CAPTURING THE COMPLETE PICTURE

Lauren Kimble, Supply Chain Logistics Coordinator, Select Sires Inc.

In the two and a half years since ProfitSOURCE® came to be, the program has grown to include more than four flagship marketing lines, hundreds of herds have enrolled, and coverage has expanded to all six Select Sires member cooperatives in the U.S. The most requested and welcomed landmark though has been the arrival of carcass data.

ProfitSOURCE was conceived with the ultimate goal of becoming a vehicle for complete beef x dairy (BxD) traceability. Traceability, as we all know, is a word that’s often thrown around but hardly ever defined. Through ProfitSOURCE, we can capture a complete picture of what traceability means to us, whether we are dairy producers, supply chain partners or genetics providers.

Commercial Capabilities

Thanks to traceability, we’ve been able to verify program status of animals and link datapoints from throughout the supply chain to parentage and other information about ProfitSOURCE program cattle. The carcass records are rolling in and are we excited about the results!

ProfitSOURCE and TD Beef

We hit the ground running with some of our first animals strongly outperforming cattle of unknown genetics harvested around the same time and place. A whopping 97% graded Choice and Prime, and over three quarters met Certified Angus Beef™ (CAB™) requirements – a far cry from the 29% of unknown cattle meeting the standards, a value more typical across the industry.

Recent lots of ProfitSOURCE Angus-sired animals continue to grade well, averaging within the mid-500s for Marbling Score, and demonstrating improved Carcass Weight, Ribeye Area and Yield Grade over unknown animals. What does this mean on a dollar basis? Well, Quality Grade spreads are higher than ever – the Choice/Select spread is 140% higher than last year, averaging about $25/cwt. CAB premiums are averaging about $5/cwt across the packers. Assuming two 800 pound carcasses, with one grading Select and one grading Choice/CAB, the latter generates $240 more! A heavier carcass of course means more total dollars too.

ProfitSOURCE and Power Genetics

Not to be left out of the action, our SimAngus™ lineup has been kicking tail as well. Power Genetics SimAngus-sired cattle have beaten out their contemporaries in average Quality Grade, Yield Grade, Ribeye Area and Marbling – with Marbling scores averaging over 500 – quite impressive for a sire breed with continental influence, and something we’d expect to see more so from a purely Angus lineup!

ProfitSOURCE vs. Commodity BxD

Research Success

To take it a step further, we put ProfitSOURCE Angus-sired cattle head-to-head in the same pen as progeny of a competitor lineup. Datapoints from the feeding period and from the rail highlighted some key differences.

• ProfitSOURCE cattle showed slightly improved average daily gain on the feeding period, though not statistically significant (.3 lb./day over the entire 209 day feeding period).

• While ProfitSOURCE cattle were of slightly higher Yield Grade than the competitors, they more than made up for it with phenomenal marbling and carcass weight.

• ProfitSOURCE cattle had more than 10% less instances of liver abscess, a problem which has cost the entire beef industry more than $409 million in the last year. However, this is more likely attributed to the top-notch calf care provided at the source dairy –yet another hallmark of ProfitSOURCE-enrolled herds.

When all was said and done, we ran the carcass data through a few current, real packer grids. The ProfitSOURCE cattle brought $190 to $210 more per head than the competitor cattle. Profit, indeed!

Takeaways

When it comes to the rail, we know quality is king and that branded beef programs continue to desire more higher-grading carcassesconsumer demand for high-quality beef remains high and consistent.

From the genetics side, the Marbling EPD is the most heritable of all the carcass traits with a 44% H value, meaning we can influence performance heavily just by selecting for the trait. A 2022 review of available lineups showed the ProfitSOURCE Angus sires led the competition in average Marbling EPD. Our lineup continues to average within the top 10% of the breed for MARB. While management during the animal’s lifetime can set it up for success on the rail in Carcass Weight and Yield Grade, we can achieve Quality Grade simply through sire selection of our high-Marbling ProfitSOURCE sires.

*Hot Carcass Weight is with kidney, pelvic and heart fat (KPH) removed

Our sire lineup is carefully curated. While you may be drawn to sires meant for our native beef x beef market, because they meet your calving ease needs, stick to ProfitSOURCE sires. The lineup from ProfitSOURCE appropriately combines calving ease with impressive terminal performance. Whether marketing through a partner program or selling locally, these tagged BxD calves reflect their sires’ genetics. Traceability on these kinds of calves secures our relationship with calf buyers and partners for the long-term. Let’s keep them coming to encourage sustainable market access and higher pricing. u