CALF_News_February_March_2021

6 CALF News • February | March 2021 • www.calfnews.net F eedyards and large-scale packers have depended on one another since the 1950s. They have faced challenges together and strived to give consumers what they want – tasty, tender beef that is safe and healthy. Despite controversies that occur more often than not, it's a partnership that’s important to all segments of the beef supply chain. For many, it remains a miracle that modern-day packers manage to harvest more than 33 million cattle and calves annually. But numbers have been near that or higher since the mid-1960s when more feedyard expansion took off. The 21st-century packing industry, however, is much more consolidated and specialized. With branded products to meet con- sumer demand for All-Natural/no antibi- otics, certified high-quality cuts and other domestic and export markets, packers depend on producers and feeders to supply consumers with what they want from the meat case and foodservice outlets. The Big Four – Tyson, JBS, National and Cargill – along with many medium- sized and smaller packers nationwide, are part of U.S. meatpacking plants that employ several hundred thousand people. Beef packers and their vital employees processed roughly 27 billion pounds of beef in 2020, according to U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture and CattleFax pro- jections. It was projected as the highest beef production ever for the U.S., another example of the powerful partnership between producers, feeders and packers. Packers regularly harvest nearly 650,000 head a week. Tyson can harvest about 155,000 head per six-day week from six plants located in Amarillo, Texas, Holcomb Kan., Lexington and Dakota City, Neb., Joslin, Ill., and Pasco, Wash. JBS also handles about 150,000 head or more per week through its plants in Cactus, Texas; Greeley, Colo.; Hyrum, By Larry Stalcup Contributing Editor Utah; Tolleson, Ariz.; Grand Island and Omaha, Neb.; Green Bay, Wisc.; Plain- well, Mich.; Souderton, Pa.; and Brooks, Alberta, Canada. National Beef harvests cattle at its Dodge City and Liberal, Kan., plants, which handle tens of thousands of cattle per week. Cargill Protein (formerly Cargill Meat Solutions), with major plants like the ones in Friona, Texas, and Dodge City, also handles large numbers of cattle from feedyards across the High Plains. These primary companies, along with smaller packers, are chief employers and strong backers of their communities, through taxes paid to school districts, municipalities and other entities, as well as an outpouring of charitable contribu- tions. Colleges like West Texas A&M University in Canyon have grown par- tially because of financial support from packers, such as Caviness Beef Packers in Hereford, Texas. Paying for Quality Since 1998, U.S. consumer demand has increased thanks to better quality beef. The result has been an increase in formula and grid markets for producers and feeders through packers.“Our formula/grid pric- ing rewards producers for supplying the quality of cattle that our customers need to meet consumer demand,” says Liz Croston, spokesperson for Tyson. Production of high-quality cattle, thanks to better genetics and production methods, was apparent in 2020 through Certified Angus Beef (CAB). A record 35.9 percent of Angus-influenced cattle met the CAB brand’s quality specs, CAB reports. Those numbers enabled produc- ers to take advantage of price premiums over and above the Choice-Select spread. Packers are willing to pay more for quality cattle, whether it’s for carcasses to supply beef brands like Cargill’s Ranch- ers Reserve, Tyson’s Star Ranch Angus, National’s value-added Certified Her- eford Beef, or 5 Star Beef from JBS. But as anyone trading cattle knows, formula and grid-type pricing for value-added programs have been in the middle of friction between packers and producers and feeders. The premiums are welcome – but the demand for better packer price C O V E R S T O R Y But Will Newer Plants Survive? Packing Industry Future Looks Strong Packers and cattle feeders – an important but sometimes testy partnership.