3
So, to follow up the December newsletter, the industry
is not doing too bad by those that buy what we produce.
Our end consumer, according to Robbi Prichard of SDSU
emeritus Professor, that can afford to go out and eat a
CAB steak, the biggest they want is 13 oz. Pritchard says
“last November, 2015 carcasses averaged over 900 lbs.,
low yield grade 4’s (traditionally smaller rib eye cattle)
were in the right range for a one inch thick steak, if they
were yield grade 2’s that needed to be harvested as
800 lb carcasses.” Assuming a 63% dressing on a 900 lb.
carcass = 1425 lbs. live and the 800 lb. carcass = 1270 lbs.
A lot of yearling bull data shows around 1 in
2
per cwt. The
biggest disconnect in our industry, is the cattle breeder
and packer measure REA in square inches while the high-
end chef prepares steaks best thick and by the ounce. So,
if we keep selecting for bigger cattle with a bigger REA
how much will an inch-thick steak weigh?
This lends well into the changes we are making. We
can moderate our cattle and still fit these parameters.
Pritchard explains: feedlots make their money on live
weight gain, so more gain per head equals more potential
profit. He also stated “from 1980 to 2015 the hot carcass
weights increased an average 5.18 lbs. per year.” That’s
about 280 lbs. of live weight increase in the last 35 years. I
think this is in part from compensatory gain realized from
having the growth potential but not the feed available to
express it while on the cow. This growth potential has
been good for everyone who owns our calves after they
are weaned. Thankfully by retained ownership we can
capture that potential. I think history will show the cow
calf sector has been coached and coerced into producing
cattle that will make everyone else that owns them more
money than the person who produces them.
The Angus breed has tried to be everything for
everybody and that seemed good until drivers like
Certified Angus Beef (CAB) and to a lesser influence “Top
Dollar Angus” programs that focus on only a few traits has
now given Angus the distinction of being the largest cow
of all breeds. As Angus breeders working with the largest
gene pool in the world we have identified genetics to
move and with current technology we have moved fast
toward high growth and carcass merit. Unfortunately, the
consequence of not attending to all details has brought us
to this point, a big cow and an association with a research
goal “to research the potential challenges of fertility in the
angus breed”. I predict part of what they will find is God
put some limits on all of us, some with limited rainfall,
some with limited feed resources and some with shallow
pockets. I forget some with closed minds, but most of
them haven’t read this far anyway. If you have limits in
your operation this also limits outcomes. So, if you keep
selecting cows with more growth and high requirements
that aren’t met, you will experience fertility challenges.
Couple that with a breed association too arrogant to
copy the Red Angus with a Stayability EPD and whole
herd reporting. Not only arrogance, but some self-serving
leadership with a narrow and a very short vision for this
breed’s future. We have an Angus culture that chases a
direction until it is unsustainable then disperses their junk
to others while it’s hot. We have seen some of that locally,
its nothing new, only the fools who buy them are new.
There have been at least 10 breeders in this trade area
that I can remember have come and gone since I started
and another 8 or more that were in business that are
gone now. I have seen this angus culture change from it
being a life time endeavor by some to breed a sustainable
herd, to almost a fly by night of make a quick buck and
run. Some breeders are more skilled in marketing than
animal husbandry. Marketing to them is more important
to short term success than sound breeding for long term
sustainability.
Mark Twain says it best: “It’s easier to fool people, than
to convince them that they have been fooled.” This and
our December newsletter will probably prove that point.
