Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, visited with the President of Certified Angus Beef, John Stika, about a near-record fiscal year in sales that CAB wrapped up in September 2024.
“When you look at our sales numbers, we actually had the second-best sales year in our forty-six-year history, with sales coming in at 1.237 billion pounds,” Stika said. “This is really exciting for us and, actually, it was near record sales.”
What Stika found surprising was that the brand’s supply was the largest in history. A recent press release from CAB reported that while the total fed cattle supply declined by 1.6%, this year a record 5.96 million carcasses, up 2.4%, were certified for the brand, with 37.4% of all Angus cattle meeting the brand’s strict quality standards. A record 730,000 carcasses qualified for Certified Angus Beef ® Prime.
“The biggest thing is that as an industry, we put more quality into these cattle than ever before,” Stika said. “Not only are there more Angus cattle in the mix, but we fed them a little longer this year as well.”
2024 was the ninth fiscal year in which CAB sales topped a billion pounds and looks forward to reaching the next milestone. “We don’t expect that we are going to get there in the next couple of years by any means with cattle numbers where they are going to be, but it’s a tremendous opportunity for us to continue to position the brand and help the industry position itself for continued growth overall as cattle numbers continue to come back by focusing on quality, which, remarkably, consumers have been willing to pay the prices for that we continue to see in the market,” Stika reasoned.
Genetic selection and the right management earned producers nearly $100 per head, above market price, in grid premiums for cattle meeting the brand’s standards. Stika added, “As you multiply that by 5.96 million carcasses, that’s a very economic signal, not counting the added premiums that are there for Prime and high quality overall.”
Certified Angus Beef ® Prime sales noted a new milestone with 50.5 million pounds sold, growing 22.5% from 2023. Given the current market conditions, these record sales are further indication that consumers are not backing down from quality.
“It is exciting to see how that market continues to grow. It actually grew across every segment of our sales channels: food service, retail, and the biggest growth for Certified Angus Beef ® Prime sales was in our international division,” Stika said.
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 at the top of the story for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
