LivestockXchangeOnline.com Blog

A Story About Laurie

2008-12-01T13:31:00.004-07:00

The RBC Supreme Champion Female went to Red Lazy MC Bess 12S, a Red Angus cow presented by Lazy MC Angus Corner Creek Angus. 12-year-old Laurie Morasch was on the halter of her heifer calf and it was particularly emotional for me knowing the history of Laurie and this pair.

I was fortunate to work for Lazy MC at Agribition for several years, and two years ago Clint had Bess in the string as a heifer calf. She won her division in the show and received interest from many people in the barns. However, she was Laurie's and Clint would not even consider selling his little girl's heifer. She came back the next year as a bred and won the Red Angus class in the First Lady Classic, as well as her division in the show. Again, there were requests to price her met with the same response - Bess was Laurie's. Bess had her first calf this spring, a heifer, and Laurie with parents Clint & Angela campaigned the pair successfully all summer. Again, they received interest from many wanting to purchase Bess. With a heifer calf to carry on, Laurie decided she might now be able to share the cow and sold part interest in Bess to Corner Creek Angus. Laurie, Cint, Ang and Austin did a phenominal job showing the pair all fall and their first RBC Supreme win was a dream come true. When judge Debbie Ecklund awarded the title with a hug for Laurie, I teared up a little. She's such a sweet girl.

Congratulations to Laurie, Clint, Ang, Layne, Fritz and Austin!

RBC Beef Supreme Challenge

2008-12-01T13:07:00.004-07:00

CWA also hosts the cumulative RBC Beef Supreme Challenge which invites champions from all the large shows in Canada to compete for the title of being the best in the nation. It's always awe-inspiring to see the quality of cattle in the ring, but this year was particularly outstanding. The Top Ten bulls and females were tremendous individuals, and there were many more left standing who were absolutely worthy of the honour.

The Supreme Champion Female went to Red Lazy MC Bess 12S, a Red Angus cow presented by Lazy MC Angus (see their ad at the top of this page) and Corner Creek Angus.

The Supreme Champion Bull for 2008 is Soo LineYellowstone 6344, exhibited by Soo Line Cattle Co. of Midale, SK.

List of Top Ten: http://www.agribition.com/show_sales_results/2008/results-rbcsupremechallenge.pdf

Photos of the week's champions: Champions Online

Agribition champions:

Black Angus
Bull: SOO LINE YELLOWSTONE 6344
Female: SOO LINE ANNIE K 6271

Red Angus
Bull: RED BRYLOR SDL SQUALL 230S
Female: RED LAZY MC BESS 12S

Charolais
Bull: JSR TROPHY 88T
Female: DBAR ELEGANCE 635S

Galloway
Bull: GLENFIDDICH SAGEBRUSH
Female: DIAMOND B TAZZ 78T

Gelbvieh
Bull: RWG TENNESSEE CAT 7104
Female: DVE DAVIDSON MS JIM 13P

Horned Hereford
Bull: TRIPLE A MAX'S TURBO ET 1T
Female: GH ADAMS NEON POPPY 177S

Polled Hereford
Bull: WLB ELI 10H 83T
Female: JJPH 53K MOLLY 672S

Limousin
Bull: RPY PAYNES DYNAMO 16U
Female: IVY´S PLD SWEET TOUCH 4S

Maine Anjou
Bull: DONARO MR BUSINESS 643T
Female: SW MISS PRIME CHILL 704T

Shorthorn
Bull: GLENFORD REAL WORLD 45S
Female: ALTA CEDAR SILVER MAISIE 59S

Simmental
Bull: YR KING RANCH 13S
Female: TLG FLIRTIN WITH YOU

Speckle Park
Bull: STAR BANK URSA MAJOR 82U
Female: REDNECK RANCH´S ULYSSES 5U

Agribition 2008

2008-12-01T12:29:00.005-07:00

The largest cattle show in Canada has another year in the books, and what a show it was at Agribition! The excitement in the barns was contagious with a week of great shows and sales for all of the breeds.

All results are available at www.agribition.com. Photos are online at www.grantspix.com.

Farmfair International

2008-11-09T17:30:00.003-07:00

WOW!

The quality at Farmfair International in Edmonton this past week was OUTSTANDING.

I can honestly say that the cattle in the barns were nothing short of impressive. Many visitors commented on the depth of quality in the shows. Saturday afternoon saw the best of every breed compete for the big prizes and money in the Supreme and Legends of the Fall shows, and for the first time ever both the Supreme Bull and Supreme Female came from the same exhibitor -- Garth and Angela Rancier, Rancier Farms of Killam AB. Congratulations!!!

Supreme Champion Bull: SS Ebonys Intuition 802, exhibited by Rancier Farms of Killam AB

Supreme Champion Female: TLG Flirtin With You, exhibited by Rancier Farms of Killam AB

Bull Legend of the Fall: Mader Black Ironman, exhibited by Mader Ranches of Carstairs AB

Heifer Legend of the Fall: HF Echo 49U, exhibited by Hamilton Farms of Cochrane AB

Check out the photos at Champions Online / Grant Rolston Photography

2008 Farmfair Champions:

Black Angus
SAV Wall Street 7091 - Serhienko/Michelson/Gerrard/Poley-Hall, Maymont SK
DMM Top Lass 18P - Miller Wilson Angus, Bashaw AB

Red Angus
Red Brylor SDL Squall 230S - Brylor Ranch, PincherCreek AB
Red Corner Creek Cherokee 198S - Corner Creek Angus and Northline Angus, Ardrossan AB

Charolais
SVY Worldwide Pld 621S - Serhienko Cattle Co, Maymont SK
DBAR Elegance 635S - New Country Livestock, Donalda AB

Gelbvieh DVE Davidson Leadtime 89T - Davidson Gelbvieh, Ponteix SKSLC Smoke 193P - Severtson Land and Cattle, Innisfail AB

Horned Hereford
CLI Domino 796T 1ET - Adams Hirsche Herefords & Angus, High River AB
Peak Dot Capacity 318T - Adams Hirsche Herefords & Angus, High River AB

Polled Hereford
DXB 35M Torque 26T - K-Cow Ranch, Elk Point AB
TLELL 36N Kema 8S - Jamie Richardson, Tlell BC

Limousin
HSF Watcha Swingers Club - Greenwood Limousin / Highland Stock Farms Limousin, Olds AB
TMF Pillow Talk 907P Greenwood Limousin, Lloydminster SK

Lowline
BM Curious 3T - BM Lowlines, Storthoaks SK
ALTA Marie BIL 5N - Big Island Lowlines, Edmonton AB

Salers
SC PLD BLK Unlimited 14U - Spring Coulee Salers, Carstairs
ABPAX Java 10L - G I T, Langdon AB

Shorthorn
DR Royal 20T Kenlene Shorthorn, Ponoka AB

Simmental
SS EBONYS INTUITION 802 - Rancier Farms, Killam AB
TLG Flirtin With You - Rancier Farms, Killam AB

Junior FuturityRed Lazy MC Bess 12S - Laurie Morasch/Lazy MC Angus, Bassano AB

Lloydminster Stockade Roundup '08

2008-11-02T08:51:00.003-07:00

Lloydminster hosted another first-class Stockade Roundup!

LivestockXchangeOnline.com had the pleasure of sponsoring at the event -- congratulations to Hopewell Charolais and McIntosh Livestock on winning the two $500 gift certificates to advertise on the site!

Exhibitors brought out a phenominal set of cattle and the Supreme Show lineup included several bulls and females that will likely be in the hunt all fall. Supreme Champion Bull went to SAV Wall Street 7091, owned by Serhienko Cattle, Michelson Land & Cattle, Gerrard Livestock and Poley-Hall Partnership. The Supreme Champion Female was won by LLB Lady Burgess 499R & AFA 362U, owned by Justamere Ranches.

Check out the champion photos at ChampionsOnline.com.

In the multi-breed calf jackpot shows, Payne Livestock's Limousin bull calf took home one buckle and Northline Angus' Black Angus heifer calf received the other.

Congratulations to all the exhibitors, and thank you to the Stockade staff and directors for all of their hard work!

Top Meadow Farms Production Sale

2008-10-05T11:26:00.003-06:00

Top Meadow Farms averaged $4,499 on their production sale Oct. 4 at Clarksburg ON. The high-selling animal was Lot 1A, going to Corle Land & Cattle for $20,500. Great sale!

Highland Sale 14

2008-10-05T11:17:00.002-06:00

The Highland Stock Farms crew had a phenominal sale in Olds AB on Oct. 1, averaging $7,080 on their offering. Thank you to the Matthews families for their wonderful hospitality!

Calgary Stampede Steer Champion

2008-07-14T22:42:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to Miller Wilson Angus and the Michael Daines family on winning the 2008 Steer Classic at the Calgary Stampede.

The reserve champion banner went to Justin Morrison and Nate Marin.

There were 107 steers shown this year, and the quality deep. Kudos to the exhibitors on a great show!

2008-07-04T08:46:00.003-06:00

Kudos to the Beef Beyond Borders organizers for putting on an educational, fun event! Also a huge thank you to the sponsors who made it possible. With close to 400 participants from around the world having the opportunity to network and learn from each other, the BIF 2008 conference was an extremely successful event!

Economically Relevant Traits

2008-07-03T13:59:00.005-06:00

World food production will have to increase 50% by 2030. Yet the North American cowherd continues to decline.

Certainly, beef production has become more challenging with the cost of raising a calf going up 56% in just the past three years.

Dr. Mark Enns, Colorado State University, posed the question, how can we become more profitable? Through changes in management practices, changes in marketing and genetic improvement.

From a genetic standpoint, the easy stuff is done. The industry has EPDs to select for all the traits that are easy to measure. Now the focus needs to shift to Economically Relevant Traits.

ERTs are traits directly related to income and/or cost of production. One example of an ERT that is already being measured is calving ease. Calving ease has a direct impact on income as it relates to the number of live calves, as well as labor costs. Birth weight on the other hand is an indicator trait – it has the ability to influence calving ease, but is not the entire equation.

ERT traits for immediate focus are:
• Feed intake
• Health and survival traits
• Consumer acceptance traits, such as eating quality and nutritional content
• Regionalized adaptability, and
• Male fertility traits

Remember that genetic improvement is long term and the decisions you make today will be most apparent 20 years from now.

Collaboration

2008-07-03T13:37:00.002-06:00

Rather than providing summaries on the individual presentations this morning, the following is a synopsis of the common theme that was apparent from all the speakers.

The North American beef industry is once again in the midst of significant change. Factors such as fuel prices, labor shortages, technology advances and consolidation are having a huge impact on everything from daily management to end product marketing.

So, how can we take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the challenges?

COLLABORATION.

Collaboration among industry segments. Collaboration across borders. Collaboration between producers.

Industry Segments
Sharing of information among the various levels of the industry will allow everyone to improve the quality and consistency of the final beef product at a much faster pace than has previously been possible. Increasing the availability of genetic, performance and management information for all those involved will allow each player to make adjustments to their niche that can enhance the entire chain.

Across Borders
Collaboration on projects such as genetic evaluation and research between Canada and the United States has become more common during the past 20 years. This ensures more efficient collection and interpretation of information, increased data accuracy and better use of financial and human resources. There is certainly opportunity to expand these partnerships as breed associations are forced to re-evaluate expenditures and look at ways to become more efficient.

Between Producers
Gone are the days when commercial customers were happy with their seedstock providers selling them a pedigreed bull and showing an interest in their farm and family. Commercial producers have become value-driven business people with sharp pencils, and a need for more information and customer service. They are utilizing the most current technology and looking for innovative ways to market their calves. Collaboration between seedstock and calf suppliers is a natural partnership that has the potential to greatly influence the quality of the cattle and beef produced that should lead to improvement in their bottom line.

North America should be the genetic source for the world. The industry cannot afford inefficiencies or duplicate efforts. In the words of John Pollak, let’s begin to take small steps toward… someday.

WOW! Great morning!

2008-07-03T09:51:00.002-06:00

The presentations this morning from Dr. Kent Andersen, Sean McGrath, Dr. Bob Kemp and Dr. Mark Enns on this final morning of Beef Beyond Borders were EXCELLENT! Full summaries will be posted this afternoon at the latest.

Dave Nichols' Integrated Producer Perspective

2008-07-02T14:52:00.004-06:00

Dave Nichols of Nichols Superior Beef Genetics, Iowa, believes the beef industry is changing from a supply-driven market to a demand-driven market.

This transition is going to require seedstock producers to focus their genetic selection and production on several key factors:

Exploiting heterosis
Improving rapid early growth
Taking advantage of current technology to improve the beef end product
Use of DNA profiles in selection and systematic culling
Aggressively pursuing marketing partners

The Value of Information / Canadian Beef Advantage Program

2008-07-02T14:48:00.001-06:00

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

An old adage, but one that continues to ring true for the beef industry according to Brad Wildeman of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. This industry faces unique challenges that contribute to it lagging behind many other agricultural sectors in terms of advancement. Some of the reasons for this include: the segmented nature of the beef industry, selection/culling being more of an “art” than “science,” the impact of environmental factors on management practices, a lack of measurement criteria and poor information flow among segments.

Wildeman made note of new opportunities available that have the potential to improve the current situation, such as DNA genotyping for identification and rapid reproduction of genetically superior stock, and electronic/Internet transfer of data increasing the availability of information to more stakeholders.

Several Canadian industry organizations have joined forces to create the Canadian Beef Advantage program to better market the strengths of Canadian beef in the international marketplace. Canadian product has advantages in animal health and beef safety, genetics, identification, age verification, quality and consistency.

The program will create a central database for information on cow/calf management, performance and health, DNA genotypes, grading and customer intelligence.

For Canadian beef industry partners, the program will provide a means for improved information/feedback sharing and process verification, as well as tools for value-added trade opportunities. Canadian Beef Advantage is going to be built on the principles of:
• Industry control
• Market driven
• Development at the speed of technology
• Producer control of mandatory regulations

The results of this program will be information movement among industry segments; more defined breeding, feeding and marketing strategies; improved overall herd quality.

Global Market Perspective and Opportunities from Dr. Kee Jim

2008-07-02T11:30:00.003-06:00

Canada has a very vibrant, energy-driven economy. But the math is simple, it’s in trouble.

If Canada doesn’t increase its markets outside North America, the country will become a domestic producer. This will equate to a significant downsizing of the beef industry.

“The blend of politics and science creates strange offspring,” said Dr. Kee Jim. Rather than the past all-or-nothing approach Canada has had to re-establishing trade, Jim thinks the country should pursue incremental access.

Even though Canada and the United States have the same BSE classification with the OIE, Canada lacks the trade leverage with other countries to force open market access. Canada has struggled to regain meaningful, economically effective access to the markets that closed as a result of finding BSE in 2003.

Whether Canada regains overseas market access in the next three to five years will determine whether its current beef industry survives.

Gary Smith on Value-Added Marketing, Branded Beef and Animal Welfare

2008-07-02T09:51:00.001-06:00

“All of the money we have in the beef industry is the sum of the amounts that domestic and international customers and consumers are willing to pay for out products,” Dr. Gary Smith, Colorado State University, pointed out. To increase the amount of money we get for our product, we have to add value that consumers are willing to pay more money for.

Value-Based Marketing refers to naturally occurring genetic variability in the product.

Value-Added Marketing focuses on management practices that can be verified to assure compliance.

Up to $30/cwt price spread on feeder calves occurs every week across the United States, based on health, performance history, and eligibility for premium or export programs. Producers can “climb the staircase to profitability” with management practices, data collection and alliance with established programs.

Currently, more than HALF of the beef sold in the United States is marketed under a branded beef program. That is up almost 10 percent in just four years. There has also been a shift to more retailer-owned brands, which Smith anticipates will be reversed.

True brands offer traceability, a story and quality control. An increased component of many brands’ stories includes animal welfare as groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals continue to cast doubt in consumers’ minds about the treatment of animals. Consumers want to feel someone is overseeing the care of the animals and the environment all the way through the production system. This trend will likely see increased

Welcome to Beef Beyond Borders!

2008-07-02T00:55:00.004-06:00

Attendees of the 2008 Beef Beyond Borders - Beef Improvement Foundation Conference enjoyed a welcome reception this evening sponsored by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Calgary. After hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, Herb McLane and Don MacKenzie of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council and Lora Rose of BIF welcomed the group.

Getting down to business, National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium Executive Director John Pollak, PhD, from Cornell University (also named a BEEF magazine "Top 40" most influential person in the industry) opened the presentations with an overview of the current trends in beef cattle improvement. With the rapid pace of DNA evaluation technology development, he said now is the time to begin transitioning toward the next generation of selection tools. Possibilities to consider include:

"molecular breeding values" based on DNA data
incorporation of DNA data into EPD calculations
a centralized database for genetic information
multi-breed evaluation
research collaboration
optimizing exploration

Pollak's take-home message was that as an industry we need to "optimize selection decisions based on the information in hand at the time the decision is made."

Welcome to the LivestockXchangeOnline.com Blog!

2008-06-26T12:14:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone!

This blog will feature updates and summaries from the many events that Livestock Xchange representatives attend, as well as our thoughts on current industry issues.

Feel free to post your comments and any special requests you may have for information from events we are at.

- the LX Team