October 2014 Hereford World
Inside…
Published by the American Hereford Association
October 2014; Vol. 105, No. 5
22 Charting Our Course
AHA staff pens the Hereford Genetic Summit with a look back and encouragement moving forward.
24 Challenge Extended
Kevin Ochsner kicked off he Hereford Genetic Summit with inspiration and insightfulness.
30 Understanding Tomorrow’s Consumer
Beef industry experts John Lundeen and Joe Pawlak discussed beef consumer trends.
32 Economic Drivers of the Beef Industry
Let the Good Times Roll — CattleFax CEO Randy Blach said all the stars have aligned for the cow-calf business. Focus on Feed Efficiency, End-Product Merit — Kee Jim shared what feeders and packers are looking for.
40 The Value of Hereford Genetics in the Commercial Industry
Congratulations, Now Keep Working — Genex’s Lorna Marshall praised Hereford breeders on improvement, encouraged continued commitment to excellence. Herefords as Maternal Sires — Simplot Livestock has documented the advantages of using Herefords in a crossbreeding program.
44 Your Responsibility as a Seedstock Producer
Seedstock producers Galen Fink and Don Schiefelbein shared insights on how to meet commercial customer needs.
46 Tailgating Hereford Style 47 Setting Sail on Branson Belle HerefordGeneticSummit.com #HerefordGeneticSummit
Hereford Genetic Summit: Get on Board, Navigate Your Future
Hereford breeders were challenged to embrace technology, focus on the customer, and concentrate on feed efficiency and end product merit to help position the breed to gain more commercial market share. Summit media coverage by Sara Gugelmeyer, Jamie Bellis Johansen and Angie Stump Denton
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ynamic. Thought-provoking. Phenomenal. These were the descriptions echoing throughout the Darr Agricultural Center/Bond Learning Center on the Missouri State University campus in Springfield, Mo., following the Hereford Genetic Summit. Nearly 300 Hereford enthusiasts attended the event Sept. 4-5 and were challenged by industry experts to think about the future of the breed and their individual operations. The American Hereford Association (AHA) hosted its last “direction” or “type conference” in 2002. A lot has changed in the beef industry and the Hereford breed during the last 12 years. “During the Summit we really looked toward the future,” said Craig Huffhines, AHA executive vice president. “We focused on these questions: How do we position the Hereford breed to continually succeed and move forward in market share? How do we become more relevant to the commercial cow-calf industry and the consumer? We really wanted to
hone in on where we are today and where we need to go tomorrow.” Huffhines said he predicts the breed will experience a similar aggressive response and positive change for continuous breed improvement similar to past direction events. “The difference is, we will see results much faster due to the technology that is being adopted that eliminates a lot of the guess work.” Kevin Ochsner, host of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s “Cattlemen to Cattlemen” and an agribusiness consultant, served as moderator and shared with attendees the importance of navigating and setting the course for the Hereford breed’s future. “Breeders in the seedstock industry are really the architects of tomorrow’s beef industry,” Ochsner said. “Because of that, we have got to understand where this industry is headed, where consumers are headed and some of the external factors that are going to impact the kind of cattle that are both profitable and acceptable for consumers.”
At the conclusion of the conference, Ochsner asked producers to consider the long-term and short-term goals they wanted to go home and implement in their own operations. “Fundamentally, as a seedstock producer you have to have a plan and I think one of the key messages here is you’ve got to have a clear picture of what you are trying to improve in your cattle,” he explained. “You have to move the needle in that direction without chasing and following fads and messing with a lot of other traits in the process. I hope that people heard there is measurement technology — whether it be EPDs (expected progeny differences) or genomic-enhanced EPDs — out there that we can employ so we don’t only rely on our eyes to breed and design cattle.” In this issue you will find highlights of the event. Under “Inside” to the left is a list of summaries and page numbers. You can also visit HerefordGeneticSummit.com for video archives of presentations and audio interviews with speakers. HW