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Demand Driven The Midwest Cattleman · August 5, 2021 · P23
Premiums
Since 2004,
when SAV came
on-scene in the
cattle industry as
a result of isolat-
ed bovine spon-
giform enceph-
alopathy cases,
premiums for the
stewardship, and people and verification have
community. stabilized.
With the exception of the “We are verifying 30
SAV, which producers can months of age today, not 20
enroll in by submitting their like we were when we started,
first calf-last calf born records and those ages can be verified
and an audit completed via at the packing plant, so we
phone call. All other programs have seen the SAV premium
require an on-site audit with decline some. Producers are For the Kersey, Colorado, Marketing Value-Added
annual renewal. still looking at a $1.50 (cwt) so Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, Cattle
“What we have done with around $7-8 per head return,” LLC Kuner Feedyard, SAV In a win-win strategy, a
the Balancer® Edge pro- Stanton says. “When you NHTC cattle are always in number of breed associations
gram,” Stanton says, “is added move up to NHTC, we’re see- high demand, no matter the and auction companies have
the Balancer® Edge verifi- ing around a $30 per head re- breed. put in place marketing tools
cation to the source and age turn and the natural market Specialty Beef Program to help producers maximize
verification program. Those is very strong. It’s a domes- Manager, Kim Rounds, says, the returns on their program
producers can still enroll in tic-only market that seems to “Our yard is always look- investment.
other programs, but that one see higher returns every year. ing, we could definitely han- The American Gelbvieh As-
verification provides them On average, producers can dle more supply and there is sociation’s Feeder Finder, a
two verified claims for their expect around a $40 per head definitely a strong demand complimentary feeder cattle
cattle. The premiums have premium.” for them,” she says. “There is sourcing tool, compliments
been a very good source of re- Tom Strahm, commercial significant premium value for the association’s Balancer®
turn for producers who choose marketing director for the these cattle on both sides: the Edge program well. The email
to enroll.” American Gelbvieh Associ- packer and the feeder, and service matches feedlots look-
ation agrees that crossbred that allows us to pass that ing for Gelbvieh and Balanc-
cattle are also adding a level value all the way down the er-influenced cattle with pro-
of genetic advantage in the chain.” ducers who can fulfill a load
feed yard and helping pro- Rounds shares that when lot of cattle that fit the crite-
ducers maximize their return she began working in her ria.
on investment when they en- role, about three years ago, “We buy a lot of breed as-
roll in value-added programs only one quarter of the Kuner sociation program cattle that
with strong demand. Feedyard housed program are third-party verified. We
“Balancer® (Gelbvieh x cattle. Today, more than half work with IMI Global, but
Angus or Red Angus) cattle of the pens are filled with pro- not all of our suppliers do,”
provide great economic ad- gram cattle. Rounds says of Five Rivers’
vantages in the feed yard, “Our value-added program sourcing flexibility. “As long
compared to straight bred cattle capacity has doubled in as the cattle meet the specs of
cattle, you see higher aver- size in only three years,” she our contract, they can be ap-
Lucky Cross age daily gain and improved says. “There’s just so much proved and purchased.”
Ranch feed efficiency because of het- more interest from consumers Many producers also find
erosis,” he says. “When you in the marketplace. They are success acting as their own
Gelbvieh * Balancer® * Gelford couple that with a value-add- asking questions about where marketing representative to
ed program like NHTC, you their beef is coming from and contracting directly with the
not only get that verification how the cattle were cared for feedlots. Rounds says that the
Josh, Lisa, Ryan and that bumps the product into a and treated, and we are see- Kuner location receives many
Kaitlyn Wolters premium label at the grocery ing that on the feeding side.” of these calls and advises
Atwood, KS store, but you also have excel- Both Rounds and Stanton producers to know when and
lent carcass merit.” agree that while many pro- what they have to sell before
Lisa - 785-626-7424 gressive produc- making the call.
Ranch - 785-626-3127 ers have risen “We have quite a few pro-
to meet the re- ducers call us and we are
cord keeping happy to visit with them
and manage- about the specifications of our
ment demands program and the eligibility of
required of the their cattle.” she says.
value-added
programs, more
are needed.