← Ranch It Up Radio Show & Podcast
Ranch It Up Radio Show & Podcast
Thoughts & Comments From Angus Leadership & Cattle Industry News
00:27:00
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A
We hear the latest from the American Angus association convention, concerns over packer consolidation and a whole lot more. So crew, let's ranch it up. 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 Back Cow Country News.
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You know the cow stuff Senator Kevin.
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Kramer is calling on the U.S. department of justice to speed up its long running investigation into possible anti competitive practices by the country's largest beef packers, citing growing concerns about pricing, power and market fairness. There are four packers in the country that produce about 85% of the finished product, Kramer told a local North Dakota TV station, referring to Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef. Four years the so called big four have faced allegations of price fixing and collusion but but scrutiny ramped up during the COVID 19 pandemic when supply chain disruptions highlighted just how consolidated the industry had become. The Justice Department opened its investigation back in March of 2020, but so far no formal action has been taken. Kramer says the issue has become even more urgent, especially as meat prices climb and the industry reacts strongly to President Donald Trump's proposal to import more beef from Argentina. Ranchers argue that consolidation has left them squeezed, forced to accept lower prices for their cattle while consumers pay more for beef at the grocery store. With limited competition among buyers, many producers say they have few options outside the dominant packers. Kramer says he hopes mounting public pressure will finally push the Justice Department to release its findings. It's time to get some answers, he said. However, the Meat Institute is pushing back against Senator Kevin Kramer's recent call for renewed federal scrutiny of the nation's large beef processors. The group says both Kramer and the Biden administration are misunderstanding how the cattle and beef markets actually work. Spokesperson Sarah Little said the Biden administration who started this investigation misunderstood the cattle and beef markets and so does Senator Kramer. She says cattle producers are earning record profits right now while beef packers have been operating in the red for two years. And she adds that the level of concentration in fed cattle slaughter hasn't meaningfully changed in about three decades. Kramer recently urged the Justice Department to speed up its antitrust investigation into the so called Big Four packers, Tyson Foods, jbs, Cargill and National Beef, pointing to ranchers frustration over limited market power and high prices at the grocery store. In response, the Meat Institute released new data showing cattle producers are seeing record high prices while packers are struggling with shrinking plant use and negative returns. Fed cattle prices hit a record $2.42 per hundred weight in August before easing slightly to $2.32. Packer margins, meanwhile, are running about $1.26 in the red per head. The group also notes that the cattle supplies are historically tight, inventories are at their lowest since 1951, and imports of Mexican feeder cattle have dropped because of the New World screwworm outbreak. These factors, they say, are pushing prices up and forcing some plants to scale back production. Even so, the Meat Institute says consumer demand for beef remains strong and quality has improved, with a share of cattle grading prime or Choice rising from 70% in 2014 to 84% this year. Finally, producers are encouraged to be on the lookout for the Asian longhorn tick, which has been identified as far west as eastern Oklahoma, as far north as Iowa and Michigan, and as far south as the upper regions of South Carolina and Georgia. The invasive ticks were first detected in New Jersey in 2017 and have since slowly but surely spread to more than 20 states. The concern for cattle is twofold. One is that the ticks can infest an animal in numbers large enough to cause death simply by draining blood as they feed. The other is through the spread of a protozoan disease that ruptures red blood cells and can cause death. Quickly mature and immature ticks will attach themselves to virtually any warm blooded mammal with with cattle and deer especially vulnerable as animals move either with wheels under them or by migration, the ticks hitch a ride. What's more, nearly all the ticks are female and can reproduce asexually. Asian longhorn ticks feed side by side with other ticks, making identification difficult. But if you see a large number of ticks on your cattle, it's a good idea to collect a few and submit them for identification. Work with your veterinarian to monitor risk in your area and to develop a biosecurity plan that includes diagnostic, take control and testing time for a short break. Up next, recaps from the American Angus Association Annual Convention. You're listening to the Ranch it up radio show, and we'll be right back.
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Don't miss the 4th Annual Jorgensen Landon Cattle Angus Motherlode Sale. Saturday, November 22nd Ideal, South Dakota for the first time, selling select bulls plus maternally focused Angus females backed by 10 plus generations of proven genetics. Details@ranchchannel.com and jorgensenfarms. Do the Motherlode Sale the source for Maternal Angus genetics if your herd is.
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Suffering from scours or has had scours, see immediate results with farmitan from Imogene ingredients. Get your herd on a farmitan feeding plan now to prevent scours for next calving season. Got questions on what type of scours your calves are experiencing? Call 515-745-1639 for a consultation on how to best stabilize your herd and prevent any future problems. Producers are getting their herds back in shape, more breedbacks and healthier calves, and eliminating scours with Farmitan. Check out farmitanusa.com and on Facebook.
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You can call it a dispersion if you want. We're calling it a once in a lifetime opportunity. For over five decades, the Moose Creek Red Angus cow herd has done what few ever do and that's quietly shape a program that stood the test of time and now is your chance to build that legacy. The Moose Creek Red angus dispersal sale Dec. 22 and 23rd at the ranch Kisby, Saskatchewan, Canada South Selling a thousand head of elite purebred Red Angus cattle. All sale information available@moosecreekred Angus.com and ranchchannel.com this isn't just a sale, it's an opportunity. A chance to bring home the kind of cattle that built a legacy.
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Cattle battle.
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Welcome back to the Ranch it up radio show. The most information packed into a 30 minute program you can find at your All Things Ranching newscast. And so glad to be hanging out with y'.
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All.
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Questions, comments, concerns, criticisms, rants, it doesn't matter. You can call or text. That phone number is 707-Ranch20. The email is ranchituphowmail.com and prowling around social media Ranch It Up show last weekend, Angus breeders, leadership representatives, producers and enthusiasts gathered in Kansas city for the 142nd annual American Angus Association Convention. In addition to typical association business like electing various new leadership positions, it was an opportunity to take part in various breakout sessions, from covering the latest technology and marketing to very hot topics like methane study grants, genomic EPDs and data ownership. Charles Anderson had the chance to visit with some of the Angus Leadership Team, CEO of the American Angus Association, Mark McKelly in Montana, Wyoming and Alaska Regional Director Kurt Kangas. They discuss various topics like the current state of affairs along with projections of what we could possibly pay for breeding bulls next year.
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2025 In a nutshell, has been, I call it, an unprecedented year in the beef industry with record high prices but also a lot of challenges along the way. To start this off, what are you most proud of from the American Angus association standpoint? Some things that you've done to ensure success for the membership of the Angus Association.
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As you said, Charles, it's been just Historic levels of a market. Right. We all know that. And I think demand for registered Angus seed stock has been pretty incredible. And I think what maybe strikes me most impressive is the diversity we have in our breed right now. We've got registered Angus cattle that are really built and bred to do a lot of different things, take care of that mama cow and make more of those replacements that we're going to need as we rebuild. But also these cattle that can go in into these feed yards and get up into these heavy weights and get at the dollars that are out there for certified Angus beef and prime and significant market premiums that are out there. Our Angus Link program is a newer program that's come about here in the last few years where we're putting genetic merit scores on, on groups of feeder cattle. We saw really, I mean, you know, you think in these, these times, these really high feeder cattle prices that we're going to see any sort of premiums compress. And it actually went the other way this year. We saw probably more spread between the good ones and the, and the maybe the more risky ones than we've ever seen. And so that program, the adoption and uptake of that program is something we're really proud of because I think it really helps put more dollars back into the commercial producers pockets.
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It doesn't matter if it's a parent teacher association or the American Angus association, associations can't make everybody happy. What message would you have for those Angus breeders to kind of give them hope, reassure them that the association is on their side.
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We represent 22,000 members as a breed association. We know we've got breeders that have, you know, different opinions of what they want out of their association. It's a real challenge. And to say, I will say stay as cutting edge and progressive as we know many of our members demand us to be and at the same time not have members where they feel like they're getting left behind. Right. And that's really a challenge. Our approach has been around tools, around things we put out there is we'll produce the best tools we can and then it's up to the breeders to choose to use them how they want to. We've had some controversy around a methane research project that we were a part of. And we get it. We get it. The funding source of Bezos Earth Fund was a lightning rod for some. So we've worked really hard at helping folks understand what we were doing. This was a research project we were asked to collaborate on with some other international researchers for livestock, Livestock Efficiency Cattle Efficiency. This was. We were not entering into a discussion around climate change and global warming and all of those things. Now we get it right, we get the connection, how people went there. And so we've worked really, really hard at sharing all of the details of what that project was, what our objectives are, how we're able. There is a ton of work going on in this area, and I think that was maybe a surprise for some. Some folks to understand how much work and research was going on outside of a breed association out in private hands and making sure that we have if, you know, I always say if it's heritable, meaning that genetics are influencing a trait and it's economically important, as we know cow efficiency is, we need to be paying attention to it. And that's one of those things. We hadn't really ever been able to. We'd done some methane research work in the past with Kansas State University, so this was in line with some past work we had. And so, you know, just again, trying to put tools in the toolbox, keeping our breeders that. And again, we've got a lot of breeders that are really wanting to stay on the cutting edge of the genetic trends, and so trying to put the tools out there that they need and try to share and make sure that our breeders and our members all understand kind of what the objectives are and what we're not trying to get into.
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D
To kind of go along with 2025 being an unprecedented year. There's a lot of changes happening in the industry right now using technologies and research, whether it's from how we market our cattle to genomics. What are some of the highlights that the American Angus association is doing right now in those areas to kind of help ensure the membership's market share and then to grow that.
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You know, one of the things on the marketing, cattle marketing side, in our member survey work we've done this summer, the number one thing that our breeders, and we have a lot of smaller breeders, newer breeders, we have a lot of folks new into the registered Angus business. They want help building their brand and marketing their cattle. And so more digital marketing. More, more, more options for them to reach more eyeballs and potential buyers of their cattle. And then on the genetic evaluation side, we talked about some new technologies that are maybe going to be able to better measure carcass yield, meaning some red meat yield. There's some new technology, some vision cameras, and some work going on that might give us some phenotypes, as we say, some data that we can put into a genetic evaluation and put Tools out in breeders hands to make improvements in that area. There's some pretty amazing stuff going on with, with AI, the other AI I always kind of joke, right, Artificial intelligence, the other AI and just some fascinating stuff going on with even like cameras to evaluate feet and make our feet evaluation even more objective. So I don't know where it all goes. I just know there's a lot of things going on in that space. So we're trying to stay involved and we know a lot of our breeders are very involved in some of these new and innovative things.
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Glad to have you join us here today, Kurt. Fall bull sales are kind of winding up. If you just kind of want to give a quick recap of trends, you saw how you felt the sales went. Demand for Angus cattle California is probably.
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The big push rate that just ended and they had an outstanding bull sale season, up roughly 16% on their averages for bulls from last year. Demand was good to excellent, I'd say, you know, up north we just, we haven't quite got into the bull sale season yet. We've had cow sales so far and the registered cow sales have been outstanding. All of them up. I think with the 330something lots, we would average somewhere around 19, 20,000. So it was a really strong demand, strong market signals. Obviously the summer video run of the feeder cattle, it was just mind blowing to watch that thing go up, up, up.
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Since we talked about this fall, let's go ahead and look in the crystal ball. What do you see? 20, 25 kind of finishing out and then those sales that are starting up next January, next spring, what's kind of your forecast for the upcoming sales as well?
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Yeah, we're going to roll into this fall sales season and obviously expectations are high. Last year, the fall sales tend to do fairly well. There's lots of reasons we have those bull sales right next to the end of the year, obviously for tax implications. And as these guys get their feeder calf checks, they're going to have some money to spend on bulls, that's for sure. We tend to follow fairly closely with the California trends. That's, that's kind of handy having those sales first. You can make a pretty good, pretty good estimation of what these prices are going to be. And I'm going to guess that market's probably going to be up 16% from last year. So roughly, I'm going to guess bulls are going to be 9,500. I'm going to put that on the whole average for spring and fall and that's over 13,000 bulls. Just Angus bulls in that period of time. So I'd expect demand to be strong to really strong. It's going to be interesting to see, you know, heifer retention. Lots of talk about heifer retention. Looking at the data from the video sales, we sold a lot of heifers this year and it wasn't replacement guys buying. I'm sure those guys got some, but a lot of them are going to agribe, they're going to agris. A lot of them went north into Canada with jgl. And so it's interesting to see, are we going to see more demand for heifer bulls than we did last year? Last year, the demand for heifer bulls was decent, but we didn't see that huge price break between the heifer bulls and the cowbowls that we normally see in the springtime. When people are focused more on heifer bulls in the fall, folks are really focused on pounds and pounds pay in the fall.
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D
As genomic testing has become more commonplace, even to the point of commercial operations genomically testing their cows, and as they're able to gather more information through that genomic testing, what value have those steps done to increase the profitability of the seed stock producers?
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Yeah, I remember genomic testing when it first started back when I was working on the ranch and the price point was a killer. So you didn't see massive amounts of animals getting tested like we do now. The price point comes down, it gets more widely accepted. The variability on, say, Calving Ease Direct and birth weight, it really tightened that up that we've changed the way that people calve. It's much easier to use those Calving Ease direct numbers and the birth weight numbers to get what you want and really not have to touch your computer cows. You can go by those calving numbers, be very, very confident that you're probably not going to have a lot of issues with them, which is nice for the commercial producers.
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Besides obvious birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, milk, are there any other traits that are kind of catching steam, stuff that maybe the bull buyers are looking for that hasn't necessarily been a trait that has been a high priority or something that's kind of growing in popularity as far as traits that people are looking for?
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Yeah, you know, we run a lot of our commercial guys are operating at higher elevations, you know, 6,000 and better. Some guys run up to 10, 11,000ft in elevation. So the Pap score for our region has become very, a very crucial tool people are using. Whether it's Pap score actual or Pap score EPD people are using that probably heavily, more heavily in my region and probably in Idaho, Utah, places like that in Colorado obviously. But PABS been something that's really kind of picked up some steam recently as a new epd. Obviously foot scores are very popular to be used and trying to sort those cattle out.
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The final question are there any pointers that you'd have any advice for breeders getting ready for bull sales coming up? Just any little things that they can do to add value to their bottom line.
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That's always a tough one. Know your customers know what your customers are looking for. Where are they? You know your big buyers, your guys that are getting 10, 15 bulls from you or five or six, depending on. Depending on obviously the size of your operation. But you know, where are they genetically advertising things like that are crucial in this day and age. And you know, with the cell phone technology it's pretty easy and social media, it's pretty easy to get out there. I tell everybody this is a people business and people are drawn to people.
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Charles Anderson visiting with American Angus Association CEO Mark McKelly in Montana, Wyoming and Alaska Regional Angus Director Kurt Kangas. Follow current affairs with the American Angus association by checking them out and following on Facebook at Angus association and their website, angus.org up next, we have a market recap, the sales calendar and lots more right here on the Ranch it up radio show. So keep it parked. Keller Broken Heart Ranch, a leader in Simmental and Simangus Genetics, invites you to their first annual Heart of the Herd Fall Elite female sale Wednesday, December 10th at the ranch in Mandan, North Dakota. Selling 86 registered bred heifer, eight breed leading donors and 12 elite young cows. Literally the absolute top of the herd. Bid and buy online at dvauction.com catalogs, videos and sale information available at kbhrcemital.com and ranch channel.com don't miss this exciting Simmental and Sim Mangus event. Wednesday, December 10 Keller Broken Heart Ranch Are you looking for the best way to raise healthy, productive beef? Look no further than Westway Feed Products. Westway's liquid supplements support increased forage utilization, efficiency, convenience and sustainability. With Westway Feed's scientifically formulated liquid feed, your cattle will gain weight faster and stay healthier, ensuring you get the best return on your investment. Visit westwayfeed.com or call 800-875-17 to learn more. Westway Feed Products Raising the Bar in beef production one supplement at a time.
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Ranch channel.com I'll give you just a few seconds to head there on your phone ranch channel.com your farm and ranch network demand bull sales, Western events, product information right at your fingertips on the ultimate cowboy friendly platform. Want to follow up to date markets ranch channel.com no need to dig for information on all these different websites. It's all right there on ranch channel.com y' all are loving it now aren't you?
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And welcome back to the Ranch it Up radio show. It is that time of the program we check in with Kurt Donsb Stonex Financial Incorporated Recap in the markets from last week. So Kirk, it's been a busy last few weeks for you, but things kind of settling down a little bit or calming maybe I should say and you get a breather.
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It has been very nice to for the markets to calm down a little bit and for people to actually be able to do something. Laying down is not fun.
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Yeah, no kidding. No kidding. So what do we got for numbers when we closed out last week? All right Tigger.
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As of Friday, October 31st November feeder futures closed the week at 334. That's down 1820. On the week the CME feeder index was down 1983 at 347.25. That left the basis or the difference at a positive 885 versus November futures. December live cattle close a week at 229.70. That's down 422 and a half on the week with cash trading 230 early when futures were down so aggressively and then 235 to 236 late after the board started to rebound. The north traded 230. The five area weighted average was not reported but Northern cash was approximately $8 lower than the previous week basis against the lowest cash and December futures was positive $0.30. So December futures and the lowest cash are quite close. Choice boxes close a week at 378.13. That is up 237. But off of the 38138 highs that were placed on Thursday, weekly slaughter was 559,000 head. That's down 14,000 head from last week and 57,000 head the same week last year. Dress weights and yearly production were not reported. March corn closed the week at 4:43 and three quarters. That's up six and a quarter on the week. There's no talk of Chinese purchases of corn, but soybeans are supporting the market. Still, it appears that farmer yields are dropping as the harvest moves along. We will have a USDA wasde report on November 14th.
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The ranch channel sales calendar happening now jyj red angus in Alabama Red Angus Bulls and females Friday, November 14th Jorgensen Landon cattle and Wink Charlotte present the Legends of the Fall Bow Sale featuring Angus Smart Bulls and Long Age Charolais bulls in Arcadia, Florida. Also on Friday the 14th DLCC Ranch their private treaty female sale in Piers, Minnesota featuring South Devon pound maker and navigator genetics. Saturday, November 22nd Baldridge Tiedemann and Frank Cattle Genetics Annual Angus and Red Angus Elite Female Sale selling open and bred heifers, donor and bred cows and embryo packages, Lodge Pole, Nebraska also on Saturday, November 22nd Jorgensen Land and Cattle annual motherlode sale featuring 150 registered Angus cattle including 11 motherlode donor cows, 12 bred heifers and 40 age advantaged bulls in Ideal, South Dakota. All of these sales, their details and more can be found at your fingertips@ranch channel.com have you ever wondered how ag.
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Influencers make money and if it actually makes a difference for their families and operations? Hey hey. Hi, I'm Shea Wanner and I host the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast. I recently visited with Tucker Brown about this topic and here's a tip or two from him.
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Whatever you post, you make sure that statistically it's right, that your data is correct, that whatever you're posting is correct. Because if there is something wrong, people will find it and they will let you know and then they're going to hold it against you. So I think anybody who's ever done this has found something like that. If you've been in it very long, it's like riding horses. Like if you've ridden a lot of horses, you have fallen off before. And so I think it's the same way with social media. But getting past that is just another part of the job. I got to learn from this. I got to make sure that the next time I post my data is right. And I would probably tell my young that myself then too, to not be as serious. Because I do my best when I am myself, which is like half serious and half humor and very sarcastic. And so my videos do best when I do that. And probably because people can read through any BS online, they can read through it. When you're not acting like yourself, people can see it. They're not, they don't, they don't like that. So the more I am myself in the videos that I create, it helps me and I have more fun doing it. Ready to tune into the full conversation?
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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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And now that's going to wrap it up for today. A big thanks goes out to our crew. Charles Anderson reporting from the American Angus association annual Convention with Mark McKelly and Kurt Kangas Kirk Donsbach with Stonex Financial Incorporated. Shea Warner with casual cattle conversations and the boss lady, Rebecca Wanner, AKA Beck, who is back.
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A big thank you to our partners, Imogene Ingredients bringing us Farmitan Jorgensen, Land and Cattle, Keller Broken Heart Ranch, Moose Creek red Angus Ranch channel.com RFD TV Top Dollar Angus Trans OVA Genetics, Westway Feed Products Wrangler and this fine radio station and crew.
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So glad you all came with us one more time as we ranch it up. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook at Ranch it up show. Our email is ranch it up showmail.com you can call and text 24. 7. That phone number is 707-RANCH20. That's 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.