Agricultural News
Angus Adds Value Beyond the Pasture Gate
Tue, 21 Jan 2014 12:00:44 CST
Some parts are better left as byproducts says Art Wagner, vice president of cattle procurement for National Beef Packing.
"If they know they're going to spend $10, $12, $15 for a steak, they don't want a piece of shoe leather."
Wagner is both a cattle buyer and a beef seller. Being on that bridge lends a good perspective to seeing what consumers want.
"They know the price is higher than it was five and ten years ago, but the quality they expect equates to the dollars they are spending for that meal. And it's more important than ever today when they are looking at how much they're spending for the meal that they're getting a quality eating experience."
National Beef's Liberal, Kansas, plant was the first large processor to unlock the power of the Certified Angus Beef brand in its lineup. And, Wagner said, they haven't looked back since.
"I think through our using CAB as kind of the foundation for the branded side has continued to allow us to grow in the value-added program to be more aggressive on purchasing Angus cattle, communicating with producers to produce better Angus cattle. And knowing that National Beef is a active buyer looking for high-quality Angus cattle is providing added ability for us to grow as a company across all of our Angus lines, but, at the same time, grow in the CAB arena as well."
CAB marketed more than 60-million pounds of product in fiscal year 2013. It's network of 16,000 licensed partners worldwide sold 865-million pounds for the year that ended September 30, an increase of 6.7 percent or 54-million pounds. And Wagner said he doesn't see that demand slowing down any time soon on either side of the equation.
"We value the Angus breed as a key part of our business strategy and business plan. And we've seen tremendous growth in the past several years and anticipate continued growth in the future."
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