Programs reward producer for extra effort

"To be effective, we need to have full loads," Birk said.

By Doug Rich

Premium cattle deserve a premium price.

Glen Birk, a cow-calf producer from Jackson, Mo., participates in two programs that help him realize a premium price for his premium cattle.

Birk has been selling heifers through the Show-Me-Select Heifer Program since it first became available to producers in southeast Missouri.

"I guess we started preparing for it in 1997 and had our first sale in 1998," Birk said.

Birk and his son, Dale, run about 150 cows on their farm: one-third are his Angus-cross commercial cows; one-third are registered Angus cows; and one-third are Dale's commercial Charolais-cross cows. Out of the registered herd, they sell some seedstock and bulls.

"We don't sell many heifers out of that herd because we are building up the registered herd," Birk said.

All of the heifers he does sell, commercial or registered, are sold through the Show-Me-Select Program.

"We don't keep a lot of commercial heifers," Birk said. "The commercial herd is slowly going down and the cows are getting older."

One of the goals of the Show-Me-Select Program is to increase marketing opportunities and add value to Missouri-raised heifers. The other two goals are: to improve the existing developing program through a Total Quality Management approach and to provide a reliable source of quality replacement heifers. Heifers in the program must meet a specific set of vaccination requirements, sale eligibility requirements and pass a prebreeding evaluation.

Birk said heifers in the programs do get a premium, but it is not a set amount.

"Demand is what sets the premium," Birk said. "The price has been real good and increasing from the first sale."

Show-Me-Select sales are held across the state in the spring and the fall. Birk sells his heifers through the sale in Fruitland, Mo.

Steers and heifers that don't go into the Show-Me-Select Program, for one reason or another, are finished in a feedlot on the farm. Birk pools these animals with other producers in the area and markets them through U.S. Premium Beef.

Gerry Shinn, owner of Performance Blenders, began working with his feed customers seven years ago to pool their cattle for sale to packers.

"To be effective, we need to have full loads," Birk said. "A little operation like mine can't do that unless I pool my cattle with other producers. As a result, our cattle are just as competitive through this system, as if I was sending the full load myself."

Shinn said every load of cattle he puts together has animals from seven to 10 individual producers. Over the last seven years, he has had over 100 producers participate and about 50 to 60 really active producers participating. He selects the cattle for some producers, while others select their own cattle for the program.

"It depends on how much of a nutritional relationship we have with those people and how seasonal they are," Shinn said. "Some have cattle all the time and others are locked into a spring-fall schedule."

Shinn's arrangement with U.S. Premium Beef obligates him to a minimum number of deliveries every year.

"But we usually go over that number," Shinn said. "Last year we delivered a little over 1,400 head."

A big advantage for Birk and other producers is the carcass data they get back on every load of cattle they send to U.S. Premium Beef.

"We get that data on every individual animal that is tied back to a ranch tag, so the producer can go back to sire, dam and previous cattle," Shinn said.

"I use that information as a selection tool," Birk said. "It gives us the whole bit on every animal, including marbling, ribeye, fat, grade and yield. It helps us decide which bulls we will keep using and it can extend into the cowherd, too. It makes a difference on how long they stay around."

In addition to that information, Birk said, they get the grid premiums as well.

"We have a high percent go choice and prime," Birk said. "Quite a few go CAB or FAB. We get those premiums on some of them and, at times, it adds up pretty good."

Birk said almost all of their cattle go to harvest between 13 and 15 months of age and are good-sized cattle weighing up to 1,300 pounds.

"Some are substantially heavier than that weight," Birk said. "The point is, they are doing that at a young age and grading well, too."

"Our cattle never go through what some people would call a backgrounding program," Birk said. "We don't put them out to run on grass for months. After weaning, we slowly work them up on feed. They never go out on grass. I don't want to have them around that long; I want to keep them moving."

Shinn said they send cattle that fit the grid. Many of the cattle are Angus crosses, because there is a Certified Angus Beef premium. They send cattle that they feel will quality grade.

"Last year we did 82 percent Choice and better," Shinn said. "On the grid, we are rewarded for that type of cattle."

Birk said his cattle are all age and source certified and there is a $25 per head premium for those animals.

Shinn said they send a split load from time to time. A producer may have five or six head that are age and source verified and one that is not. A producer might have heifers that did not breed, or slipped a calf early, that are coming two years old before they get sold. They are not age and source verified because they have to be 21 months of age and under.

"We tag them accordingly, to avoid confusion on the other end," Shinn said. "Not all of the cattle are age and source verified. Last year we got up to one-third age and source verified, but we keep moving that way slowly."

These two programs fit the type of cattle Birk is raising--programs that reward him for the extra effort it takes to produce quality cattle.

Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.

12/17/07
6 Star Midwest Ag\1-B

Date: 12/12/07

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