Practically Ranching
Join Matt Perrier as he visits weekly with interesting, thoughtful, entertaining individuals within the beef community. Conversations will inspire curiosity and creativity while maintaining the independent spirit and practical nature for which ranchers are known.
Practically Ranching
#62 - Kara Lee, Your Link in the Chain
Kara Lee is Director of Producer Engagement for the Certified Angus Beef Program. A native of Indiana, she now resides in northeast Kansas.
On the episode, we highlight the many speakers and information shared at the 2024 Feeding Quality Forum, held in Dodge City, KS, last month.
Slides and further information may be found at:
www.feedingqualityforum.com
Thanks for joining us for episode 62 of Practically Ranching. I'm Matt Perrier, and we are here thanks to Dalebanks Angus in Eureka, Kansas. We're currently taking bull pictures and laying out the catalog for our upcoming sale. November 23rd. If you'd like to receive a catalog in a month or so, go to Dalebanks.com and drop us a request. While you're there fill out our two or maybe three minute survey on genetic selection and trait priorities in your herd. This week's episode packs a bunch of information from a bunch of different sources. Kara Lee serves as the director of producer engagement for the Certified Angus beef program. And Kara is going to give us a great overview of the recent feeding quality forum that was held down in Dodge city, last August. We cover the speakers high points relative to beef demand and economics, credibility and yield grade estimation, packer premiums for genetics, uh, beef quality assurance, feeding technologies, and then at the end, kara gives us a little taste of what it's like for a cattlemen to get, to attend their. Annual CB conference, which was just held in upstate New York. Now. You understand my allegiance to the Angus breed and its programs are no secret. And regardless of your perspective toward this breed or the CAB brand. This CAB staff does a phenomenal job of creating demand for high quality beef from the consumer. And then they also do a phenomenal job of figuring out ways to pass that back through the supply chain to get to producers. And because they have created this demand pull model for CAB, they need more supply. And so they're constantly striving to find ways to help producers increase the amount of Angus influenced cattle that meet their specifications and satisfy that consumer demand. The feeding quality forum is one of those pathways to producing more better cab. And I'll bet, regardless of the type of cattle you produce or feed or market. You just may hear something that will help you in these endeavors. So, thanks again for listening and enjoy this conversation with Kara Lee.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:My daughter, Hannah, who had just turned 16, came to me with a proposal that I take her and another friend of hers to the Zach Bryan concert in Kansas city, and it overlapped. So the good father that I was, I went to Zach Bryan instead of the certified Angus beef feeding quality forum in Dodge city, Kansas. So you're going to have to. Fill me in, give me the CliffsNotes version. I missed, I skipped class, so. What can you tell me that happened?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Well, well, first and foremost, I can tell you that as proud as I am of our team and our feeding quality forum, I think you made the right dad decision that night. That's, uh, you know, life happens, but, uh, no, we were, we were very thrilled with our feeding quality forum this year. Um, so it was the first time we'd had the event back in Southwest Kansas for several years. Um, this is the, the 19th year that we had done it. put on Feeding Quality Forum and um, we knew that um, it was, it was past time for us to get back to southwest Kansas and Dodge City did not disappoint. We know when we think about that event our primary audience is your professional cattle feeders, but our secondary and tertiary audiences are your commercial cow calf producer who has a vested interest in either Quality feeder calf marketing or retained ownership through cattle feeding and then your seed stock producers who are Getting involved at a customer service level with their customers to be focused on quality as well And we were we were right in the heart of that We had a record number of attendees this year by the time you take out speakers and staff. We were right at 260 true participants who came and joined us in Dodge We put together a, a pre-event tour with the help of our good friends at National Beef. They let us bring a, a very small subset of our attendees in for a packing plant tour. It was the first year we'd been able to make our way back into a plant since pre covid I, and that was a, um, a perennial request from our attendees. They said, when are we gonna be able to get back into a plant? And we were excited to, to be able to pull that together for them with again, the help of National Beef and our friends at USPB, but, um, you know, we, we came right off of that into a day and a half of just some really excellent content.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Good. Well, I've only been to one of those in the past was in Kansas city. What was that three years ago? I think maybe four. honestly, every time I had seen that, and I think this is kind of how it was developed was basically, as you said, for feed yards, first and foremost. And I'd always seen the title and said, well, that's, I'm not a cattle feeder, uh, with the exception of owning a few on feed, um, that's not for me. Man, I went and was blown away. I mean, one of the most cutting edge lineups of speakers and the discussions in the hallways afterwards and the questions in the bar that evening. I mean, they're just, it was a great place to really dig deep on some, not just Angus or certified Angus beef topics, but beef industry topics. And the speakers, got that started and everybody followed along. If there was one takeaway, one bit of information, one speaker, one topic that you think probably as folks were driving back home that evening, that hit them the hardest, what would that have been? Or was, can you narrow it down?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Well, it's hard to narrow things down to, to just one particular speaker, but I, I was so pleased to hear the prevalent theme across. Both days, multiple speakers, the notion of paying attention to how your link in the chain is either impacted by a previous link or impacts the next person Um, the idea that, uh, quality focus can't just be, you know, The job of the feeder or the job of the cow calf producer or the job of the seed stock producer. It takes everybody. And each of those steps in the chain today, they're paying attention to more data and using more technology and tools than we ever have before. Um, we're in a totally different pricing market and we're in a different quality market. And so we have to be in a different management market to, to keep up with those things. And that was something that it just felt very consistent across all of our speakers.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:That's awesome. And the, you know, the old island mentality that We used to have for decades, if not centuries in the beef industry that, you know, I am a cow calf producer and whatever happens to that calf after he leaves my place and I get my check... I could care less. Um, I think that's gone. I, at least on the high quality side of things, because as you said, I mean, any one link in that chain that's weak, that screws it up, everybody gets dinged. It may not happen this year, but in the longterm, I think, uh, Dr. Dan Thompson has been on this podcast before has called it the one beef concept, I think. And, and it, you know, we are all in it together. All, all for one, one for all.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah, that's, it's a pretty lonely mindset to think just about how your decisions impact yourself. And, you know, as we look at all the different entities, uh, we, we all go farther when we go together and, um, the more successful, you know, you're a seed stock producer, Matt, the more successful your customers are, the more successful you are as somebody selling bulls and the more successful the feeder is. The more valuable those feeder cattle are the next year.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yeah. That's, uh, you know, not to get too deep into the industry politics or discussions, but sometimes when I hear folks in one segment start lambasting somebody in another segment, whether it's cow calf producers complaining about Corporate feeders or packers or retailers or whomever else. I laugh and I said, if I treated my customers as a seed stock producer, if I treated my customers, like you all are talking about your customer, cause that's who that feed yard is, or if we're feeding cattle, that's who that packer is... I wouldn't have any customers left. And so, yeah, we don't have to just say, you know, whatever you want to give me is fine. Uh, but yeah, there is value in all of us being transparent enough to share that information, to share, uh, those gains or those losses whenever we can and, uh, try to make, you know, grow the, grow the pie for everybody.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Absolutely. And that's one of my favorite things about feeding quality form is that you have so many of those segments represented in the room. And I mean, we, we put a packer on the stage. We put professional cattle feeders on stage. We have veterinarians on stage and seed stock producers, um, everything along the way. And, you know, everyone has a responsibility obviously to make good business decisions for what makes them money. But, uh, to be sustainable in the long run, um, We've got to look at how it impacts everybody.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yeah, no doubt about it. So. Who else did you have? And I guess we can just kind of go through and you can give me the, the, uh, shortened condensed version or any high points that you may have had, um, one by one in order or however, uh, but give us some of the topics that were talked about there from the stage.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:we'll give you the cliff notes, you know, so one of the, the key lead off speakers that we've had for several years on this program has been Dan Bosse, Dan, being the president of Ag Resource Company. He's a global economist that works not just in the beef industry but across the globe. Lots of different ag commodities and, uh, you know, Dan's one of those guys that he can quite literally tell you what anything has to do with the price of tea in China. But when you, when you think about how that relates to our book of business, you know, he would have shared that for 17 years, the U. S. is top trading partner has been China. And that's not the case today, which has had some pretty big ripple effects. Um, he would have shared that, you know, right now farm revenue overall is down 37 percent since 2002. So in just three years time, um, we're down 69 billion in farm revenue. But the really exciting thing for beef producers is that the beef sector remains an extremely bright spot for the global ag economy. Um, They are predicting that cow calf margins are going to be estimated to be greater than or equal to five hundred dollars ahead In in the coming year while retail meat prices remain at record highs And so you think about you know The ability to kind of fly in the face of the law of supply and demand and and we've seen this before We're putting more high quality beef into a box today Then we ever have, and yet there's still premiums out there available for producers and the consumers we know are paying more for beef, but they still, they're, they're not looking to downgrade to lower quality. We may have some competition in the market when it comes to other proteins, but when they're buying beef, they, they know they're not going out to buy beef because it's the cheapest protein and so they want to get the quality stuff, which is, is very encouraging. Um, And we kind of segued straight from Dan into the economics of how that quality focus really impacts the cow calf producer. Um, and looking at, um, the overall box supply of certified Angus beef. So, Paul Dykstra would have shared some really cool insight regarding. Um, affectionately referred to it as the influential 10%. And what we're talking about there is, um, you know, today certified Angus beef accounts for, um, over 20 percent of all fed cattle in the marketplace when you combine, the amount of Angus influence on overall fed cattle and then layer in acceptance rates. We're more than 20 percent of that box, but 10 percent of those total a stamp cattle So your total potential supply of certified Angus beef 10 percent of it Misses our brand's marbling threshold by 30 points or less And when you think about how that comes home to roost all the way back to the seed stock producer, the commercial guy buying bulls, um, you know, there's a lot of conversations about herd rebuilding, focusing on balanced trait selection at the ranch. You know, we, we know we need cows that get bred every year. We know we need cows with good feet and legs. We've got to balance our phenotype with our genotypes across multiple traits. Um, when we look at, uh, A 10 percent potential supply increase that is only 30 marbling points away from our brand standards. That tells us that the peak of our bell shape curve, man, we are, we are so close. We are right there. And so we don't have to necessarily be making the most dramatic decisions when we think about marbling, you know, certified Angus beef talks about marbling a lot, not because we want producers to do single trait selection. That's, that's absolutely a misconception. That's not our book of business whatsoever, but we talk about it because it's the number one place that producers are leaving money on the table when it comes to those premiums. And so, um, you know, when Paul kind of broke that down into, you know, Sharing just how close so much of our supply is it just encourages rangers to be mindful of marbling. Let's not make it the only thing that we're thinking about, but but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater when we're thinking about our selection and management decisions. if you run the economics of shifting 10 percent of that supply. Across the marbling threshold that modest or higher threshold, you know that calculates to Just shy of$47 per head for cattle sold on a carcass basis versus industry average that could be available so that's you know, that's really it's encouraging to us as a brand from a supply perspective, But I think it's a really unique opportunity for producers as they're thinking about you know, someone who might not have traditionally thought of themselves as a Um Quote unquote carcass focus producer. Um, you know, you don't have to make that your only focus, but let's not be anti when we think about selection, there's a lot of opportunity to make some incremental decisions that can have some pretty big effects.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Right. And there's, there's just too many options out there, from a genetic standpoint to completely disregard that opportunity for profit, whether you are retaining ownership and being paid that premium directly or not. I mean, these program cattle, uh, when we get to talking about traceability and all these different opportunities, some would say liabilities, but I would say opportunities for the commercial cow calf producer, even if they want to sell those as weaned calves, or as yearlings, or as balling calves straight off the cow, somebody is going to know how those cattle did, and there are likely going to be premiums associated with more demand associated with those cattle next year. so yeah, it's, it's, it's all part of the puzzle and, and, you know, you're talking$47 additional in carcass value. Quite often, that's the difference between profit and loss for that feeder. I mean, you talked about Dan saying that hopefully we're seeing the opportunity for 500 plus margins in the cow calf world. Most of these fed cattle, granted they own them for a shorter time and there's all kinds of different differences there within the segments. But a lot of the times those cattle are making plus or minus a hundred bucks a head. And so you talk about a 50 per head opportunity and that's quite often in the black instead of in the red. So it's, it's huge.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:What you were talking about with the premiums and program cattle is that It plays so nicely into a comment that I distinctly remember Randall Spare, a veterinarian from Ashland, KS, He was another one of our speakers and as he was talking about, you know, utilizing tools and selection, He said we really have two kinds of cow calf producers in the marketplace today You have your price takers and your price makers and I think that holds true today whether whether you're selling feeder cattle, you know, six weeks post weaning, or you're retaining ownership all the way through, you know, there are abilities to add bells and whistles to those cattle because the next guy down the line cares more today than they ever have before about the information there. And, um, if, if you want to be a price maker, meaning, you know, you've invested in the right genetics, the management, the health, everything, Take advantage of some of those opportunities and be a little bit more of a price maker than a price taker.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yeah, and, and it all goes together, even as specifically for the cow calf segment. you miss any of those links within your own business, if you buy the good genetics and feed those cattle right, and have them on a good vaccination, mineral program, and then open the trailer gate, dump them out the back and don't tell anybody, you're probably not going to top the market, uh, whether you enroll those on some kind of a program and Somehow, if you're going to go to the work, you've got to represent them. And let somebody that's going to be bidding on those cattle know why it is that they're worth more, not just quote unquote reputation.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah. Progressive management is excellent and I'm a big proponent of progressive management, but it requires progressive marketing to really capitalize on it. And I think sometimes, you know, as producers we're, And don't get me wrong. There are a lot of people who are very good at it. But sometimes we're really good at just doing the right thing, keeping our head down. And we get a little uncomfortable with talking about all of the things that we have done right and communicating that with the next person down the line. And again, I think they're better opportunities for folks to get plugged in today than ever before to help them do that.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yep, I would agree. Alright, so after Dan talked about the economic side of things, where did you go from there?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:So that's when we kind of rolled into Paul thinking about that, uh, that grayed out and moving things on down. And, um, so we, I, I mentioned, um, Randall Spare coming in and talking a little bit about heifer retention. You know, we, we specifically wanted to bring someone in to talk about replacement female decisions, which, you know, You know, that maybe seems a little out of place on what's on an agenda that traditionally is a feedlot conference. Um, but as we've, we've really tried to be intentional about bringing content that's relevant to your commercial cow calf guys. And, um, we know that right now with record low in recent history, cow herd numbers, the decisions that are made. At the herd rebuild in the coming years, we either have to live with the consequences of those decisions or reap the rewards of those decisions for several years down the line. And, um, you know, one of the things that that Randall talked about was not, you know, again, not single trait selection from a marbling perspective, but just shifting our mindset a little bit about. When we think about marbling, we know there are tools out there today that help us evaluate commercial females. Um, and maybe it's not about selecting your very top end. But if you can identify, I mean, any of us, if you're a commercial cow calf guy, that says, Um, you know, you sell your calves, you know, bawling right off the cow... if you had an opportunity to identify your bottom 20, 20 percent of your performers, especially if you could do it, before you ever took the time to develop that replacement heifer, and go through, you know, getting her, you know, Pregnant the first day and second time if you could identify who had your your least potential at the very beginning what a great bang for your buck on the investment that you can make on those replacement females today. And I mean He would have talked kind of just piling on to the things that paul talked about if we're if we can Look under the hood at marbling potential post weaning gain potential today Versus you know 18 months from now when you're trying to preg check that heifer You Then why not do it? Now's a great time to do it. So we, we jumped in from there and shifted a little bit over to talking about, the Packer perspective. So we, we were fortunate enough to have Chad Barker join us from National Beef. he and Mark McCulley sat on stage and just had a little bit of a fireside chat to talk through, um, what, what are the Packers seeing today? You know, Chad being over their procurement for National Beef, um, I think it's just, Always a great opportunity for an audience like that to have some open Q and a dialogue with with the guys who are out there bidding on those cattle and the message we heard loud and clear from Chad is that, care more about the predictability of the cattle they're buying today. you know, some of your listeners may or may not be aware of the premiums that National Beef has recently announced. You know, today they're offering a five dollar per head premium for cattle coming from the feedlot to them that have an Angus Link genetic merit score card with a beef score greater than or equal to 100. I'm not the expert enough in Angus Link to get into all of the details about how a person would become involved. You could certainly reach out to the association for that, but I think that the key message there is that, um, you know, the packers are going to make moves that are going to increase their quality and increase profitability. And they see, uh, they see enough value in sourcing high quality cattle with genetic potential to say, we want to turn around and send the financial signal back to the producer that says we want more of them. We want more of those particular cattle. And, and I know that was, you know, you think about the buzz in the hallway, the bar chats afterwards, that was a popular topic among, among producers, just that that's a big move for a Packer to step out and say, we want to put our money where our mouth is on that,
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:if you would have told me 20 years ago, maybe even five years ago that a packer, a big four packer would have anything in their negotiation or their grid or however you want to describe it that pertain to genetics, I would have laughed in your face. I mean, yeah, they understand that there are differences, but for the most part, they've said, you send it to us and we'll figure out where it can go and be the most value. We'll that's our job. We'll sort it. We'll partition it out. We'll find the customer not, Hey, not only do we not want them to be this size or this fat thickness or whatever the case may be, we want them to. achieve this level of genetics for these traits or higher. And when I, when I saw that press release, I guess it's been maybe close to a year now. Um, first I had to read it twice to make sure that I, that I was seeing national beef, that it was an actual packer talking about paying a premium for genetics, not just what the cattle did. But then, I mean, the phone starts ringing and everybody's like, what's his Genetic Merit Scorecard or, you know, why in the world would a packer care about genetics? It's because they know what makes them money. They're businessmen and they understand what makes them money.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah, it makes some money and they, you know, they quantify genetics differently today. I mean, I think seed stock producers have probably been ahead of the curve in terms of how we think we quantify genetics. Because seed stock producers have been using EPDs and genomic tools for some time. You know, you talk about just going five years back, I would venture a guess that your packer and even some of your, you know, feeders, you know, five to 10 years ago, they would think about genetic selection as being sourcing black hided cattle. And, um, today that that's not good enough to quantify those. We want to be able to create value differentiation because not all black hides are created equally.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:So anything else from Chad or Mark in the Packer discussion? What did they talk any about where they see consumer preferences and how much they're going to be willing to pay for this shorter supply of hopefully higher quality beef? Uh, did they get into the dollars and cents there?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:you know, if I had a crystal ball to tell you how much national beef or any Packer was going to pay for cattle, I'm not sure I need to have my day job, but,
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:with me.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:but, you know, the, I mean, it was a very strong message of, of quality and then that's, that's why they can pay these$5 per head premiums on these Angus link calves because that's, that's where their, their potential lies in new business. And, you know, kind of a, maybe an unintended consequence, if you will, of, the pandemic when we had, you know, we had really high prime rates because you take these cattle with really high genetic potential and you add some unexpected days on feed on top of them. and then you close down the restaurant industry who has typically sucked up all of that prime. market. what you have now is retailers who are putting prime in the meat case who have not typically had enough supply of prime to do that. And, and guess what? Their customers liked it. And now we have retailers who are, they are seeking out prime. They're not just buying prime because it's what's there because the restaurants aren't buying it. They're trying to spec out prime. you know, national and competitors like them are seeing that that's where a lot of the profit potential is to grow the market is because, you know, consumers, they might be buying beef a little less frequently, but when they are buying it, They want the good stuff. And um, you know is and I think the the really encouraging thing is that that's that's something producers are Primed to step up to the plate and meet the demand of I mean, we're right there
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yeah. That's one of those COVID stories that not all of us realized and maybe a good thing from a beef standpoint is how we got that retail customer back to buy in good beef because I remember all too well 30 years ago. Now, as I was coming out of college. And we first saw the dollars spent on beef away from home surpass the dollars spent on beef to be cooked at home. In other words, they were spending more money at the restaurants, then pretty soon, from a volume standpoint, they were almost buying more beef at a restaurant or a quick service someplace than they were the grocery store. And all the. All the experts said, we're probably not going back. People are not going to spend the time to cook. We better just focus on food service because that's where it's at. Well, guess what? COVID changed all that. And Oh, by the way, we, as producers, we're making a totally different, i. e. better product in two weeks. 2024 or 2020, sorry. Then we were in the 1980s and nineties when they'd take it home and cook it a little too far and have shoe leather. So they took it home and whether they cooked it right or wrong, it was still doggone good. And they went back and paid more for it next time. And when we saw the, the absolute run up in wholesale beef prices there, During and even after COVID, as those restaurants open back up, I remember John Stika telling me that part of it was there's a bidding war going on right now between your major retailers who captured some of that market share back away from the food service industry, and they're not letting go of it. They realize they can move this beef through and, and, um, yeah, so it's, it's a great thing for beef producers. And, Again, there aren't a lot of happy stories post COVID, but that might be one.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah, yeah, that was one of them and one thing that this This kind of resonated from some of Chad's comments, but then also, um, Dale Woerner from Texas Tech was on our program the second day, um, along with Pete Anderson, and there was a lot of discussion around, red meat yield and the important, not only the importance of paying attention to red meat yield to producers, but looking at the way we measure that today. So we had a really great panel, The first evening as part of our Industry Achievement Award so we had Glen Dolezal from Cargill, um, Derek Vogt, who's a consultant, has a lot of experience with USDA, and Abram Babcock, who's with Adams Landing Cattle, um, they were a panel talking about industry involvement in, the evolution of carcass grating, between those three guys talking about grating and, Dr. Woerner and Chad and Pete talking about red meat yield, there's just a lot to unpack there, both with, with what's going on today and what the future looks like regarding that. So, Dale Woerner shared some really cool insight talking about, technology that's being evaluated today to look at red meat yield going forward. when we think about the current yield grade equation, there are probably some limitations to what that equation can give us today compared to, what's relevant to the industry. And so he would have shared, you know, your ribeye area only explains about three percent of the total variation in true red meat yield, which is just, you know, mind boggling to me when I think about how important red meat yield is to the Packer, um, how that trickles down from a pricing perspective. Um, and I always, you know, personally, if I, if I take my company hat off, my personal skepticism comes out when I see some of these things that seem like they're very futuristic and maybe for the rich and the curious. But when Dale was sharing some of the, the 3d imaging models of what they can do today to look at carcasses and, you know, they're, Things are a little gray on what the timeline of actual implementation could potentially look like, but we're not talking 15 years down the road. We're talking, you know, in much nearer term than that of perhaps the ability to move away from or adapt a current yield grade equation to get a more accurate red meat yield piece of the pie. Um, I mentioned Pete Anderson earlier. That was You know, the, the red meat yield some was, was something that he would have talked a lot about, um, especially as we think about managing cattle today in the current pricing environment, um, whether you're merchandising live cattle or on a carcass basis, um, we know cost of gain is extremely important, and your profitability only goes up until your cost of gain exceeds your sale price. we know that Your yield grade premiums are really nice, but they don't necessarily drive your grid results. that's where your quality comes into play and thinking about balancing out, you know, we, a pound of gold is worth more than a pound of lead. And so it's how it can't just be about creating pounds. We want to be creating the right kind of pounds, um, and having the ability to, you know, as feeders kind of maximizing that red meat yield. with, the highest quality type of red meat mingled in between. If a listener were to say, give me one session to go back and look through the, uh, the recap. I heard so many outstanding comments about Pete Anderson's session on our second day. And I mean, Pete's a, he's a veteran of our industry that's well respected as a consultant. but. You know, he, he definitely, we, we didn't get a wash, rinse, repeat of, of what Pete would always share. He very much had our audience in mind.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:That's fascinating. And I have, um, haven't reached out yet, but I'm hoping to have Dr. Werner on the podcast and maybe I need to have Pete on there instead, or in addition to, but to talk about just that, because even though let's get very CAB specific for now, even though marbling is the biggest reason that a stamped carcasses,--i. e. Those black hided animals that walk in the pack and plant door-- marbling is the reason that they don't make it. For what I can't remember what percentage
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:About 80%.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:80 percent of the, of the A stamped cattle that don't make the program is because they didn't exceed that modest zero or mid choice or higher. But you know, when we start talking about Excessively big rib eyes and, excessive fat thickness. And then, you know, you talk about fours and fives discounts, not that that necessarily keeps them out of CAB. There are a lot of things from a cutability standpoint and from a consumer acceptance standpoint, that if we had better tools, we may be able to manage those better. But first off, we've got to figure out how to send the right price signals and, and having technology that does that better than the old, you know, YG 1 through 5 that, uh, I think was developed on a totally different type of cattle in what, the 1950s or
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:And a totally different beef merchandising system, too.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:True, true. Yeah. All commodity, all commodity and basically three to four breeds instead of however many we have now that are in the mix. So yeah, that, uh, and. If it's okay, I will include a link here in the notes to maybe, uh, the website that has some of these, of these, um, synopses about the feed and quality forum
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah, the feedingqualityforum. com would have links to slides that both Dale Woerner and Pete Anderson would have shared.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Awesome. We'll have that in there. So I'm sure there were plenty of discussions in the hallways, uh, after that about, you know, how do CAB specs change? Not that we can answer that today, but that's one thing about the program as, as Rigid and as stringent and as dedicated as you all have been since its inception in the mid seventies to that quality and to the marbling, as the industry has subtly changed in its management and, and customer consumer preferences, you all have added things in there too, to make sure, I mean, not exceeding, is it a 16 inch eye, uh, to get into the program and things like that as carcass weights have been bigger. So I'm sure there'll be possibly some changes there as well.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah, and so Daniel Clark, um, Dr. Clark, one of our meat scientists at Certified Angus Beef, he actually joined Dale Woerner for the presentation to talk a little bit about some of the recent evolution of Certified Angus Beef specs, um, because it, you know, it's all very interrelated with this red meat yield conversation. Um, the one we have adjusted most. Frequently and most recently would be that hot carcass weight spec and it's no secret to anyone who's paying attention to historical carcass weights We're not making them any smaller. and quite frankly, there's not an economic signal out there, Especially with cow herd numbers where they are today, there's not an economic signal to make them smaller Um, you think back to again some of some of chad's comments you think about the logistics of running a plant my goodness those guys have had to um You They've had to rework the machine about how they get cattle through a facility like that today compared to what they did in 1970, because we're, we're running different sizes of carcasses through, but, you know, as a brand, I would say we've tried to remain relevant, relevant to both the consumer side of the business and to the production side of the business and, um, and increasing those carcass weights with, uh, A lot of consist data behind him to see, you know, how far can we realistically raise this hot carcass weight without sacrificing quality? you mentioned the ribeye area spec, you know, we, we are kicking some more cattle out today than historically because of excessive ribeye area. We have a 10 to 16 square inch. Um, it's not the bottom end that we're kicking cattle out on. It's, it's on that top end for sure. but today it's not been implemented by the majority of, of processors by any stretch, but we do have a A provision written into our specs with Packers today that if you have a carcass that meets all, I should say all ten, nine of your certified Angus beef specifications, but has a ribeye area that falls above 16 square inches, but below 19 square inches, the Packers still has the ability to put everything except your middle meats in there. into a certified Angus beef box. So, I mean, you can, you can still use the tenders, but they can't use the ribeyes, your strips, and your shortloins. Um, because as we look at consumer demand, it's the size of your shortloins and your ribeyes that are really the concern. can we take the, the brisket and the chuck and the round from an animal with a 17 square inch ribeye that otherwise meets certified Angus beef specs and, and still meet consumer demand? Sure, we can do that. now, Again, you've got to have your standard operating procedures written into the plant's operations to allow them to do that. Um, but that's just another way that we've tried to, to look at production today and remain relevant without sacrificing on quality.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Were there any discussions this year? And I know probably in the hallway that we're after that talk, but about consumer acceptance of these bigger, especially middlemeat strips, ribeyes? And at what point do we either figure out a pricing structure podcast, countless times that will reward that sweet spot. Whatever it might be 16, whatever the case may be, or figure out how to cut these things and serve them two pieces of a ribeye?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah. And, you know, I don't know that the, that it's the consumer, what I, what I would consider your true consumer pushback that we get so much on that versus. trade levels. So it's not necessarily, I mean, yes, when you get a ribeye That's to a certain size, you know, Mr. and Mrs. Consumer at the meat case might get a little bit of sticker shock when they see a price per pound on a ribeye that's cake platter size. Um, that, that gets a little, that gets a little pricey. Um, But I would say the biggest issue is when you have too much variability in the box. So I'll just use a barbecue joint for example. Um, if, if I'm running a barbecue restaurant and, um, maybe I'm smoking some ribeyes for, for my high end barbecue joint. if I order a case of ribs from my distributor, that distributor has a weight limit that they're allowed to have on their cases of meat. And so the packer knows I can't sell my distributor a case that's any heavier than X number of pounds. And if I take a, you know, a 19 square inch ribeye and toss in that box, it's not just the size. Think about how much that thing weighs. if I want to hit my weight count and my piece count, maybe I need to fit two or three more ribs into that box. What am I going to go look for? Am I going to go look for another big rib to put in that box? Or am I going to look for a small rib to put in that box? Probably gonna look for a smaller one so I can hit both my piece count and my weight count. and what that does is then when the restaurant opens up the box, you've got a lot of inconsistency. I mean, it's like, you know, being a feeder and getting, you know, five weights and eight weights and the same trailer load. You can't manage those cattle the same and expect them to have the same weight. The same kind of outcomes. Um, and so I think we're, you know, our, our quickest opportunity, and this is, this is opinion, this is, this is Kara's thoughts, not Kara's facts. Um, but I think we're where, where I think we have the, the most opportunity in the, in the near term, is really even thinking about ways that we sort those pieces a little bit differently. And, you know, it's like anything else you gotta think about implementing packing codes and sorting and, you know, is a, is a plant willing to draw an extra line in the sand between various sizes. And so instead of having, you know, a small and a large, do you have a small, medium and a large, something that allows your customer to define, I want this size, or I want this weight. do we have to price those a little bit differently? Possibly, um, some customers are going to want something a little bit smaller, and maybe that's what drives your financial signal ultimately, but I think there are a lot of trade customers out there who might be willing to take your bigger pieces if they could say, can you, can you guarantee me that I'll get the consistency across the board? you mentioned the, the merchandising, cutting these animals a little differently. that's, that's certainly a conversation that we've had a lot thinking about, you know, how we break down the rib, and, and the, the packers that have talked about implementing that provision of being able to, stamp a carcass of CAB and pull out your middles. They, you know, they're looking at do we have a customer who wants those really big ribeyes because they want to pull the spinalis off and utilize that somewhere else in their, in their menu or on their in their shelves versus utilizing a heart of ribeye. Um, you know, it's, I think we're still a far cry away from, you know, From pulling all those spinalises off, you know, you and I, we like to walk into a restaurant. We want to see that full ribeye steak on a plate. I don't know what I'm looking at necessarily if I just, if somebody pulled that meat candy off and away from me, but um, you know, we're there, there are some accounts that are making some strides in that direction.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's like so many other things in our industry. You know, the beef industry is probably laden in tradition and a little slow to change, but if you really look back at what we've done from a carcass utilization standpoint from a new product development from pricing and value standpoint, we have come a long way. And since our old commodity days of the 1990s and prior. And so we'll figure it out. And especially if the consumer and the retailer, food service, distributor, packer, all those links in the chain, as we talked about before, especially if they recognize that there's value, we'll figure out a way to pull that forward and partition it out. So, all right. So where do, where'd we go next after the cutability and yield grade and that type of discussion?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah. It might, it might be jumping the gun a little bit from a content perspective, but I'm kind of tying back into some of Chad's comments as a packer. Um, we had a really great panel talking about how cattle feeders today value genetic information. Again, back to the comment I made about, we can't just look at a black hide today. and this is where we, we had a chance to put some, some real world cattle feeders up on the scene. We had Tom Fanning from the Pratt Feeders group who joined us and Grant Morgan from Poky Feeders both up there. We also had Troy Marshall from the American Angus Association and I would say Troy's key role there, you know, Troy oversees that Angus Link program. And we knew that if if the night before we were going to have Chad up there talking about how valuable Angus link information was to them We need to be able to give our audience a resource to say, you know, how can I tap into this? What do I need to think about? What can I do? And and troy had some really good insight to share just in terms of what he's seeing cattle feeders do from a demand perspective And and procuring those cattle. you know, tom Tom's just one he's a class act of a human and has so much insight as a cattle feeder Um, and he would have talked a lot about the evolving mentality of cattle feeders today. and, and I can say this cause he said it from stage. I told him I would be quoting him on this. He said, you know, cattle feeders need to have the courage to pay the premiums for these high quality cattle. Um, he said it in, he said it in rehearsal and was brave enough again to say it on the microphone on stage, so I'm not afraid to quote him on that. He said, that's, that's where our bread and butter lays in success of being of being a high quality cattle feeder is being able to procure, you know, the best blank canvas out there that we can work on. I would say one of the most encouraging things that Grant shared from their experience at Poky is You know the the evolution of a mindset that you could only get high quality cattle from a certain part of the country. Yeah, you say, you know As cattle feeders, we maybe had this Misconception or maybe it was misconception based in truth years ago that you could go to certain regions And that's that's the only place you're going to get high quality cattle if you go down to texas, new mexico, oklahoma, You're looking at something that's commodity based. And he said they as a cattle feeder, they've seen a major shift in the mindset of the commercial cow calf guy in the southern part of the central plains and the south and the southwest of being focused on quality. And as a cattle feeder thinking about the logistics of freight and where they have to go to get those cattle, he said it's really encouraging to them to think about being able to source high quality genetics a little closer to home where maybe they hadn't. past, which was, um, you know, it's always nice to be able to, to dispel some of those old misconceptions as well.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:What else from the feeders? Did you hear our, our, our, Are they concerned as everybody else I hear about in the feeding industry about cattle numbers and, and did they talk any about supply and demand or were you more just focused
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Yeah. I mean, I don't think anybody's not concerned about numbers. Um, even the cow calf guy, who's, who's maybe looking at some quality margins. We, we know that that thing's not going to last forever. And, um, you know, there was a lot of commentary there to the same thing. We just mentioned that the economic signals are not there to make them any smaller, especially with costs of corn right now, you know, prices of inputs. Um, it, it's about, it's about making them, I won't say making them necessarily bigger, but better and maximizing again, that red meat yield. but you know, it's not just selling pounds across the scale. If we want to make, if we're not going to have as many of them to feed, we want to feed. the best ones that we can, and we want to make the most margin on them that we can.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:did Tom elaborate any when he said cattle feeders need to have the courage to pay premiums for those high quality cattle, did he describe what is a high quality set of feeders coming to Pratt or Buffalo or wherever it might be that he's buying them?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Nope, that's a great question. And honestly, that that's exactly why we had Troy joining these guys, because they've had some experience, whether it's with Angus Link or other program cattle. you know, they need to be getting animals that have some kind of information on them. And it's a combination of both the genetic information on those cattle and the health. You know, health is one of those things that Grant talked a lot about as well, and I couldn't agree more with him. He said, um, high genetic potential doesn't do me any good if I can't keep them alive. And I, I empathize and appreciate that. And, um, we, we also, we had another panel talking about technologies and, um, Dr. A. J. Tarpoff from K State Veterinarian there. Know, He got as basic as talking about health strategies to say, you know, as cow calf producers, we can't be pouring the coals to these cattle from a genetic perspective and forgetting some of our most basic health protocols. and even thinking about, you know, the things that, you know, if we've, if we've done the same thing health wise for the last 20 years, when was the last time we re evaluated that? And I appreciate Grant's commentary on that of Um, you gotta have both to do well. I can't pay more for, for high quality cattle if they don't have a good health protocol that goes with them. But, I kinda, I elaborated a little more on your question there about how tom would have said they quantified it. But, um, yeah, it's a little of both. You know, we've got program cattle that are related to genetics, to age and source, to health, um, to your NHTCs. I would say. The genetic information, um, and any of the management and health ahead of time were, were the two things that were most prevalent with those two guys.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Great. So where'd you go after the feed yards and value from their standpoint and management?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:I mentioned AJ was on a panel there a minute ago and, um, that was a, a collective between he and then, um, Justin Gleghorn. from Cactus Feeders, um, which was moderated by Dr. Kirsten Nichols from our Certified Angus Beef team. Um, we really asked them to kind of talk a little bit about, you know, expanding on what, once you get past the, the procurement and the management, um, talking about technologies as a whole. And I will tell you initially when we first invited these guys to, to join us for the program, our thought process was, um, the FDA has made some regulatory changes in recent history re implanting and things like that. And we said, you know, if we've got cattle feeders and commercial cow calf guys in the same room, um, is anyone other than the cattle feeders even aware of re implanting regulations? And are there questions that each of them have for the other, things they want the other to know about how their management impacts the next guy down the line? Um, I think, you know, they were able to, To rest some minds at ease on the sky is not falling is as it's related to that. But, um, you know, Justin would have talked quite a bit about the way they look at, um, efficiency technologies at cactus in terms of the importance that genetics play. to them and being able to utilize some of those technologies. Um, we know that there are some growth and efficiency tech, feed efficiency technologies that have potential at some point to impact your quality grade. And, um, you know, to them, it's very important to know what the potential looks like on those cattle before, um, They consider utilizing a technology like that. and there's a, you know, some of those technologies have a pretty broad range, to, to be, to be generous of how many days they can be used and whatnot. And I know every feeder has their own proprietary, Prescription of how many days they will or won't use a certain technology, but for them, he would say that, uh, knowing the genetic potential of those cattle makes a big difference to them. Um, in other words, if, you know, if you've got some cattle that, you know, they're not gonna grade to start with, You know, you're probably not going to downgrade them even further utilizing a technology. And so, you know, you think about how that, how that plays into procurement. If they know more about the cattle ahead of time, um, and whether or not they can utilize some of those technologies, they can price those cattle differently if they know the genetic potential is there that they can utilize a technology a little differently.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:And that's more of a feed yard focused deal, I would assume. I mean, obviously we've got cow calf producers who are using implants and things like that, but I assume they're even more so talking about some feed additives and, um, yeah, you, you, you name it. There's, there's endless opportunities out there. And like you said, a lot of that is proprietary the way they do it. But, um, Uh, all regulated under FDA and granted, we've got consumers that have different perspectives on technology and, quite often have a negative connotation to any kind of technology. But when we look at the numbers that we've got in terms of beef numbers and cattle numbers, um, by not using any of these, we're gonna, we're gonna hurt ourselves in more probably,
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:We've, we've got to be able to do more with less. We've got to do it responsibly and we've got to do it judiciously. Um, and, and I think that's, that's where a lot of the open dialogue. I, I never want a feeding quality forum session to be a commercial for one particular product or one particular program, um, because there are a lot of different ways to slice that pie. Okay. But we want to be able to have some open dialogue across multiple facets of the industry about how, how each one is impacted.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:All right. From there,
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:Um, from there, I will say we, we kind of wrap things up. Um, our, our final session was, um, a little bit of a, I'll call it the PS, if you will, because we actually had a, we had a post event, um, that, uh, was offered. At High Plains Feedyard, um, just about 20 miles or so south of Dodge City, Tom Jones there was gracious enough to host us. Many folks know that Certified Angus Beef has been very involved with one of our partners, Sysco, in, um, promoting our Raise With Respect campaign over the last couple years, which is really encouraging folks to become BQA certified, or in most people's cases, recertified. We know BQA is not a, not a new program. and as we visited with the folks, even at KLA, in the six months leading up to Feeding Quality Forum, you know, they would have expressed that one of the, the requests they get a lot is from feed yards who are saying, you know, You know, I need to have all of my employees trained because BQA is not new for them. They have these requirements already in place that I need all of my employees BQA trained. Um, but if you don't have somebody on a regular rotation, you're getting a lot of calls regularly to get lots of different employees trained. And so we said, you know, we're going to be in Dodge City. We're going to be, you know, within just a couple hours drive of a lot of cattle on feed. Let's do a training that's really focused towards those feed yard employees. Um, we brought in a hispanic, a spanish translator for some of the hispanic demographic that are working in the feed yards. Um, and we said we're, we're going to do a, an on feed yard feedlot BQA training, hosted by none other than, um, Someone who I affectionately refer to as one of the godfathers of BQA, um, Dr. Bob Smith, AJ Tarpoff would have joined him as well. but knowing that that was kind of our, our followup, like after we close out feeding quality forum, couple hours later everyone's invited down the road. We actually invited Dr. Bob to do a, um, a session kind of on the lessons and beef quality assurance of what we've learned over the years. And, you know, personally that was just something that I appreciated. So much to have someone with that much perspective about where we've come in the industry, because, you know, I've, been around long enough that I remember when BQA was all about injection sites. Um, and sometimes today, you know, it's, it's easy to kind of roll your eyes and think, oh, that's all BQA is. Well, first of all, that's not true. It's a lot more than just injection sites. But when you're, you sharing some of the data from the nineties and we were looking at higher than 20, more than 20 percent of your top butts that we're ending up in retail food service consumer hands had some kind of site injection lesion. It's like, man, this, this stuff matters. And when you think about a program like that, making, I, I would, I'm not fast enough on my feet to put the dollars and cents to that about what kind of an impact that has had on our business over the last 25 years, but it is staggering and significant. And then you think about, um, you. you go beyond injection sites to all the other things that BQA is. Um, we're not just doing this because it's the right thing. It is the right thing, but we're doing it because it makes sense for the consumer. It makes sense for our wallet and it makes sense for the cattle and our employees. And so it was, it was just a really fun way. Um, to kind of put a cherry on top of the program for with someone who knows the cattle feeding business at an intimate level and has seen firsthand the impact of, um, of a program like Beef Quality Assurance and then, just appreciate he and AJ lending their time to us that afternoon for the program down at High Plains later on.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Well, it sounds like I missed a bunch, but, uh, you have done a nice job of taking a, what almost two day, if you count the BQA and tour before two day program into 50 some minutes. and like you said, we can make those, uh, those links to some of the presentations available for folks if they want to dig a little deeper and see some of those slides as well. So now that you've got Feeding Quality Forum behind you, by the time this podcast airs, you'll probably be on a plane headed for, is it New York?
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:York. Yep. Yes, sir.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:beef annual conference. Um, very few, if any of us that are listening to this podcast, have or will ever get the opportunity to maybe go to the CAB conference. But got to go one time and was, had been told how cool it was. And I'm like, well, you know, I like managed expectations and the expectations I have are way too high for this thing. So I know I'm going to be disappointed. I wasn't. It is unbelievable. And I guess you can put it into words better than I tell me what somebody sees from a producer standpoint, as such as yourself the attendees and the discussions and everything that goes on with CAB conference, because it's different than any meet any cowboy meeting that I've ever been to.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:It is and you're, you're humble, Matt, because you also let us put you to work the year that you came to our annual conference. But, um, you know, I would say that as I approach our conference through a cattleman's eyes, the key things that, Always, every year, it doesn't matter how many times you go, you never become tired of seeing, one: how dedicated these people are to selling high quality beef. Um, so the primary audience for our annual conference is your, your trade end users, your restauranteurs, food service distributors, retailers, further processors, you know, folks who are making smoked and cured products, marinated consumer package things. Um, we've got over 600 people registered to be with us in Verona, New York, and just shy of 500 of those are our true brand partners who are, you know, it's not just all spouses and guests. They are, man, they are so passionate about making beef sales successful. They love the certified Angus beef brand and they love what our producers do. They may not know Everything or half of what you do Um, but matt you can probably attest to this for the handful of producers who are there whether they are our award winners Some of our board of directors, maybe some guest speakers If you got boots and a cowboy hat on our folks Our customers are going to stop you in the hallway and say Thank you for what you do. when I've had producers who have gone for the first time, they've told me I've never felt so appreciated about what I do for a living as going to the Certified Angus Beef Conference. And, and I think, you know, and they, they leave with An equal appreciation for what a value added processor or a retailer does to make them successful. It's, it's such a tangible way to see how these ends of the chain that are so far removed from the day to day of what we do, man, we rely on each other. Um, and then the even more exciting thing is, you know, it's the month after our annual conference. our customers leave that conference ready to run through a brick wall like the Kool Aid man to sell some certified Angus beef and they're following up with our sales team and our marketing team, you know, on the flight home from annual conference saying, well, I, I saw this, that somebody else had done. How can I implement that in my place of business? I mean, that's, that's why we do the conference the way we do because it, It gets people jazzed up about the brand. It makes them leave, um, with a, a reinforced sense of why they do what they do. Um, I've had the opportunity the last two years to host multiple producer panels on our main stage and what I hear consistently from Licensees as they say that that's the reason I come to this conference because I want to hear from the cattlemen. I want to hear from the ranchers. I want to hear from the cattle feeders because they get me excited about what I do. Um, and I, I hope I know, I hope I never get to a point in my career where that doesn't leave me with just a little bit of a warm and fuzzy in my heart about what we do.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:well, it is, it is exactly what you described and more. And you're right when you go in there as a producer and as everybody listening to this podcast can attest, we're pretty easy to spot regardless of what we're wearing, they just know that we aren't normal. We run cows. Uh, but yeah, I mean, pardon the pun. We were like fresh meat. I mean, these guys could not ask us enough questions or tell us enough stories of how beef and quite often specifically certified Angus beef. But we try to stay fairly agnostic here on this podcast, but just in general, they want to know how that family legacy, how that. Ranch, how that new upstart farm or whatever the case may be, came to being, and then they want to share back how beef has affected their business, whether they are a distributor or a packer or a restaurant or a retailer or a food service. I mean, you know, I, chefs, I met so many people that I didn't even a: maybe knew existed, but B: much less knew how much they cared about what I do every day, because they want to share it. And, you know, from a business standpoint, they know that that makes them money. The further we go into today's society, that is more and more removed from the farm and ranch, the more those consumers crave a story of how that food got to their plates or how that steak got into the grocery store. And those guys are starving to be able to tell that story for us. And, um, yeah, it was, it was like no conference I've ever been to. Um, it did, it not only excited those folks to go home and do a better job of selling more beef, it inspired me to go home and do a better job selecting genetics and producing what I hope will end up in their restaurants or their grocery stores or whatever channels that they're working in. Because, yeah, it really did remind me of something that we often forget. We're in the cattle business. We're here to get cows bred and get calves on the ground and get those calves weaned and sold to the next link in the chain. And I think we forget about that last link and we don't realize not only is that a source of all new money coming into the beef industry, it's, it's a source of pride that they got the opportunity to buy that steak or buy that roast or wow that family at their restaurant that evening on their anniversary or whatever the case may be. So, yeah. It's, it's an exciting thing to get to go to. And, and yeah, I'm, I'm envious. Uh, I know it's a lot of work. I've seen your staff and I mean, I don't know how you all get it done because it is a well oiled machine. And but anyways, it's a, it's a great event.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:It's a labor of love for the full team and Matt, you're exactly right. I mean, I think producers often feel, you know, we, we feel like we're under attack because the loud microphone that we may be here is the vocal minority of The consumer that's anti beef and, you know, ranchers feel like, you know, somebody else is trying to tell us how to do our job. And it's easy, it's easy and understandable to get frustrated and feel like everybody's out to get you. But if, if I could tell folks, you know, one message of encouragement, um, back at the farm, the ranch, your, your feedlot, wherever you are. Um, you got a lot of cheerleaders out there who want you to be successful and love what you do. And like Matt said, they're just, they're just itching to tell that story. And that's one of the, we try and send them home from conference with a few extra pages in that story to tell.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:Yeah, well, you do a great job of it, not just during conference, but in all that you do and working with producers in your director of producer engagement. role, but also in the whole team with CAB and doing the best job that we can to offer, not just value and high quality beef, but also that, that story and that sizzle to the steak. So, well, thanks a bunch Kara for being here today and always great to talk with you and appreciate you, uh, sharing all the, all the insights from the feeding quality forum and, conference. So have a great week up in New York and appreciate you being here.
kara-lee-_2_09-13-2024_123357:All right. Thanks for the opportunity, Matt.
matt_2_09-13-2024_123340:You bet.
Microphone (Yeti Stereo Microphone)-2:Thanks again for listening to practically ranching brought to you by Dalebanks Angus. as we've said before, if you like what we're doing here, give us that five star rating, drop us a comment and be sure to follow us to hear future episodes as soon as they're out. And be sure to make plans to join us for our annual sale, november 23rd at the ranch Northwest of Eureka, Kansas. As I mentioned at the start of the podcast, we're laying out the catalog, we're taking both photos this week, and these catalogs should be together and available by about November 1st. If you'd like to receive one, drop me a note at Matt Perrier, Dale banks.com. Or you can fill out the form@dalebanks.com. God bless each of you will see again in two weeks.
