STRAIGHTWAY FARM SERVICE
has won the ‘Rate of Gain’ at the SEMO Dist. Fair
This is the 3rd year in a row that a Steer Fed Straightway Feed
Black Ink Critical Mass I
STEVE SUTHER WOOSTER, OHIO
t takes so many plants to make a stand, cows to make a herd and drops to make a rain. Before turn-
Rachel Birk
Overall Average Daily Gain 3.62 at the SEMO Dist. Fair
ing that herd out to pasture, you look for enough plant mass to sup- port their grazing. If you’re watching a couple of bred heifers for a month, you might as well be watching 20 or 30. These examples relate to what I
like to call “critical mass,” or enough to make a difference. I don’t use the term in a precise way, just kind of adapted from two fields. In nuclear physics, that tipping
point is the divide between sustain- ing a chain reaction and fizzling out. In sociodynamics, it’s the threshold num- ber of people in a group that make
can something Tanner Schabbing
Grand Champion FFA Steer at the SEMO Dist. Fair
happen by their ex- change of ideas. There’s
always
water vapor in the air, but you don’t notice it unless it is either practically devoid and uncom- fortably dry, or get- ting
closer to
Quality grade in U.S. beef has
been on the rise for the last few
you notice something missing: fla- vor. At that level, beef demand can fizzle out. When it reaches a critical mass in
the mid- to upper Choice grade, the marbling and tenderness that comes with it sustains a consistently great eating experience for millions of con- sumers. Quality grade in U.S. beef has been
on the rise for the last few years, and studies show demand for it has been increasing, at the expense of Select and lower quality beef. Cattle genetics have improved, get-
ting near that critical point in many herds where a whole new world opens up. It isn’t just about adding more land and cows or even pounds of beef. Herd man- agers have read the market signals and the bull catalogs and chosen bulls that
add
years, and studies show demand for it has been
increasing, at the
expense of Select and lower
moderately abun- dant and rain. A few people may not be able to
quality beef. Adam Pleimann
Reserve Supreme Steer Champion at the SEMO Dist. Fair
create a movement or a brand, and their efforts could fizzle out. But with just the right dynamics, they can spark an exchange of ideas that leads to something with sustained power. Back to the farm or ranch, with a
given stocking rate and climate, a certain amount of land supports a cowherd large enough to justify fa- cilities, lead you to try new market- ing alternative and care about profitability. If you try to do too much with poor planning or man- agement, your enterprise can go “su- percritical.” Or that could refer to what folks are saying down at the feed store. Once you arrive at a threshold or
Rate of Gain 1st Place James Feranec 3.4 lbs Average Daily Gain at the East Perry Co. Fair
realized goal that brings the change you were hoping for, good things should keep happening as long as you can manage the dynamics. The beef industry pursued a quest
for critical mass in the area of adding value to underutilized cuts. When meat scientists pulled the teres major muscle out of the chuck and realized how good it was, that alone would not bring about the cas- cade of added value to end meats that we have today. It took a producer-funded and sus-
Rate of Gain 2nd Place Levi Bachmann 3.1 lbs Average Daily Gain at the East Perry Co. Fair STRAIGHTWAY FARM SERVICE • Call 1-800-748-7806
Successful People Never Fail To Take Advantage of An Opportunity. Straightway Steers Win Again
tained effort in locating other cuts worth fabricating from the chuck. That made it profitable for packers to change the way they process beef and pass some of that back to the ranch. Maybe you picked up on the un-
usual terminology I used to discuss humidity, a comparison to marbling in beef. Above the Choice/Select border, you find just enough to de- liver a pretty good steak, most of the time. As you try beef with lower mar- bling scores like “practically devoid,”
dictable marbling to their herds, which now produce 80 percent, 90 percent, even 100 percent Choice or better beef. Increasingly, they participate in ownership,
data
feedback and pre- miums. And the market
wants more, judging by the recent $50-per-hundredweight spread be- tween Prime and Select beef. When premium Choice was only 15
percent of the mix, and Prime 1.5 percent, they could be ignored. At double that ratio, the quality move- ment has reached a tipping point and long-term profitability could spread through the beef industry like a cascading chain reaction. ∆
STEVE SUTHER: Director of Indus-
try Information/Certified Angus Beef LLC
pre-
Poor Pastures CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
access to hay racks. “Most producers give their cows
24-hour access to hay, but they can limit that to an eight hour access period,” Kallenbach said. “The herd will eat 90 percent of what they’d eat otherwise, but you stretch out the hay supply 10 percent. While that might not sound like a lot, it can get you a little further through the winter.” Kallenbach said it remains impor-
tant to test your forage for quality. Hay baled during drought-like con-
ditions can contain high nitrate lev- els that can poison cattle. Knowing the nutrient levels cattle will get from your hay crop helps you make the right feeding decisions. For those who recognize that they
just don’t have enough bales to make it through the winter, the Mis- souri Department of Agriculture has a
hay directory
www.mda.mo.gov/abd/haydirec- tory.
at ∆
October 21, 2011 / MidAmerica Farmer Grower • 19
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