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WALMART The Midwest Cattleman · September 15, 2022 · P14
continued from page 3 is scheduled for September, and complements Walmart’s some capacity to the industry
with the facility opening in regeneration commitment and provide an opportuni-
want freshness and afford- late 2024. to improve grazing manage- ty for producers to integrate
ability, but they also want to In March, North Platte’s ment.” their business of raising qual-
know where their food comes Community Redevelopment Sustainable Beef LLC will ity cattle with the beef pro-
from. By sourcing beef direct- Authority (CRA) unanimous- work with cattle feeders and cessing portion of the indus-
ly from farmers and ranchers, ly approved a contract with ranchers to understand crit- try and do it in a sustainable
Walmart is aiming to change Sustainable Beef, opening ical elements of the supply manner,” said David Briggs,
the dynamics of the beef in- the door for tax increment chain cycle, such as grain CEO of Sustainable Beef
dustry, Neal wrote. financing for the infrastruc- sourcing and grazing man- LLC. “During this journey
The recent announcement ture for the new plant. agement. Animal care will we found that Sustainable
sends Walmart further down “At Walmart, we are dedi- follow the Five Freedoms, Beef and Walmart aligned on
that path. Of Sustainable cated to providing high-qual- and there will be a consis- continuing to improve how
Beef, Walmart says the part- ity, affordable beef to our cus- tent approach to antibiot- we care for our animals and
nership helps supplement tomers, and an investment ic use and reporting across crops and provide consumers
the current beef industry and in Sustainable Beef LLC will herds in line with Walmart's the positive experience of en-
provides additional oppor- give us even more access to Position on Antibiotics in joying quality beef.”
tunities for ranchers to in- these products,” said Tyler Animals, which asks suppli- Walmart said its invest-
crease their business. As part Lehr, senior vice president ers to adopt and implement ment in Sustainable Beef is
of the investment, Walmart of merchandising for deli American Veterinary Medi- the latest step in the retail-
will also have representation services, meat and seafood, cal Association Judicious Use er's commitment to increase
on Sustainable Beef’s board. Walmart U.S. “We know Sus- Principles of Antimicrobials. access to high-quality beef
Sustainable Beef’s plans tainable Beef LLC has a re- All of these components will at an affordable price for its
are to process 400,000 head sponsible approach to beef help Sustainable Beef LLC to customers, while boosting
per year (about 1,500 head processing, one that includes improve and refine the beef capacity for the beef indus-
per day), 100,000 of which creating long-term growth supply chain to provide qual- try and ensuring long-term
will be cows. The plant would for cattle ranchers and fam- ity beef for our customers. economic viability for cattle
employ 875 workers and is ily farmers. This investment “We set out on a journey ranchers.
expected to generate anoth- provides greater visibility two years ago to create a new
er 1,000 jobs in supporting into the beef supply chain beef processing plant to add
businesses. Groundbreaking

BE PREPARED one answer for all producers. PREPARE FOR MARKETING

continued from page 11 The markets, and where we continued from page 6
are in the cattle marketing
prices are high and many mar- cycle, should impact the deci- Table 1 is $186.20/cwt. The cash prices will match these
ket analysts suggest that cull sion. Currently, cow numbers November price of 450-pound expected prices. However,
cow prices may remain high are extremely low in the US steers (M/L No. 1) in Okla- futures prices and corre-
this fall. If the cost of replace- which normally results in high- homa City have historically sponding expected Oklaho-
ment breeding stock remains er calf prices. I got some incred- averaged $33.72/cwt. higher ma prices may provide some
reasonable, then the optimum ible advice from an experienced than November Feeder Fu- guidance for marketing plans
decision would be to cull and beef producer a few years ago. tures (basis) leading to an and expectations and provide
replace for this year. Pap had run over 1,000 cows expected November price of the foundation for risk man-
Most years, the decision to for decades and his strategy $219.92/cwt. (The combined agement programs for calves
cull open cows isn’t easy. Some was when prices are high, own auction cash price in late Au- or retained feeder cattle.
would argue to cull all females as many cows as you can and gust was $211.49/cwt.)
that cannot conceive in her en- sell as many calves as you can. Of course, futures prices
vironment because her genet- Extend the calving season if adjust constantly and there
ics did not match her environ- you need to because every calf is no guarantee that actual
ment or level of management. sold was profitable. Pap didn’t
But genetics for reproduction care to keep open females at
are lowly heritable, so genetics all. However, when prices were
are a very small contributor low, Pap controlled the calving
to reproductive failure. Also, season tightly and culled cows
if you only have a drought that didn’t conceive. Pap’s phi-
and excessive heat stress once losophy was when times were
every 5-10 years, should you lean be efficient and when
penalize a cow whose genetics times were good, be productive.
match the environment most Good advice. It appears we are
of the time? To make the de- in an excellent position in the
cision even more challenging, cow cycle with low numbers
often cows that are culled are and impending higher feeder
replaced with bred two-year calf prices. Might be time to
olds, who are inherently re- keep as many as you can afford
productively inefficient, will to prepare you to take advan-
require additional feed inputs, tage of the higher cattle prices
and may take two years to on the horizon.
reach optimum productivity. In
the long run, what really costs
more? Interesting problem to
think about and certainly not