Agricultural News
New Thresholds, Familiar Program Helps Bull Buyer Narrow Options
Mon, 01 Jun 2020 07:32:46 CDT
When a family of six shops for a new car, they'll enter the lot and pass by the compacts and convertibles. The pool of possible purchases narrowed by their end goal of seating a large family, they can be more discerning from there.
That's kind of how the Targeting the Brand™ program works to help cattlemen trying to add carcass quality to their herds and produce more Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) qualifiers.
Since 2017, the logo has appeared in sale catalogs to denote sires that excel in marbling (Marb) expected progeny difference (EPD) and the Grid Dollar Value Index, or "dollar G" ($G).
"If a bull buyer wants a calf crop that has a greater chance of making CAB, it helps him identify the genetics that will help him do that," says John Grimes, owner of Maplecrest Farms, Hillsboro, Ohio, and CAB board chair. "The trait that sorts cattle out of CAB quicker than anything is lack of marbling."
It's a way to provide an initial filter.
"Our bull customers get so much information that it's easy to be overwhelmed. When you put this label on there, it's an easy way for them to identify, 'Hey, I don't have to know what their parameters are, but I know this bull meets them," says John Teixeira, Teixeira Cattle Company, Terrebonne, Ore. "We do a lot with our eyes and it's a quick visual that says, 'Hey, this bull is in the world that I need.'"
As of May 29, the requirements for the Targeting the Brand logo have tightened up from breed average or above in both $G and Marb to +0.65 for Marb and +55 for $G. That's based on an Angus Genetics Inc. analysis of 8,600 sire-identified carcass records that found the combined thresholds most likely to produce at least 50% CAB qualified carcasses.
It's slightly higher than the previous breed average requirements, so one in four non-parent Angus bulls now qualifies for the designation. Those numbers will be evaluated every two years, and adjusted based on the most current information.
"Of all Angus-influenced fed cattle eligible for CAB, only 35% qualify, but we are really looking at how we continue to grow that percentage to meet demand," Lee says, noting a two-billion-pound sales goal the next decade or so.
"If everyone wants to get a piece of the pie, we have to keep making the pie bigger," she says. "That's a cliché a lot of people use, but the bigger the CAB pie becomes, the more room for commercial producers to capitalize on the value of buying high-quality registered Angus bulls."
The more demand, the better the pull-through model works.
Those who retain ownership reap the benefit directly, Teixeira says, while those who sell at weaning can count on buyers putting more stock in that as time goes on.
"There's no premium for Select, there's less premium than there used to be for Choice, but more for CAB and Prime. We've got to allow these bull customers to have the opportunities to know these might bring them a premium," he says.
It's not a guarantee or an end-all selection tool, "these are just minimums," Lee says. Producers who already get 50% or higher CAB acceptance rates should aim higher still.
"We know marbling is highly heritable. We know genetics impact roughly 40% of the marbling potential in those cattle; but that said, there's another 60% not explained by genetics," she says. When environment plays a role, high-quality management has to match to get intended results. "The Targeting the Brand logo is not a guarantee that progeny from any animal will hit CAB. It's an indication that the genetic potential is higher with that animal."
It's a way to push for incremental improvement, Grimes says.
"There are some people out there who will say, 'All Angus grade high,' or, 'The average Angus is good enough,'" he says. "The database says we have to up our game."
Don't mistake that for a marbling-only message though.
"These numbers give producers a lot of latitude to place emphasis on carcass but still select for other traits that we know are really important," Lee says. "We always discourage producers from single-trait selection."
History shows progress can be made on multiple fronts at the same time, Grimes says.
"People used to think we couldn't have calving ease and high growth, and breeders have shown that they can do that. So it's not realistic to think we can't do the same with elite carcass merit and maternal function," he says.
Using the Targeting the Brand logo as a selection tool is an easy first sort.
For more information on the program, visit CABcattle.com.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...