EXECUTIVE SUMMARY by Mark Anderson Executive Director North American Limousin Foundation
H
appy New Year! NALF’s membership is off to a great start heading into 2022 and we are looking forward to a successful new year with bull sale season right around the corner. Successful bull sales are the lifeblood of any breed and their membership as they work toward supplying the commercial cow operator with superior genetics that can help the bottom line. Limousin and Lim-Flex cattle have never been in a better position to add superior bull power to the commercial cow industry. Superior muscling and feed efficiency, combined with the Limousin breed’s continual gains on the marbling trait, make them an ideal breed to utilize in today’s marketplace. Genomic marker updates, USMARC updates and the inclusion of carcass phenotypes last fall helped our carcass trait EPDs significantly. Marbling improved 0.2-0.35 within both classifications of Limousin cattle last fall with additional gains on carcass weight. Slim profit margins during a time when retail beef is continuing to skyrocket has been frustrating for most beef producers. Farm to retail margins have never been wider, leaving the beef producer only being able to reduce production cost with superior genetics and limiting production costs. You have the genetics to help the commercial producer lower his production costs and supply cattle that work in today’s marketplace! Many cows have been liquidated across the country this past year given drought conditions through the Northern areas. If we return to normal precipitation, the cattle market could be poised to see significant rallies the next 18 months as the non-fed slaughter portion of weekly kill levels will begin to evaporate. Until this transpires, producers need cattle that can efficiently convert high priced feed to quality pounds of beef while maintaining superior maternal traits in replacement females. Limousin breeders who have paid attention to their matings and EPDs enable us to supply seedstock that can help achieve better profitability for our customers. This breed has been able to maintain its lead in ribeye area even while improving the marbling EPD. This means superior cutability as well, which gets the packer’s attention because they can procure cattle with superior retail yield while achieving Choice and higher quality grades. Add in superior feed efficiency to lower cost of production and it equates to a big deal. It’s time to take the gloves off and aggressively promote and market your breeding programs heading into bull sale season when you are looking to attract new commercial customers. You should be seeing NALF promoting these
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positive attributes of the breed with our recent marketing effort by the commercial marketing committee. A recent article written by Burt Rutherford was utilized to promote the breed’s advantages and has picked up a lot of press coverage since November. That article appears later in this issue. More than 80% of our annual registrations are black presently. Only a few continental breeds can supply this as the commercial producer chases CAB premiums not only for feeder cattle trade value but grid premiums as well. We still and always will produce high-quality red cattle, but there is no denying the fact you can utilize Limousin and Lim-Flex® cattle in a crossbreeding program and make cattle that can qualify for those substantial black-hided premiums as well. This cross into an English-based cowherd will add dollars with additional gains on payweight at weaning time with the additional kick of heterosis! Limousin is fast becoming the leader in carcass trait phenotypes with more than 106,000 cattle incorporated into its weekly evaluation. This adds accuracy to pedigree data that is valuable when making predictable matings. Not many breeds have this valuable data to incorporate into their EPD production and it is good to see our breed leading the way. It will continue to grow. The NALF board is focused on investing in the future of the breed by pursuing research through the NALRF which provides third party documentation of specific breed advantages. This will reflect and convey all the previously mentioned attributes this breed brings to the table in today’s competitive market. A portion of the last two years of profitability, along with individual donor contributions, will be utilized to achieve this goal. This will aid in getting the word out to commercial producers the high value of superior Limousin genetics unique to today’s grid focused marketing of fed cattle. We are excited as we start the new year. Cattlemen’s Congress entries are large at the time of this writing, and plan to have a tremendous show in Oklahoma. We will also head directly from Oklahoma to conduct another show at the National Western Stock Show and then Fort Worth. The show side of the breed is catching fire and the success of the exhibitors and quality of the cattle is truly something to be extremely proud of. Limousin and Lim-Flex cattle continue to knock out National Supreme titles around the country and folks are taking notice! What is impressive is not only the success of the Supremes, but the depth and quality of cattle throughout various shows. It takes an extremely
• JANUARY 2022
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