Agricultural News
Angus CEO Mark McCully Upbeat About the Future of the Angus Breed
Tue, 26 Nov 2019 03:38:44 CST
It's a good time to be a part of the American Angus breed family. Demand is good, and the acceptance rate has been trending up. The acceptance rate is the number of cattle that qualify for the Certified Angus Beef Program. Mark McCully, the CEO of the American Angus Association, told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays that genetics is playing a real key, "I think we point to the improvement that we've seen in percent choice, percent prime. Definitely in the Certified Angus beef acceptance rates. Literally 15 years ago that we were under 15%, and today we're over 35%."
McCully says that kind of advancement and improvement speaks volumes to the power of the tools they have, and the adoption of those tools. He also believes that the Certified Angus Beef program has given cattle producers a goal to shoot for that allows them to sell their cattle for a premium, "We've always said Certified Angus Beef is probably one of those great agriculture success stories. Because I think it's taken a model of let's focus on the end of our supply chain, let's focus on the true demand, let's focus on the consumer, and then lets back up and create a product that is truly pulled through the system."
As McCully leads the Angus Association, he says he is incredibly optimistic, "I think we've one, woke up as an industry and we realize we have to engage in this conversation around how we produce our cattle and how we raise our food. I think consumers are, there's positive messages and facts that are getting through to them. So I'm incredibly optimistic."
McCully also says the Certified Angus Beef brand helps connect with consumers as well, "It's a wonderful vehicle to help connect with that consumer and continue to build trust with them and assurances around what's going on back in the supply chain."
McCully thinks they will continue to make strides when it comes to making better Angus cows, "You know the Angus cow has always been a backbone of the beef industry and I think she's awfully good today, but we can continue to make her better. We are looking at things like cow longevity, and how do we continue to improve feet and legs. Obviously incorporating genomics, but also to keep collecting data to make sure that the tools that we are putting out there are very important and very accurate."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear more from Mark McCully as he talks With Ron Hays on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
