Agricultural News
Darnall Feedlot Cares for Cattle and Customers
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 10:52:42 CST
It may be called the cattle business, but, really, to Gary Darnall of Darnall Feedlot near Harrisburg, Nebraska, it's a people business.
"We have some of the greatest customers. The beef industry and the people in the beef industry are some of the greatest people on this earth. They're very devout. They're hard-working. They have a good work ethic. They are very good, moral people."
Darnall appreciates the trust placed in him. When producers send their calves to the 22,000-head family-owned feedyard, it's a large investment they're placing in his care.
"Well, number one, we're going to do it right. In other words, in all of the phases of the feeding industry we are going to do it-the animal welfare, the handling of the animals. We train our employees to make sure the animals are taken care of and handled correctly and taken care of. That's our number one priority. The health program that we have, I feel, we take a backseat to no one. And, again, that's for animal welfare.
Even a large feedlot keeps close tabs on all the animals in their pens.
"We track every animal. Of the 22,000 head we have in the feedlot we, on the computer, can pull up every animal and know what it was treated for, when it was treated so that we take care of that animal. As a result, we think that's very important."
Health and handling are just two pieces of the equation. Nutrition, genetics and marketing all figure into profit potential, Darnall says.
"The changes in beef production are just unbelievable. We have the genomics now that we can do so many things in such a shorter time than we could previously and we're just so fortunate to be a part of that."
Darnall says the end goal is to provide customers with the quality beef they demand while making money for their ranching partners.
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