Stay Connected
Let the CAB Cattle Crew keep you up to date on what’s happening in the beef community. We’ll share industry insights to help you maximize your profit potential.
Latest Headlines
Thriving with Shrinking Supply
Even as the nation’s cow herd contracts, “more pounds” and “higher quality” have been common themes. Specific to commercial cattlemen: It still pays to focus on carcass merit, in addition to other economically relevant traits.
Rob Shuey Joins Certified Angus Beef Board
Shuey knows the product and understands sales and how CAB partners view the brand. This extends internationally, given he retired from Tyson as the senior vice president of international fresh meats, lending him a global perspective for CAB’s licensed partners.
Raised with Respect™ Rewards Producers with Current BQA Certificates
Taking care of your herd is part of the job of every stockman, and it’s the right thing to do. While you’re not committed to cattle care for recognition, you could be rewarded for holding a current BQA certification. Through two incentive opportunities, CAB and Sysco are recognizing producers who go above and beyond to show commitment to their herd.
Chef Coats and Cowboy Hats
Two worlds collide, with one focused on raising the best beef and the other crafting dishes that honor it. This innovative program unites students from Johnson & Wales University and ranchers from across the United States, offering an immersive look at the beef industry.
Marbling, Feet and Fertility: Are they related?
The Angus breed has enough genetic diversity to allow breeders, and their commercial bull customers, to make progress across multiple traits simultaneously. One bloodline may be high in marbling but does not check the boxes you need for other traits. That does not mean marbling is the cause—it simply means your search for the ideal genetic pairing is not done.
Mark Ahearn Completes Term as CAB Board Chairman
Mark Ahearn admits his role as the chairman has meant a lot to him and his family. He expresses gratitude to those who believed in him throughout the past year and looks forward to seeing the future successes of the premium beef brand.
CAB Insider
Prime Trends Up
As Prime supplies leapt higher in 2018, continually increasing, the retail grocery sector woke up to the fact that Prime beef cuts could be accessed dependably throughout the year. Prime was no longer reserved for only the high-end restaurant customer. Simply put, creating availability at the grocery level unlocked consumer demand where it hadn’t been tapped before.
Seasonal Shifts in Beef Item Demand
Seasonal demand shifts for different cuts constantly change the percentage of total carcass value that each cut represents. Often those changes are subtle, but January is typically characterized by more dramatic adjustments with contribution from several cuts shifting total carcass value.
Success Stories
Humble Growth
Customers from around the world file into the Shamrock Shack beside their sale ring each spring and fall. They’re not just buying into Connealy cattle, but the customer-service guarantee. For getting that and a lot more right, Connealy Angus was recognized with the 2024 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence award.
Feeding Better Cattle Better
Not everyone is cut out to be a cattle feeder. It’s an art and a science that comes with a need to overcome risk. Wayne Carpenter fed his first pen of steers in 1980 and lost money. But he stuck with it. Today with their sons’ families, he and wife Leisha run the 15,000-head-capacity Carpenter Cattle Company.
Working for Premiums
The commercial Angus rancher from Collyer, Kansas, came back for daily homework in 1999 after a year at college. For 25 years now, he’s studied all the ways to grow his family’s W6 Cattle cow-calf herd with Angus at the base. Guided by data, Walt worked to improve the herd from zero Primes to averaging 60 percent. Learning what drives premiums prompted improvement.
Consumer Connection
Sustainability Cents
Sustainability is an all-encompassing term for social, environmental and economic business needs. The popular, updated term describes many of the same best practices cattlemen have put to work for generations.
Driving Demand: International
Selling U.S. beef to buyers in other countries means carefully maintained contacts and planning to avoid sea squalls. Adding COVID to that scene creates a perfect storm that can wreck the best plans. For those skilled in navigating the waters, however, it’s just another day on the boat.
Driving Demand: Foodservice
“What costs most for a restaurant isn’t the meat, but an empty seat.” That statement resonates even more after rounding a year of a pandemic. But before COVID-19 shutdowns and meat shortages, serving CAB was about competitive advantages and so much more. Loyalty breeds loyalty, creating a demand not only for the product, but the company.