CAB Natural

[Frankie]

Beef Alliance Profile: Certified Angus Beef Natural

By definition, niche production isn't for everyone. But if you want to raise Angus cattle with detailed records that document no implants, antibiotics or animal-derived feed, there's good news. Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) licensed two companies to produce Certified Angus Beef ® brand Natural, Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. and Niman Ranch.

Cattle must first be accepted for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand. Live cattle must be Angus-influenced, predominately (51%) solid black hair coat or AngusSource ®enrolled, animals must pass ten product specifications to qualify for the CABbrand. Producers must also sign an affidavit saying that their cattle never received antibiotics (fed or injected), hormones or animal byproducts, in order to meet the additional requirements of CAB brand Natural. Carcass specifications are:

Modest or higher marbling
Medium or fine marbling texture
"A" maturity for each, lean and skeletal characteristics
10 to 16 square inch ribeye area
Less than 1,000 pound hot carcass weight
Less than 1 inch fat thickness
Superior muscling (eliminates dairy influence)
Practically free of capillary rupture
No dark cutters
No neck hump exceeding 2 inches

Interest in CAB brand Natural is high. If you would like more information on producing or feeding beef for the program, please contact:
Mark McCully, CAB Supply Development Director, 330-345-2333
Brad Brandenburg, Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., 800-325-8967, ext. 2122
John Tarpoff, Niman Ranch, 618-973-5961

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Cow_Calf_C ... 07ca0fa2fd

 

[VanC]

Sounds like another good plan. Isn't CAB having supply problems? I wonder if CAB Natural will run into the same thing, or if this will affect regular CAB supply in some way. Either way, I guess it's better to have demand running ahead of supply rather than the other way around, at least for the suppliers.

 

[Frankie]

I think most of us raise "natural" beef, at least by these standards. This seemed like an opportunity for some to get paid for their cattle that qualify.

CAB standards are high and for years they've had a problem with supply. There used to have a waiting list for a CAB license. I expect it will take a few years to get real demand up for "Natural" CAB. But it took many, many years to get CAB going. So maybe by the time the demand is there, they'll have a supply pipeline in place. They're already ahead of the game with Tyson and Ninman signed on.