TM
The Largest Privately Owned Hereford Newspaper in North America
The one that’s read “from cover to cover.” • Visit us on the web at: www.herefordamerica.com Vol. 26, No. 7
Published by: Hereford America, Inc. • 13823 Beaver Creek Place • Reva, SD 57651 • Est. 1996
Editorial Comments... Jill Bayers Hotchkiss
How often in your lifetime have you heard U.S. beef exports have increased? Believe it or not, the U.S Meat ExFederation Jill Hotchkiss port recently issued a report stating beef exports are at an all time record level in “volume and value.” This is of particular interest since the U.S. cattle supply is very tight right now. In years past, we considered beef exports primarily in terms of pounds exported so I find it interesting they are tagging it as volume and value. Nevertheless, it’s good news for the beef industry. As producers, however, we always wonder if the good news really applies to those of us out in the country raising cattle. According to an article in BEEF’s online magazine, the statement means these increases are “adding more value to U.S. beef cattle and providing markets for products not currently used in this country.” Those international markets for beef variety meats boosted exports by 15% in 2022 compared to 2021, accounting for $1.24 billion of the total $11.68 billion in U.S. beef exports. John Hinners, senior vice president of industry relations for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, says, “Beef exports add nearly $450 per head of fed slaughter value. Global export value is up 10% from the previous record and nearly 40% above the previous five-year average.” Total U.S. beef exports in 2022 hit 1.47 metric tons. The top eight importers of U.S. beef include South Korea, China/Hong Kong, Taiwan, (continued on page 6)
April/May 2023
Behm Herefords:
Common Sense, Family Ties, Purposeful Work
by Ruth Wiechmann Ron Behm’s father John was still a teenager when he started farming in 1929; his mother had to cosign a loan to help him rent the farm. “My grandfather went through bankruptcy in 1927,” Ron said. “The family had moved from one rented farm to the next; my grandfather spent too much time in the pool halls. They had farmed a particularly poor, sandy quarter one year, and after they sold the crop the family had only $200 to live on through the winter.” Ron recalled commenting to his father on how tough starting out in 1929, the year the stock market crashed, must have been. “It kind of irritated him,” Ron said. “’We didn’t lose anything in the stock market crash because we didn’t have anything to lose,’ dad told me, rather irately. “They had five milk cows and two teams of horses. Of course the 1930s were dry, so they went a couple of years with no
crops. Dad’s first two crops went to pay his dad’s debts to the elevator on advance grain sales which he never delivered. They didn’t have the money to buy coal, so they would stoke the wood cookstove with ash wood at night, and in the morning the water in the reservoir would be frozen.” With time, hard work and persistence, the family gradually got ahead. John married his wife, Ethel, in 1947, and they raised their six children on their farm near Burlington, North Dakota. Hereford cattle played a key role in their business. “Dad started raising Herefords in 1944,” Ron said. “When dad passed away in 1987 he had put together a fair sized farm, and mother lived on the farm until she passed away in 2016, just a few days short of her 98th birthday. Two of my brothers and I farm in a partnership, my brother, Russell, who is a veterinarian, owns cattle with us, and my son, John is also involved.”
Common sense wisdom, investing in quality cattle, and a family working together have been the building blocks for the Behm operation. Ron gained a lot of wisdom from his father, and from the many farmers and ranchers he’s done business with over the years, and John says that he has four of the best mentors and teachers in all of North Dakota to learn from.
Common sense wisdom, investing in quality cattle, and a family working together have been the building blocks for the Behm operation. “I went to North Dakota State University for one semester and then came home to the farm,” John said. “Dad was having a hard time coming up with hired help and said he might have to sell the cows. I didn’t think that was very feasible for my future so I quit college early. I have no regrets.” Ron, too, quit college to come home to the farm, and he joked that between himself and his brothers they have one hundred sixty years of combined experience running the farm. Ron and his wife Arlene raised their four daughters and son on the farm. Becky,
(continued on page 2)