  BeefTalk:
Beef Industry Changes Appear on the Horizon
By Kris Ringwall, Extension Beef Specialist,
NDSU Extension Service
Occasionally there’s a day in my schedule when the questions and decisions
that need to be made just plain stump me. The complexity of the issues requires
more research and information than I am able to muster and the sun can not set
fast enough on the day or the new information can not arrive too soon.
Within the beef industry a number of challenges are on the horizon,
approaching with the slow, steady speed of sun moving across the daytime sky.
Changes within the beef industry, like sunrise and sunset, are coming whether
producers like them or not.
The commodity model, although very prevalent in the marketing sector, is
slowly giving way in the cow/calf sector to a model loosely termed "premium
market" identification. A more accurate term would be "verified
source" identification, with the implication of total knowledge from
conception to consumption.
These new total marketing business models require market standards. These new
standards can only be set through information, available only by collecting
data, which can then be used in making long term management decisions. The North
Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association has offered its members DATALINE™,
a technology tool available for data gathering, that puts together established
management concepts with new technology to give the beef industry new clout.
NDBCIA producers, however, have not fully implemented the technology tool. In
1997 three herds of the 238 with production records processed by the North
Dakota beef Cattle Improvement Association or purchased through the CHAPS 2000
program were evaluated in the conception to consumption program. In 1998, four
herds of 217 enrolled in BCIA or CHAPS 2000 were measured; in 1999 it was three
herds of 203; in 2000 five herds out of 276; in 2001 three herds out of 374. Are
we up to the challenge?
In addition, the nationally established Beef Quality Assurance program is a
reaction to requests from the food industry to source verify beef products
coming into the food chain. The BQA and DATALINE™ are the standards and data
collection tools, respectively, to fulfill the consumer demand for consistent
quality and information about the beef produced today.
As cow/calf producers become more aware of their role in the food chain, the
business reality of source verification becomes paramount to economic returns.
Cow/calf producers need more information about their end product in reaction to
food industry identification. This combination of industry needs and source
verification, if implemented correctly, allows the food industry and beef
business to better evaluate critical industry production concerns and respond
with good management decisions from conception to consumption.
The DATALINE™ information helps relate physical and economic performance of
each animal to the end product. This technology makes it possible to
electronically identify each calf as part of the food chain network and secure
data relative to growth, health and value. As the beef industry changes,
producers need to become aware of the processes that are involved in order to
initiate changes that assure long term survival in the beef business. Beef
producers need to make managerial or business changes and investments in tune
with the industry in which they participate.
One of the major management balancing acts that cow-calf producers (and all
within the beef industry) face is risk management. The knowledge (from the
information collected through DATALINE™) is the baseline upon which cow-calf
producers will be making decisions for the future of their own operation, and
ultimately the beef industry.
A precept of this decision-making process is minimizing risk within beef
production enterprises. For cow-calf producers, a fundamental management
principle is to not put at risk any portion of their operation which they can
not afford to lose. If such loss would change the very principles producers work
for, think twice.
May you find all your ear tags.
Your comments are always welcome at www.BeefTalk.com.
For more information, contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement
Association, 1133 State Avenue, Dickinson, ND 58601 or go to www.CHAPS2000.COM
on the Internet. In correspondence about this column, refer to BT0082.
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Source: Kris Ringwall, (701) 483-2427, kringwal@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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BeefTalk Graphic:
Producer Use of DATALINE TM Technology
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Year Total Herds* DATALINE TM Herds
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1997 238 3
1998 217 4
1999 203 3
2000 276 5
2001 374 3
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* With production records processed by the
North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement
Association or purchased through the
CHAPS 2000 program.
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