashing In on Beef Quality In the Hands of Producers, says U.S. Premium Beef
Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:31:06 CDT
Brian Bertelsen, director of field operations for U.S. Premium Beef, says cashing in on increased beef quality is within the grasp of each and every cattle producer.
"They have the most on that animal from conception, literally to harvest. So, the genetics they use, the management of the cow before it's even born, and all through that animal's life, they have the opportunity to build the most value."
He says the goal is to set the herd up for increased marbling.
"It doesn't just happen in the feed yard, it is a lifetime achievement."
To track those achievements, U.S. Premium Beef offers free individual carcass data to grid marketers.
"We encourage producers to use that as much as possible," Bertelsen says. "Most of them would take it back to whatever they have available-the individual cow, the sire or the sire group, or simply see things in their management."
He says a close look at the data can lead to positive improvements.
"The things that they will notice is, 'Hey, this works better than those,' and see trends not only in genetics, but in management, nutrition and those things."
Changes may take several years, but in the long run, Bertelsen says, everybody wins.
"It doesn't mean, necessarily, that they need to restock the whole cow herd, but, with time, we've seen producers go from just average results to very outstanding results."
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