In this episode of Beef Buzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is back talking with the CEO of the American Angus Association, Mark McCully, about AngusLink.
To listen to Part One of the conversation with Mark McCully talking about gene editing, CLICK HERE!
For today’s cattle producers, it is more important than ever to be able to differentiate their cattle in the marketplace. Two of the leading third-party verification companies, IMI Global and the American Angus Association’s AngusLinkSM, have joined forces to create an improved experience for those cattle producers while offering more value-added opportunities.
Through this new relationship, IMI Global will be providing the verification services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Process Verified Program (PVP) for IMI Global and AngusLink customers. The collaboration makes it easier and more efficient for producers to access an extensive suite of verification programs and the feeder cattle industry’s leading genetic merit evaluation tool in one enrollment.
“It has been great with the AngusLink programs, specifically the Genetic Merit Scorecard where through the enrollment process, we capture the bull battery,” McCully said. “They don’t all have to be Angus bulls, but most of them need to be registered. Then, we are able to basically compute a genetic merit score for that group of feeder cattle.”
Great growth has been seen in these programs in the last couple of years, McCully added.
“This month we had an announcement by National Beef and U.S. Premium Beef that they are actually putting a direct grid premium on cattle that are enrolled in the AngusLink program and have a genetic merit score of 100, which is industry average, so better than average,” McCully said. “That is five dollars per head, and later on in the year, they are going to bump that up another five dollars for those that are 150 on their genetic merit beef score, or higher.”
The initial grid premium of five dollars per head will be paid for cattle harvested on August 5th or later for cattle with a beef score of 100 or greater on their American Angus genetic merit scorecard. After December 1st, cattle with a score of 150 or greater will have the chance to receive a ten dollar premium per head.
McCully said this is the first time a packer has stepped out and put a direct premium on a grid that is directly tied to the genetic investment that producers are making.
To learn about AngusLink enrollment, visit the website by CLICKING HERE.
“We are coming into these summer video sales, and we are getting a lot of interest in the program,” McCully said. “We had tremendous interest last year, and we are expecting big things this summer.”
McCully refers to the usage of these new programs as the “evolution of value-based marketing,” as more information is put into the market, which allows buyers and sellers to exchange that information.
“The better we can describe the genetic merit of feeder cattle, cattle feeders can enter that into their risk management strategies, it allows them to understand what they should pay for those cattle, how they are going to market those cattle, and it is important information and cattle feeders are asking for it.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
