In beef cattle game, too many producers leaving too many cards on table

By DALE HILDEBRANT, Farm & Ranch Guide
Friday, February 16, 2007 11:05 AM CST

STREETER, N.D. - Many beef cow operators are leaving too many cards on the table at the present time, which means they are falling prey to missed management practices and wasted leverage, according to Wes Ishmael, contributing editor to Beef Magazine.

Ishmael, who was the featured speaker at the recent Grass-N-Beef Research Review at the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center at Streeter, told producers the first thing that needs to be done in correcting this situation is to assess where the industry is today.

“Demand is the name of the game,” he said, “and the demand has been improving for the past few years, with the American consumers spending about $70 more each year for beef. However, about 18 months ago that situation changed, and we are now slipping backward.”

Consolidation within the industry is happening on many fronts as well. Ishmael noted that the latest Agricultural Census indicated there were around 796,000 beef producers in the U.S., which represents an 11 percent decline for the last Census in 1997.

Trends point to the larger herds continuing to get larger and the cattle producers are concentrating in certain geographical areas. Fifty percent of the cattle numbers are located in the Central Plains, with 32 percent located in four states - Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas. But Ishmael said he expects cattle numbers in North and South Dakota to grow in the next few years.

Concentration is occurring in other parts of the beef chain as well. Twenty-five feedlots feed 46 percent of the calves, four packers control 84 percent of the beef business and 10 retailers dominate 55 percent of the groceries sold in the U.S.

Knowing what the trends are in the beef business, Ishmael noted there are opportunities for the cattle producer in the industry. Differentiation is the key word - both in the areas of product and progress.

A cattle producer can differentiate his product by utilizing such things as alliances, seasonability, and using verification.

Alliances are growing in the cattle industry, as producers react to the expectation of a certain quality cattle wanted by the beef industry.

Age and source verifications are also growing trends as consumers want to know more about the food they are eating, including beef. In addition, producers who are differentiating their product keep on top of work that is currently being done related to the beef industry in both private research and extension work.

In differentiating your program, Ishmael stresses it all comes down to management.

“And management comes down to three words - detail, detail and detail,” he said. “But all too often, beef producers do not uniformly adopt even the most rudimentary technology and herd management practices.”

He referred to a study recently completed by Tom Fields of Colorado State University which pointed out only 49 percent of the cattlemen use calf ID, 53 percent ID their cow herd, one-third pregnancy check their herd, only about 10 percent use artificial insemination on their herd, and about 23 percent rate their cows with a body condition score.

In addition, nearly 80 percent of the cattle operations rely on handwritten record systems and one-half of the herds report establishing a breeding season of specific duration.

Ishmael listed several areas where cow operators can sharpen their management skills and leave fewer cards on the table:

- Nutrition - Cattle producers need to look at rotational grazing and adapt it to their operation. In addition, every herd, to maximize production, needs a balanced, cost-effective mineral program.

- Health program - In terms of health, the nursing cow needs to be wormed and other timely health procedures need to be established for the entire herd.

- Breeding program - When selecting sires, the operator needs to look at EPDs and use them in selecting bulls that best fit the herd's needs. Ishmael also suggested establishing a 120-day calving season and then sticking to it.

If the cow-calf producer isn't presently using a crossbreeding program, he needs to start moving in that direction. Those who have been using a crossbreeding program for a number of years have experienced 17 percent more calves and 25 percent increase in average weaning weights and a 38 percent in cow longevity, according to Ishmael.

“Sire selection is very important,” he said. “In California, where some of the herds are now being mated by using DNA, a difference of $89.32 per head has been noticed on bulls that sired high value calves and bulls that sired low value calves.

He also noted that most cattle producers tend to run too many bulls with their cows for the simple reason they feel the bulls won't get the cows covered. But DNA tests have shown that in some cases where several bulls were run in the pasture at once, one bull has sired 60 calves per year and some bulls didn't sire any calves.

- Alternative markets - Finally, Ishmael urged cattle producers to explore alternative markets as a way of increasing leverage. He suggested feeding cull cows for the market and maybe changing the calving season to take advantage of stronger markets at other times of the year.

In closing, he cited the lack of specific goals as one of the big reasons why beef operators are leaving too many cards on the table. But, he cautioned that as new goals are developed, producers need to ask themselves four questions:

Is it scientifically sound?

Is it financially viable?

Will it work in my operation?

Does it fit into a system?

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