Agricultural News
Raising the Beef Quality Bar
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:32:49 CST
The key to success in business is creating an affordable product that everyone wants. When it comes to the beef business, that product is highly-marbled beef.
Don Schiefelbein, a rancher from Kimball, Minnesota, says that the cattle business has changed dramatically. Cattlemen who were once satisfied with cattle that would produce 80 percent choice beef or higher are now striving to produce beef that outperforms the standards of the Certified Angus Beef brand. That's where the money is, Schiefelbein says. Feeders now procure cattle based on those high standards.
"Definitely, the bar has been raised," says Steve Peterson of MPK Land and Livestock. "And that's mainly due to the premiums that are paid, whether it's CAB premiums or a premium for choice. People are looking for the better cattle. It's just like any other thing, you can stay in the same tracks and sit still or progress and get better.
"Sadly to say, there's some people that have done the same thing they've done for 20 years. And they're the ones who are sitting there. But the progressive people that have kept up on the genetics, tried to make their cattle better, more efficient, those are the ones we look for and the ones we like to feed."
The choice-select spread recently passed the $20 mark and Schiefelbein and Peterson say that should send a clear signal to producers about what consumers want.
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