Agricultural News
Black Cattle with Historical Records Improve Profit Potential
Wed, 28 May 2014 17:06:49 CDT
Good black cattle aren't good enough anymore, says Craig Vejraska.
"I'm an order buyer. I buy cattle for a lot of people and they want them black and they want them, it's getting more and more, so that we can certify that they are Angus. It's the Angus. It's not the black hide, it's the Angus in the cow that makes them in such demand."
He sees more and more people with a hunger for information.
"For the people that I buy cattle for, they starting to use that beef value. The want to know those bulls out there that those commercial producers are using have that really good beef value in them because it directly equates to dollars when they become harvestable animals. So, it's an important deal."
People want to know about past gain and grade. Vejraska also feeds cattle and says basing decisions on historical records improves profit potential.
"We're not in it for the fun of it; it's a business for our family. By getting that data, it's taking a lot of the guess work out of it," he says.
Inputs are used more efficiently when producers can be sure of the outcomes. That's why Vejraska recommends commercial DNA technology.
"I can put 'x' number of pounds of hay or corn silage or something into and animal that I don't know the data on or I can put it into one I'm relatively confident it's going to gain and improve in quality and improve in kind because the genetics tell me he's going to do that. We've already got that part of the equation ironed out. It's no longer a guessing game. You know that's basically what's going to happen."
Sale barn studies across the U.S. confirm his comments. The more buyers know about the cattle, the more they're willing to pay.
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