New Mexico Beef Council Bullhorn

COUNCIL bullhorn BEEF

AgFest 2020 Filler up with Beef Fajitas! “Y um, oh thank you, beef is my favorite,” declared 13-yearold Ty, one of our youngest fans at this year’s AgFest held at the Santa Fe Community & Convention Center. Council members served more than 1,000 people during a snowy evening in February. “Every year the line seems longer and longer,” commented Matt Ferguson, Chair of the Council and head beef server. “We like this event because it gives us the opportunity to visit with people and talk about our industry.”

The event, sponsored by NM Farm and Livestock Bureau, attracts leaders, staffers, business and industry people along with lots of beef fans. According to NMBC Executive Director, Dina Reitzel, it “provides an excellent forum for educating people about the importance of agriculture in our state.” ▫ 1. Don Umbrage & NMBC Chair Matt Ferguson serve fajitas to NMSU ACES Dean Flores and NMSU President Floros. 2. John Heckendorn, Kenneth McKenzie, Milford Denetclaw, Dan Bell, Matt Ferguson & Don Umbrage serving up fajitas. 3. John Heckendorn & Matt Ferguson serving it up with a smile. 4. State Representative Candie Sweetser likes hers with guacamole. 5. “Do you want a dollop?” Kenneth McKenzie asks a hungry guest. 6. The line was constant all evening.

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THE BEEF CHECKOFF Exports & Imports Help Bring Value to Our Industry

by Greg Hanes, CEO, Cattlemen’s Beef Board B eef exports and imports are certainly a challenging topic to tackle for American cattle farmers and ranchers, but they are an integral part of our beef industry here in the United States.

At first glance, the idea of importing foreign beef into the U.S. may strike cattlemen and women here as a curious practice. If we grow arguably the best beef in the world in this country, why bring in more? The reason lies in the types of beef we Americans love to eat – mainly steaks and ground beef. In fact, CattleFax estimates that over 51 percent of the beef consumed in the United States is ground beef.

Steaks are high-demand, high-value cuts, and consumers are willing to pay higher prices for them. This is great because it brings more value to the cutout. However, American consumers also love hamburgers, and most of those hamburgers are consumed at fast food restaurants at low prices. Since American farmers and ranchers are producing more Prime- and Choice-graded beef these days, the value of the nonsteak cuts, due to global demand, is higher than the value of hamburger. So, rather than grind them into burgers, we can export them for a premium.

However, in order to meet that domestic demand for inexpensive, fast food hamburgers, we need to import beef. Despite what you might visualize imported beef to be, most of the beef we bring into the U.S. is lean trim, not muscle cuts for sale at retail. In conversations I’ve had with industry experts, most estimate that at least 90 percent of our imports are inexpensive lean trim or manufacturing beef that is then ground with fat (something we produce but consumers don’t buy outright) from our corn-fed animals to produce all those fast food hamburgers at cheap prices for hungry American consumers.

At the same time, we export other beef cuts (which could have been ground) and variety meats (which we don’t like to eat here) to other markets around the world. Those markets have a high demand for those cuts, so we can then receive top dollar back for those items. For example, short plate could be ground and get about $1.50 per pound here, but because it’s a high-demand item in Japan, they will pay double that price per pound. Assuming each short plate weighs 15 pounds, the United States Meat Export Federation (USMEF) estimates that one item is adding about $22.50 of value per head. Tongues are another great example. No one I know around here grills them up on the weekend! Demand for those is low, only fetching about $1.00 per pound here in the United States. But in Japan, every person I know loves to grill tongue, so they pay more than $5.50 per pound there. That adds another $13.00 per head.

This happens with other cuts in other countries as well, helping to add value – especially to low-demand items in the U.S. According to CattleFax, the amount of beef we imported compared to the amount of beef we exported last year is expected to be about the same (final 2019 figures will be released in February). However, and this is very key, the value of our exported beef is estimated to be about $1.3 billion higher.

In a nutshell, we are meeting the desires of consumers with the beef they want to purchase, wherever they are in the world. The global competition for these cuts helps us get the best prices possible and boosts demand for our cattle.

Next time, we’ll discuss the role the Beef Checkoff plays in imports and exports. ▫

Greg Hanes, CEO, Cattlemen’s Beef Board

For more information about your beef checkoff investment visitMyBeefCheckoff.com

For more information contact: New Mexico Beef Council, Dina Chacón-Reitzel, Executive Director 1209 Mountain Rd. Pl. NE, Suite C, Albuquerque, NM 87110 505/841-9407 • 505/841-9409 fax • www.nmbeef.com NMBC DIRECTORS: John Heckendorn (Purebred Producer); Jim Hill (Feeder); Kenneth McKenzie (Producer); Cole Gardner (Producer); Marjorie Lantana (Producer); Dan Bell (Producer) BEEF BOARD DIRECTOR, Bill King (Producer) FEDERATION DIRECTOR, Matt Ferguson U.S.M.E.F. DIRECTOR, Kenneth McKenzie 2019-2020 DIRECTORS – CHAIRMAN, Matt Ferguson (Producer); VICE-CHAIRMAN, Zita Lopez (Feeder); SECRETARY, Susie Jones (Dairy Producer).

April 04, 2020 Bosque, NM Red Bull Sale16th annual

90 Santa Gertrudis and Gert influenced bulls

Red Doc Trump’s Acquittal 8511

BW 61, WW 782, YW 1304, REA 15.66, IMF 6.24, BF .3

Red Doc Oro Nuevo 4350

Bull Sale The largest selection in the Southwest for high carcass,

heat-tolerant, performance genetics

Accommodations

at Baymont by Wyndham, Belen (formally Holiday Inn Express) 505.861.5000 reference Red Hot Bull Sale for special rate

Proxy bidding available

Online bidding available

Delivery available to centralized locations

For more information: Emilio Sanchez 505-507-7781

Red Doc 7457

REDDOCFARM.COM

SGBI 69 th Annual Meeting Gulf Shores, AL April 17-19, 2020

Headquarters Hotel, The Lodge at Gulf State Park, a Hilton Hotel, 21196 E Beach Blvd., Gulf Shores, Alabama, (251) 540-4000

SANTA GERTRUDIS IS

›First Bos indicus-influenced breed to offer GE-EPDs. › First beef breed to implement “single-step” methodology. › 30 years of data collection = comprehensive genetic evaluation. › 11,000+ genotypes in SGBI data set – one of the largest for a Bos indicus-influenced breed. › Full range of growth and carcass EPDs = targeted selection and genetic progress. DATA DRIVEN

PROFIT PROVEN › Produce crossbred commercial females sought by cattlemen everywhere. › Adds profitable heterosis to any production system. › On-test gains of 3.5+ lb. ADG = efficiency, profit. › Adaptability, heat and parasite tolerance, disease resistance and increased longevity = more profit. › Igenity® Santa Gertrudis aids in commercial replacement heifer selection.

SANTA GERTRUDIS The Data Driven, Profit Proven choice for today’s beef industry.

S A N T A G E R T R U D I S

Santa Gertrudis Breeders International

361-592-9357 | sgbi@santagertrudis.com

santagertrudis.com | B R E E D E R S I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Spring Runoff Sale April 3-4, 2020 Sale of the Southwest to rebuild your cowherd

3N1s, Star 5s, Bred Cows, Replacement Heifers, Show Prospects, Embryo Packages

Bred Receps, 5+ months! Top donors in the breed

Schedule of Events:

Friday, April 3: Elite Cut Female Sale dinner and entertainment 5pm, sale 7pm

Saturday, April 4: RMSGA Spring Runoff Sale following Red Doc Farm Red Hot Bull Sale

Burns Cattle Company, Cherokee Ranch, Drake Ranch, Jack Family Ranch, J5 Cattle, ME/ Ranch, Mother Lode, O/X Ranch, Perea Ranch, Rancho Xacona, Red Doc Farm, Top T Ranch