How Profit Relates to Feeding and Grid...

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upon profitability when marketing on a grid. The lots with higher profit had greater Quality Grade and were harvested at a fatter endpoint and all other benefits outweighed any Yield Grade discounts.

Since this analysis was done, USPB premiums have been at record high levels. Therefore, the grid rewards are even greater today. We don’t collect closeout information to accurately know feedlot performance and profit; however, we can calculate total feedlot gain and apparent daily gain from in weights. In fourteen years, total feedlot gain of USPB steers has increased by 90 pounds and apparent average daily gain was record high during the 2011 delivery year. Next month we will look at another set of real world data analyzed by Kansas State animal scientist, Dr. Chris Reinhardt, on more than 17,000 head of individual Angus steers fed at a single feedyard.♦

USDA’s Choice/Select

Spread Widens Seasonally

FY 2012 Annual Meeting

Set For March 26, 2013

As a result of moving the company’s fiscal year to a calendar year, U.S. Premium Beef’s fiscal year 2012 annual meeting will be conducted in Kansas City, MO, at the Kansas City Airport Hilton on March 26, 2013. A pre-annual meeting reception will be held on the evening of March 25 at the Airport Hilton. Watch upcoming UPDATES for more information on the annual meeting.♦

The percentage of Yield Grade 4 and 5 carcasses actually increased slightly as profit increased. In general, the High profit cattle were fatter. This trend is also evident when we sort USPB lots by premium. The USPB lots with higher premiums also have more Yield Grade 4 and 5 carcasses and fewer Yield Grade 1 and 2 carcasses. Incidentally, the PCC High  profit  group  had  the  greatest  percentage  of Yield Grade 3 carcasses. Likewise, USPB has reported a very strong relationship between a high Yield Grade 3 percentage, greater Quality Grade and higher premiums. It is possible that more of the PCC cattle in the High profit lots were sorted for greater uniformity when marketed.

In the complete report which you can read at   www.us-premiumbeef.com/Briansblog.aspx, the authors also report additional sorts, or third-group profiles, in addition to sorting by profit. Sorting by level of Choice or higher percentage reinforces the fact that as Quality Grade increases, so does total gain, average daily gain and carcass weight. Days on feed and in weight did not differ. However, percentage of Yield Grade 1 and 2 carcasses decreased and Yield Grade 4 and 5 percentage increased as Quality increased. Yet, profit still increased by $17.18 per head as Quality increased from the Low to the High Quality group.

Sorting by average daily gain further reinforced its strong relationship with profit. As daily gain increased, Quality Grade also increased, as did carcass weight and Yield Grade. Dressing percentage, or yield, decreased. However, profit increased by $41.08 per head from the Low to the High gaining group.

The data was also sorted into average carcass weight third-groups. As carcass weight increased, placement weight and gains increased. Quality Grade increased slightly and Yield Grade also increased as hot weight increased. Since all lots were sold on a carcass basis, profit increased by $31.92 from the Low to the High carcass weight group.

In the complete report the authors also illustrate in more detail how daily gain differences were even more pronounced and impactful upon profit during the more recent years when feed costs have been higher. Likewise, interactions have occurred with placement weight over the years as feed costs have changed.

Overall, this real-world data shows the importance of feedlot performance, specifically daily gain and carcass weight,