What I got in the mail today

[greenwillowherefords]

Contained within my AHA account bill today, I noticed some interesting information. Now Frankie, I know this is small potatoes compared to the numbers in Angus programs, but I feel it is significant.

"46 million pounds of CHB product, 1050 truck loads of boxed beef, representing close to 400,000 head of cattle have moved its wau through the food sector."

They also stated that both production and private treaty sales price averages were up dramatically this year.

 

[Angus Guy]

Good for the AHA. I hope it continues because that could help both our breeds.

 

[bigbull338]

looks like the beef market will shift to branded beef.this is just me.but it looks like branded beef is catching on fast.i know nolan ryan is the backer on beefmaster beef.so that makes 3 brands of beef.scott

 

[Frankie]

Contained within my AHA account bill today, I noticed some interesting information. Now Frankie, I know this is small potatoes compared to the numbers in Angus programs, but I feel it is significant.

"46 million pounds of CHB product, 1050 truck loads of boxed beef, representing close to 400,000 head of cattle have moved its wau through the food sector."

They also stated that both production and private treaty sales price averages were up dramatically this year.

It took CAB a lot of years to get where it is today. What's the saying: The longest journey starts with a single step. Or something profound like that.

 

[Frankie]

looks like the beef market will shift to branded beef.this is just me.but it looks like branded beef is catching on fast.i know nolan ryan is the backer on beefmaster beef.so that makes 3 brands of beef.scott

There's also Sterling Silver, Farmland Black Angus, Cattlemen's Reserve, Nebraska Corn Fed Beef, US Premium Beef, Premium Gold Angus, Laura's Lean....

I agree that branded beef is going to be the future of the beef business. I think a smart producer should be looking at how his cattle will fit into one of these programs.

 

[bigbull338]

frankie ive got a question for you.with all of the branded beef thats on the market.where does that leave the crossbred cattle producers in the future.im heard of an seen those brands of meat youve mentioned.scott

 

[MikeC]

frankie ive got a question for you.with all of the branded beef thats on the market.where does that leave the crossbred cattle producers in the future.im heard of an seen those brands of meat youve mentioned.scott

Scott, Most anyone can find their market if your cattle are somewhat "Consistent" or "Uniform". Some may even have to find more than one market to move all your calves with premiums.

Crossbreeding won't hurt anyone by itself. The "Number" of breeds in a Crossbred herd might not help though.

I think thats a big reason for black bulls being popular now. A herd of many colored cows will produce more solid black calves with a homo black bull than with a red or white bull, giving the illusion of uniformity. JMHO

 

[HatCreekFan]

MikeC, I had never considered the uniformity issue with color until you said that. Interesting....

 

[bigbull338]

mike i think your right on the money.my herd is all blk wf cows.no angus tho.a friend says ill do good/if i put a beefmaster bull on them.since we both are leaning towards beefmaster bulls anyway.i for 1 dont judge or dock cattle based on hide color.scott

 

[Frankie]

frankie ive got a question for you.with all of the branded beef thats on the market.where does that leave the crossbred cattle producers in the future.im heard of an seen those brands of meat youve mentioned.scott

There are lots of good crossbred cattle around. But in my area, at least, there are herds of cattle that have been crossbred to the latest bull fad until they have no consistency. Brahman, black, baldies, tigerstripes, spots, may all show up in one herd. No bull is going to work on every one of those cows. IMO, an Angus bull works best because he'll get you a more uniform LOOKING calf crop.

Since each cow is half of the individual calf, you need to know something about her performance/production. If there's any way possible, I would encourage everyone to send some calves through a feed out program. We did it years ago and it made an Angus believer out of me. I think the Beef Records program that the Angus Assn has can help out a lot of people.

Not all branded beef programs want high quality beef. Laura's Lean Beef doesn't want Angus cattle. They want lean, high yielding beef, Limousin, Charloais, Belgium Blues. Sterling Silver uses a lot of Red Angus. The Drovers magazine used to have a list of beef alliances with information on what sort of cattle each group is looking for. I don't have a link, but maybe someone else will post one.

I don't think crossbred cattle will go away. I do think serious producers will look closely at what breeds make up their crossbreeding and maybe buy a bull that will help them qualify for a specific market. For example, Bradley's B3R Beef (now part of Coleman Natural Beef) used to look for a three quarter Angus/one quarter Continental calf for their program. But they would pay a premium for ANY backgrounded cattle delivered to feedlots sired by Angus bulls of specific bloodlines.

 

[Hill Creek Farm]

Rock on Herefords!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cboy:

 

[docgraybull]

i for 1 dont judge or dock cattle based on hide color.scott

That's good if you're the buyer, but if you're the seller and the buyer is not so objective (or has the "wrong colored eyes"), then that works against you. This is usually the case for most of us - being mostly sellers.

 

[bigbull338]

i send intact bull calves to the sale.i dont bother with steering them.an when they go accross the scales.they weigh 700 to 900lbs.vary rarely do i send 6 weights or under.i get the ave price for the heavy weights.no matter the color of the hide.scott

 

[Texan]

Contained within my AHA account bill today, I noticed some interesting information.

"46 million pounds of CHB product....representing close to 400,000 head of cattle ...."

I agree, GW. That is interesting. Especially since 46 million pounds divided by 400,000 head comes to a yield of a whopping 115 pounds per head. How do you manage to only get 115 pounds of product out of a carcass? Is the whole carcass CHB, or do they just pick a few muscles out of it? Or maybe those 400,000 head represent some of those old lines of inbred Hereford dwarf 'carcass' cattle that I've heard about?

 

[ollie']

Contained within my AHA account bill today, I noticed some interesting information.

"46 million pounds of CHB product....representing close to 400,000 head of cattle ...."

I agree, GW. That is interesting. Especially since 46 million pounds divided by 400,000 head comes to a yield of a whopping 115 pounds per head. How do you manage to only get 115 pounds of product out of a carcass? Is the whole carcass CHB, or do they just pick a few muscles out of it? Or maybe those 400,000 head represent some of those old lines of inbred Hereford dwarf 'carcass' cattle that I've heard about?

Could it be they have a market for CHB rib sections and not grinds?

 

[Texan]

Could it be they have a market for CHB rib sections and not grinds?

That could be it, but that's sure not very good, is it? If that's the case, they would be a lot better off keeping quiet about the head count. And how do they figure carcass premiums if they can't market the whole carcass as CHB? Isn't that the same problem the grass-fed people have? Anybody can sell middle meats.

 

[certherfbeef]

Contained within my AHA account bill today...

I havn't opened mine yet...don't plan to very soon either.

 

[Frankie]

It seems that I've read about 80% of a CAB carcass is sold as CAB. That's the highest % in the business, I think. You can buy CAB hot dogs, cold cuts, meals, ready to eat (MRE), along with CAB ground beef and the general cuts of beef, round, flank, ribeye, roasts, etc. But they've been working on marketing those cuts as branded beef for a long time. The packer pays the CAB premium for the entire hanging weight, though.

 

[JHH]

I got my bill from them but nothing else in there .JHH

 

[greenwillowherefords]

Contained within my AHA account bill today, I noticed some interesting information.

"46 million pounds of CHB product....representing close to 400,000 head of cattle ...."

I agree, GW. That is interesting. Especially since 46 million pounds divided by 400,000 head comes to a yield of a whopping 115 pounds per head. How do you manage to only get 115 pounds of product out of a carcass? Is the whole carcass CHB, or do they just pick a few muscles out of it? Or maybe those 400,000 head represent some of those old lines of inbred Hereford dwarf 'carcass' cattle that I've heard about?

The producer still gets a premium. I did read that there is a new line of CHB product just recently being unveiled that utilizes much more of the carcass in the branded program. As I understand it, the CHB ground beef product is ground chuck. Perhaps the next year will see the percentage of animal utilized through the program increase due to these changes. So there's still work to be done on the program.

Frankie, there is also Ridgefield's branded Hereford program out there now.