← Ranch It Up Radio Show & Podcast
Ranch It Up Radio Show & Podcast
Bull Development, Meat Trade & Costs, Lab Grown Meat, & Packer Consolidation
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From developing bulls to the markets to global meat trade, we've got it all and you've got it locked to the Ranch It Up Radio Show. Good day everyone and thanks for riding with us on this all new episode of the Ranch It Up Radio Show. I'm Jeff Tigger Earhart.
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And I'm Rebecca Wanner, AKA Beck.
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A big thank you goes out to our partners for Today's episode. The CK Bar Ranch, Jorgensen Landon Cattle Livestock Market.com, ranchChannel.com, Sirebuyer, Wolf Cattle, Westway Feed Products, the world famous Miles City Buck and Horse sale, and this fine radio station.
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After more than 800,000 acres have burned in Nebraska wildfires, livestock producers are now searching for places to graze their animals. The Nebraska Cattlemen's association Sundays there are two main options, both showing how neighbors are stepping up to help. One option is feeding cattle hay. Donations are arriving by the truckload, but hay can still be expensive. The second option is a free online tool called the Nebraska Grazing Exchange. It connects ranchers who need land with farmers who have pasture available. People who want to help can sign up, list what they can offer and connect directly with ranchers in need. Once a match is made, the next step is moving the animals to that land. Laura Field, executive vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen, says support has been overwhelming. She says tough times like this bring out the best in agriculture community. Field says some ranchers have lost up to 70 or 80% of their summer grazing land and may need to move cattle to entirely different regions, even out of state. But she says help is coming from all directions across the country. Field also says that she doesn't expect long term economic damage. She says Nebraska's beef industry is strong and resilient and will weather this challenge. While moving cattle, also known as rotational grazing, isn't new, the situation right now is complicated. Field says burned areas are filled with damaged equipment like fencing, water systems and other infrastructures. She says groups are working with state and federal partners to match needs with resources and get supplies where they're needed most. As for concerns about ranchers leaving the state, Field says the grass will grow back and the cattle will return. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture adds that grazing can actually help prevent future wildfires by reducing dry plant material. We have the direct link to the Nebraska Grazing Exchange in the show notes this episode@ranchituphow.com a series of market moving events, including a strike at a JBS beef plant, geopolitical tensions involving Iran, shifting oil prices and tariff uncertainty, have yet to derail strong beef demand as wholesale prices continued to climb, according to analysis by Drovers and Sterling Marketing profit tracker. Market fundamentals have shifted in recent weeks. Lower fed cattle prices combined with higher boxed beef values improved packer margins while pressuring feedlots. For the week ending March 14, packer margins were estimated at a loss of $54.17 per head, narrowing from deeper losses in prior weeks. The beef Cutout rose to $390.66 per cwt. Feedlot margins turned negative, estimated at a loss of $48.79 per head. Elevated break evens continue to pressure feedlots despite strong demand. Hamburger prices on restaurant menus are 14% higher in the last three years, but beef production costs jumped 30 January 2023, according to a new report from food industry intelligence firm Data Essential. Burger inflation is roughly in line with broader restaurant prices despite the effects of chronically tight beef supplies. Food away from home, which approximates all food service including dine in takeout and delivery, rose 4% in 2025 and is 13% higher since January 2023, according to the federal government's Consumer Price Index. The Data Essential report pointed out that restaurant pricing strategy can keep prices on popular items in check to avoid hurting turnover while causing cost burdens to be spread throughout the operation. Burgers in particular are a source of traffic, especially in the quick service segment. Efforts to scrutinize consolidation in the US Meat industry are gaining new momentum in Washington as lawmakers from both parties increasingly target large packers amid persistently high beef prices. In recent months, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has floated legislation aimed at restructuring the industry, while President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to investigate major beef packers for potential antitrust violations. The unusual bipartisan convergence reflects mounting political pressure to address food affordability, even as economists and industry leaders say the fundamental driver of high beef price lies elsewhere. The renewed focus on meat packer consolidation follows years of debate over the market dominance of the so called Big Four beef packers, jbs, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef, which together handle roughly 80% of US cattle slaughter. Trump last fall directed the DOJ to investigate whether large packers engaged in illicit collusion, price fixing and price manipulation, while several Republican lawmakers voiced support for stronger antitrust enforcement. At the same time, Schumer and other Democrats are preparing legislation that would attempt to curb consolidation across the food system, including potentially forcing meat companies to focus on a single protein. Florida's ban on cultivated meat will stay in place after a federal appeals court upheld the law. In a ruling released Monday the case was brought by Upside Foods, a California company that produces lab grown chicken. After the law took effect In July of 2024, a three judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the ban does not conflict with federal laws regulating traditional poultry. The court said the state law doesn't control how the product is made, only whether it can be sold, meaning federal law does not override it. The decision also upholds an earlier ruling from a federal district court that dismissed the case. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who supported the law, called the ruling a win for farmers and consumers. Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill, has also defended the measure, saying it protects Florida agriculture from what he calls lab grown alternatives. Florida was the first state to pass a ban on cultivated meat. Since then, several others, including Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska and Texas have all followed. The bans come as the lab grown meat industry is still in its early stages and the Food and Drug Administration first approved cultivated meat for sale in 2022. Supporters of the industry argue these state laws could slow innovation, cost jobs and limit competition. It's not yet clear if Upside Foods plans to appeal the ruling. That's a wrap of the news. More of the Ranch it up radio show when we come back.
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Wolf Cattle presents the 38th opportunity sale of 2026 Thursday, April 2300 registered limousine Linflex and Angus Bul Fall Yearlings and spring yearlings plus 30 registered females online only with live bidding through Superior Livestock and DV Auction sale details at wolfcattle.com DV Auction Superior Livestock and Ranch Channel Wolf Cattle where beef is our business
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if you're buying or selling cattle, make your first stop. Livestockmarket.com Livestock market features private treaty sales, online auctions and live production sale bidding. You'll also find horses, sheep, goats and hay. Check out the free Livestock Market magazine wherever you pick up Tractor House and download the Livestock Market mobile app. Today,
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the world famous Miles City Buck and Horse Sale is back for the 75th anniversary Western experience of a lifetime. Join us May 14th through the 17th in Mild City, Montana. From the finest bucking stock to electrifying horse racing, this event has it all. And don't miss out on the Pendleton Whiskey Kickoff Concert featuring Trace Atkins and special guests Corblund and Kenny Fiedler. Mark your calendars for the world famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale where the spirit of the west comes alive. Get your tickets@buckinghorsesale.com Cattle Battle Breeding Bowl Development it's different for every seed, stage, stock producer and for Kelly Erickson with The CK Bar Ranch in Kodoka, South Dakota. It starts with a specific regiment in the fall and leads up to sale time. Bulls must pass rigorous scrutinizing not only genetically, but soundness, locomotion, longevity, fertility and efficiency. Although Kelly did say during the break that phenotypically, this was the most uniform set of bulls that he has ever raised. Kelly, hey, welcome back to the program. Let's talk bull development on your outfit.
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Well, generally we start out with weaning them on their summer pasture and they'll. We use the nose wieners and ferro peas on those calves. And then they'll go to a pen for three or four days and we just make sure there's nothing in there still balling look for its mother. Then they'll go back to grass and get fed on grass for 30 days, 45 days before we bring them in the feedlot. But they have big pens that they can roam around in and, and still be bulls. You know, be cattle. They don't sitting in front of them all day long. They're getting plenty of exercise. They're set up for three and a half pound gain. And I think we more than exceeded that this year.
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And here's kind of a. Kind of a production question, if you will. And you and I have talked a lot about sales and the date of when to have those sales, when to not to have those sales, age of cattle. We've talked about averages, all of that over the years. So I'm just curious about your opinion on this. And in today's day and age, with cattle prices, where they are, and with all of this information that is available to us guys out here to make buying decisions of genomics and I mean, you name it, we can dial this thing in. In your opinion, where do guys need to be for spending dollars? And I know I'm kind of putting you on the spot here a little bit because I've talked with a lot of people and they say, well, you can kind of back that formula in and say, what are you. What are four or five steers gonna bring in the fall? And, you know, that's kind of where you should be at. But that bull is a major, major, major investment into somebody's program, and they should last a number of years. As we talked before, too. So I'm just curious of where you think guys need to be in terms of spending dollars for bulls.
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That's a really hard question to answer.
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That is a tough one. I know.
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And every operation is different. The guy that's background in those Calves, he's probably going to need to spend a little bit more to get that extra growth on those kind of that yearling weight or a guy that's going to retain females. You know, maybe you want to spend a little bit more on that bull to ensure yourself maybe a little bit more maternal in that bull for his daughters.
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But let's dance with longevity there a little bit too. And I kind of evaded to it when I said this bull is an investment he needs to last a number of years. You and I have talked off air about that, that you have said even in your outf environment in southwestern South Dakota, you need cattle that you can't be replacing genetics every other year, every couple years. And I'm talking walking bulls is. What I'm talking here is you've got to have, that's a major investment. You've got to have walking bulls that go out and they're going to last for a long time. I know that that's something that you have translated into your philosophy of the bulls that you sell too is you know, you want to take care of your customers in every way, shape and form that you can. And part of that is getting them in a bull that's going to last for a long time then not they got to come back every other year and they got to keep replacing and replacing and replacing. I know longevity too is part of the, the CK bar program.
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It is. You know, we've, we sent a lot of bulls out to, from northeast Montana to through western South Dakota, western North Dakota, I should say all through eastern Montana, northeast Wyoming, you know, probably some of the biggest country harshest environments that those cattle can live in. A lot of our bulls are still out there working at 6, 7, 8 year old bulls. So the investment those guys made is really paid off. When you have a bullet 6, 7, 8 years old, still sound as a cat out there chasing cows around. I think that whatever you spend on him was definitely worth the money. Think of how many calves that he generated in his life. And our cow herd is that way too. Look, we call really hard for, for soundness, good uttered cows and fertility. Longevity is part of all those things. I mean, if you don't, if your cows ain't getting bred or your bull isn't working, I mean you got to replace them and they're pretty expensive to do that right now. You know, we focus really heavily on that, on feet. You know, everything starts from their feet up. I mean there's just no doubt about that. You, you can't have all that weight. If you ever get a real sound foot and stout boned bull, look into the future. I don't know how long this current cycle is going to last, but you know, you go out there and if you're spending $10,000 on that bull three years, is that going to be enough to recoup your investment? Maybe that bull needs to last you, you know, five or six years. Out there buying that really good bull now will probably really be paying off in three years or four years when winter cattle cycles does start to turn and we see reduced prices, so. Or if we do, I hope we don't.
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I don't either. Don't jinx us, Kelly. You know, I gotta, I gotta say this. I'm darn proud of you. And the reason that I'm saying that, Kelly, is we've known each other since we were just we ones and you have set a priority and you said it years and years ago, that you wanted to be in the seed stock business and you wanted to raise cattle of a certain caliber. You were, you have been uncompromising in that. And even though we're a little lower in numbers this year, you're offering right around 30 bulls. Let's talk about how you're planning on expanding that in the future. Because I know, like I said, you drew lines in the sand that you will not cross. You just said longevity has to be in these cattle. Fertility has to be in these cattle. Efficiency has to be in these cattle. They got to have sound feet and legs. You said it starts on the ground with the. So how are you going to expand in the future? Because I know that is what your goal is, but you are not willing to sacrifice what you've done up to this point. And that's why I'm extremely proud of what you've done, even though you've had to keep your numbers a little bit lower to do it.
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We're really expanding our ET program. We've already flushed several cows this spring and we're going to be doing some more here in May. That's one way we're going to do it. We've got a really nice set of commercial cows. Put those embryos in. We retained about 70% of our heifer calves this year as well. So we're really hoping for rain and maybe some more grass if we can find it somewhere.
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Right.
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All of us are asking, yes, the ET program. And what we've been doing with that is taking some older, really proven cows and using some young sires on them that just genetically are just like hitting it out of the park from a genotype standpoint and crossing those cows that were kind of old school, cows that had a lot of growth to them, you know, really sound it. But raised calves that were just big stout rascals and, and crossing with these bulls that are, you know, a little bit more carcass, a little bit more calving ease, maybe a little bit more maternal in them, that's kind of where our future is going towards right now is just using some of those older genetics and cross them with these newer genetics to boost the genotype on their, on their calves a little bit.
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Well, my last question for you is this, and then I'll let you go because you said this afternoon you need to go out and actually weigh the bulls that are coming up for sale here in a very, very short period of time. Coming up April 3rd in Saint On, South Dakota. Do you have any kind of assistance for me of selling feeder calves? Can you help me with that? I come in and buy a bowl. Can you help me? Or, or I'm going to say give me another option is what I always say. I like to have options where you can pick from this and this and this and this and find out what works the best. Do you have some things like that where you can place those feeder calves sired by your bills?
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I do. I, you know, we've got a couple of different options there. Allied Genetics has been really good about helping market some calves if you're interested in their programs. And I've also got a couple order buyers that, that are interested in buying them direct if you want to sell them out in the country that way as well. So I mean, we do have some options there right now. It's easy to sell them, you know, and you know, don't, don't jinx us.
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Don't jinx us.
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Well, what, what I like to do, you know, is start building those relationships.
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Yeah.
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You know, between the commercial guy and either that order buyer or a feed yard. And actually we got a couple feed yards that I've been visiting with too about hopefully maybe getting them interested in buying some cattle direct. If you're wanting to go that route or, or Allied Genetics will help you with that. You know, they rep for Superior as well. Well, I just want to thank everybody for their interest in the bulls this year. Like I say, they're just out there. This is by far the best set of bulls that I've ever brought to town. We do have, we have free delivery through the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and after that we'll sure work with you. If you need bulls further away than that, we can. We can find rides for them.
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Kelly erickson with the CK Bar Ranch his sale coming up next Friday, April 3rd at Saint On Livestock in Saint On, South Dakota. Bid and buy online at DV auction and the catalog and videos are available@ranch channel.com Time for a break. We have the numbers and more of the Ranch it Up radio show when we come back. It's the sale worth waiting for. CK Bar Ranch Simmental and Simangus bulls designed to add pounds in profit to your program where bulls offer the best of both worlds with proving calving ease and growth to maternal strength. Join the CK Bar Ranch crew Friday, April 3rd at St. Onge Livestock in Saint 1. Bid and buy online at DV Auction and Videos, catalogs and sale information available@ranch channel.com and ckbarranch.com join us April 3rd in Saint on South Dakota for a powerful set of bulls ready to go to work for you.
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I run a 150 cow calf operation.
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Two years ago Nick Small of Fullerton ran into scourge in his cow calf operation.
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I had a big problem with coccidiosis scours and I went to my whole
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herd the next year.
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After getting his herd on a dosage of Farmitan Sweet Chestnut tannin, how many cases of scourge did you have?
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Zero. I'm not kidding. I didn't have any.
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Learn more@farmatanusa.com or call Joe Knopf at 402-340-3323. Jorgensen Land and Cattle, the nation's largest seed stock supplier invites you to the ranch in Ideal, South Dakota for the 54th annual Top Cut Angus Bull Sale. Powered by the motherlode, featuring 200 registered Angus bulls backed by proven maternal strength and long term cowherd value. All sale information@ranchchannel.com and jorgensonfarms.com for 54 years the top Cut sale has been the standard for practical performance driven Angus genetics. Jorgensen Landon Cattle Apple The Ranch Monday, April 20. Welcome back everyone to the Ranch it up radio show. It's that time in the program we check in with Kirk Donsbach with Stonex Financial Incorporated, recapping the numbers from the previous week. So Kirk, numbers wise, what do you got for us today my friend?
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Good morning Tigger. As a Friday, March 20, we get a little reminder this morning as I wrote probably the most bearish newsletter I've written in quite some time and we wake up the oil down 10 and equities up almost a thousand that in this particular market oil is driving the ship with its positive influence on grain and its negative influence on equities and cattle. So everything we say you can almost kind of throw out the window right now and just watch the oil. But anyway, as we are watching cattle, April feeder futures closed the week at 351.40. That's up 767.5 on the week as it narrowed the basis to the CME Feeder Index. That was up 375 at 362.06. That left the basis versus March futures at a positive 431. It was about an $8 basis last week. The basis is positive $10.66 versus April futures. We did have a cattle on feed that came out at 99.8% versus 99.3%. Expected placements were 103.7% versus expectations of 100.2 and the marketed number for February at 93.2% versus 92.6% expected. I consider the report bearish and oversimplified. We had 100,000 more animals placed than were marketed. You can hear quite a few people trying to dismiss the report, but I think those numbers are significant and that the cattle on feed was back at 100% of last year. And I consider it bearish. Of course again we woke up with oil down 10 and all. That's kind of out the window this morning. April live cattle closed the week at 233.95. That's up 310 on the week. Cash traded 235 in all regions with a few late 236 sales in Kansas. That left the five area weighted average down 1072 at 234.05 and the basis of positive $0.10 versus April futures. Toy Spox has had a very Good week closing at 411 cents. That's up to 19 on the week. It is worth noting that we did back off the Wednesday highs at 403.31. Weekly slaughter was a very light 508,000 head. That's 7,000 head below last week and 50,000 head below the same week last year. Dress weights were up 2 pounds at 898, which is 27 pounds over this week last year. Yearly production closed the week up 2/10 of a percent at 7.4% less than the same week last year. The combination left yearly production up 2.10of a percent for the week at 7.4% less than this week last year. Fresh beet imports were up 2% at 13% over the same week last year. To wrap this up, December corn closed the week at $4.91 a half. That's up a half a cent on the wheat. Corn is being supported by the moves in oil.
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You've poured blood, sweat and tears into your operation. Don't you want to see it? Go to the person once you are done hey hey, I'm Shea Warner and I host the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast. Lydia Carpenter and I had a recent conversation about non family transition plans. Here's a portion of our conversation. So like we prepared for a long time and an opportunity arose that we were able to then invest in. And so I would say to folks like seek opportunity. And this may sound very cliche, but even just like thinking outside the box and reaching out to peers that will communicate with you. And what I mean by that is there are people in the industry that will talk about their structure, they will talk about finances, they want to be open. And so if you're trying to seek out options and you're thinking about this, look for some of those mentors and people in the industry that will help you. Ready to tune into the full conversation? Check out the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast on your favorite podcast player as soon as you're done listening to the Ranch it up radio show.
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The Ranch Channel Sales Calendar Thursday, April 2 Wolf cattle limousine, Lynn Flex and Angus Spring and Fall yearling bulls along with 30 registered open heifers. Online sale with live bidding through DV Auction and Superior Livestock. Friday, April 3rd CK Bar Ranch 30 Semitol and some Angus bulls Saint On Livestock in Saint On, South Dakota Saturday, April 4th Six Mile Ranch Angus, Red Angus and Simotel yearling and aged bulls along with seven elite Red Angus heifers and a select group of commercial Red Angus and Angus heifers at the Six Mile Ranch, Fir Mountain, Saskatchewan, Canada Vollmer Angus Ranch Tuesday, April 7th yearling and coming two year old bulls along with the National Western Reserve Champion Pen of three Angus bulls, yearling and commercial open heifers at The Ranch Wing, North Dakota Prairie View Farms Friday evening on April 10th at the farm in Gridley, Illinois Angus show heifers, bred heifers and herd bull prospects and embryos Tuesday, April 14 Thomas Ranch is hosting their 54th annual bull sale at the ranch in Harold, South Dakota. Angus, Charolais, Red Angus and Sim Genetics bulls. Other sales coming up from some of the nation's most recognized seed stock providers, Jorgensen Land and Cattle, Gil Red Angus, Wilson Angus and the Mississippi Select Brahmin and F1 sale. All catalogs, videos and online bidding platforms and sale information is available@ranch channel.com and
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now that's going to wrap it up for today. A big thanks goes out to our crew, Kelly Erickson with the CK Bar Ranch, Kirk Donsbach, Stonex Financial Incorporated, Shea Warner with casual cattle conversations and the boss lady, Rebecca Wanner, AKA Beck.
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A big thank you to our partners for today's episode. CK Bar Ranch, Jorgensen Landing Cattle, livestockmarket.com, ranchannel.com, sirebuyer, Wolf Cattle, Westway Feed Products, world famous Mile City buck and horse sale and this fine radio station and crew.
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So glad y' all came with us one more time as we ranch it up. Be sure to follow and like us on Facebook @ranchituphow. The email is ranchitupshowmail.com the phone number that you can call or text 24. 7 is 707-ranch20 at 707-726-2420. Spread the good word and join us again next week where it's always Tigger and Beck approved.
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Stay ranchy and ranch it up.
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Sam.