Certified Angus Beef News Certified Angus Beef interns join for the summer. Classroom knowledge is important, but cultivating skills happens through applied, hands-on learning. Two carnivore college students connect their passion and crafts this summer as Certified Angus Beef interns. Paige Holbrooks, producer communications intern, is putting her learned skills to practice serving cattlemen. Her upbringing on a cow/calf operation in West Texas makes pursuing an agricultural career natural for Holbrooks. The senior in agriculture media and communication at West Texas A&M University will create content for cattlemen, including social media posts, feature stories, website copy, photos, and video. “In high school, I participated in 4-H and FFA. I discovered sharing stories about agriculture was my calling,” Holbrooks says. “I didn’t know what that would look like then or that it would lead me to Ohio.” While in college, she wrote for the Lamesa Press Reporter, a local paper near her hometown, and was a Texas Beef Council ambassador. These past experiences and her ranch background provide a solid foundation for Holbrooks to build on in sharing information for farmers and ranchers. “I am confident that what I learn this summer will prepare me for any job I hold in the industry,” she says. Holbrooks will graduate with her bachelor’s degree in Spring 2022 and plans to pursue a career in ag journalism. Kalyn Blue, digital marketing intern, is working to support the brand’s consumer communications team. Blue attributes her passion for beef to tagging along with her dad and grandfather at an early age. Her farm experience led her to The Ohio State University, where she is currently a junior studying agriculture communications and meat science. “Coming from an agriculture background has led me to my passion, and I couldn’t see myself in any other field,” Blue says. After serving as the Fulton County 4-H program assistant last summer and participating in 4-H and FFA throughout her youth, Blue will build on her past experiences while at the brand. “I am looking forward to this opportunity of growth, both personally
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and professionally, while growing my network,” she says. In her role, Blue will create content for the brand’s social platforms and develop skills in creative copywriting. Blue plans to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2023 and hopes to find a job where she can continue to promote the quality products that the beef industry has to offer. Not all good days are warm and sunny. When it’s hot and sunny, cattle seek shade. If they can’t find any, it could cost you money. In 2003, scientists estimated heat stress cost the U.S. beef industry $369 million a year. The condition occurs when an animal can’t dissipate heat as fast as it’s incurred. Providing shade when needed is one way to mitigate stress and produce high quality beef. Stress of any kind affects performance and health, but also wellbeing and behavior, a special focus for Colorado State University (CSU) animal scientist Lily Edwards-Callaway. Her team’s literature review found shade benefits vary by location, structure type, and weather. Uncovering more questions than answers, the study lays out a basis for updating previous work with results from modern production at feedyards and packing plants. “Cattle management practices have progressed and technology has changed,” Edwards-Callaway says. “I’m sure producers have a lot of innovative, cost effective ways to shade cattle to improve performance. I think there’s a great need to dig a little deeper.” The key indicators within shade studies vary, but no matter the production system, results favor shaded groups. Weather variation over time makes it complicated. Places with hot and humid summers have a greater need for protection, says Edwards-Callaway, “but we just don’t know how much people are really using shade.” Feedyard economics adds to the complexity. Seasonal and annual weather shifts influence how long a shade structure can endure. Those features become less expensive the longer they can be maintained. “Variability in the climate really skews the data we looked at,” adds Daniel Clark, meat scientist with the Certified
The Carolina Cattle Connection q AUGUST 2021
Angus Beef brand and collaborator in the research. “A big takeaway is to just be prepared.” A 1995 heat event in Iowa led to a 4.8 percent death loss in non-shaded feedyard pens, compared to 0.2 percent in shaded pens. Those are likely conservative estimates today with recent temperature extremes, Edwards-Callaway says. Weather fluctuation affects final carcass quality, too, but Clark says the extent of mild and severe weather events varies. More predictably, extreme heat brings high mortality. “If you’re trying to gain every benefit of high quality beef that you can, then you probably need to think about adding some shade and protecting cattle for when there is a major weather event,” he says. Animal welfare is connected to
every outcome, Edwards-Callaway says. Addressing basic health and production factors ensure cattle perform to their highest potential. She’s already working with packing plants to see what kind of effect shade may have right before slaughter. This ongoing project is looking at distance cattle travel to the plant, along with time waiting to unload and reach the point of harvest. It’s also tracking pen density, weather, and their effects on mobility, bruising, and carcass characteristics. “Do producers think shade is important?” she asks. “What factors dictate whether cattlemen want to use shade or not?” Finding answers to these and other questions will affect beef ’s image, Edward-Callaway says, as well as
N.C. Cattle Receipts, Trends, and Prices for the Month of JUNE 2021 Cattle Receipts: 18.647
•
Previous Month: 16,790
Feeder supply - 34% steers • 41% heifers • 25% bulls SLAUGHTER CLASSES
Avg. Wt. Price Cows - % Lean Breaker 1,387 $70.24 Boner 1,160 $69.42 Lean 981 $59.16
Bulls - Yield Grade 1-2
1,530
$94.59
FEEDER CLASSES
FEEDER STEERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 422 $139.40 $588.27 450-500 471 $144.84 $682.20 500-550 521 $137.57 $716.74 550-600 575 $138.67 $797.35 600-650 622 $133.57 $830.81 650-700 672 $130.28 $875.48
FEEDER BULLS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 422 $142.24 $600.25 450-500 473 $130.73 $618.35 500-550 521 $130.13 $677.98 550-600 572 $123.41 $705.91 600-650 620 $120.06 $744.37 650-700 670 $110.48 $740.22
FEEDER HEIFERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 424 $127.89 $542.25 450-500 473 $126.73 $599.43 500-550 523 $122.99 $643.24 550-600 571 $121.20 $692.05 600-650 618 $115.21 $712.00 650-700 670 $113.91 $763.20
Source: N.C. Dept. of Agriculture - USDA Market News Service, Raleigh, N.C. - 919-707-3156
