When it’s time to sell your Red Angus calves, you want to get the most for your investment. Participating in a value-added program may seem like a lot of extra work, but the additional dollars received for cattle enrolled in those programs makes it worth the minimal investment of time and documentation.
Options for adding value
The Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) created the Feeder Calf Certification Program (FCCP), commonly known as the “yellow tag program” in 1995. The program consists of three components: genetic, age and source verification. Cattle should be traceable to at least 50% Red Angus bloodlines, according to Chessie Mitchell, assistant director of value-added programs.
The Allied Access program, a sister program to the FCCP, launched in 2012 to promote crossbreeding using Red Angus females and bulls of other breeds. In this program, cattle are only age and source verified. The Allied Access program is also a USDA process-verified program.
The Premium Red Baldy program is a partnership between Red Angus and Hereford. The program is for commercial beef producers who want to take advantage of hybrid vigor. Similarly, RAAA also offers the American Red value-added program for crossbred Red Angus and Santa Gertrudis cattle with a heat-tolerant red hide.
The value these programs bring to cattle producers is instrumental, Mitchell said. Traceability on age, source and breed verification are critical for attaining valuable premiums. Having cattle enrolled in third-party programs allows for producers to advertise a more consistent group of cattle that verifies many of the key components that buyers are looking for in the marketplace, which translates to premiums for producers.
One call does it all
IMI Global, a division of Where Food Comes From, Inc., saw a need in the beef industry 25 years ago to add value while ensuring traceability was at the forefront of it all, and they have continuously worked to fulfill that need. Most recently, the organization worked with the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef to develop a framework for a sustainability platform, CARE Certified, which is centered around three pillars: animal care, environmental stewardship, and people and community.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”feee4d24-c766-11ee-89f5-5373d5b33c8d”}}
Since launching in 2020, CARE Certified has enrolled more than 800 ranchers and backgrounders, representing 30 different states and 850,000 head of cattle, according to Doug Stanton, vice-president of sales & business development for IMI Global.
CARE Certified promotes practices that RAAA stands behind, such as proper animal care and handling practices and promoting beef within the community. Most importantly, CARE Certified is rancher friendly, attested Mitchell.
The animal care pillar encompasses much of the tenets from Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) training. Producers must have a current BQA certification, and their efforts around herd health, antibiotic stewardship and cattle transportation are assessed. BQA certification is easy and free to obtain online and is valid for three years.
“Animals should be treated as needed if they get sick,” Stanton said. “One thing that’s unique about the CARE Certified program is that beef producers are allowed to utilize technologies, such as implants and ionophores.”
The environmental stewardship pillar of the program focuses on having a grazing management plan and seeking ways to reduce waste and improve efficiency. The people and community pillar emphasizes beef producer stories, showcases their philanthropic efforts and highlights how they positively engage with the community.
“If customers are already doing a lot of those things, then they won’t have to change their processes to fit the CARE Certified program,” Mitchell explained. “Many producers are already keeping herd health plans, abiding by proper antibiotic stewardship, utilizing a grazing management plan, implementing worker safety practices and have an emergency preparedness and succession plan in place.”
As most beef producers know, consumers are demanding more of their protein, such as knowing where it was sourced and that it was raised sustainably and used good animal husbandry practices.
“Third-party programs like CARE Certified create transparency from the pasture to the plate and allow millennial consumers to feel like they have a vested interest in the protein on their plate,” Mitchell explained.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”17ad9d7e-c767-11ee-ac36-d79604b34700″}}
To begin enrollment in CARE Certified, simply call RAAA to get started. After the initial phone call with RAAA, you’ll be assigned an IMI Global account manager. They will contact you to conduct a phone interview and then an independent contract auditor will come out to your ranch to validate the information discussed by phone and observe the cattle, facilities, feed ingredients, etc. As for costs, Stanton noted that FCCP enrolled cattle only pay $1 per head enrollment fee along with the CARE audit fee plus travel expenses.
“Cattle must be tagged with an EID,” Stanton said, “but they don’t have to be castrated or weaned by a certain age. The program looks at what they’re doing in their environment and if it makes sense.
“A lot of the time, instead of requiring a new way to do something, we’re simply asking beef producers to document the processes and procedures they have in place, while formally planning for the future.” Stanton added. “It’s all about continuous improvement.”
CARE Certified is reviewed annually by a beef expert committee that makes science-based recommendations grounded in beef industry trends. Those recommendations are taken to a Producer Advisory Committee for review before any official changes are made to the standard.
Other options for adding value
If beef producers want to take the additional step of raising cattle that are non-hormone treated, Stanton said those cattle can be enrolled in the non-hormone treated (NHTC) or Verified Natural Beef programs. NHTC allows cattle to be eligible for export to the European Union.
“When beef producers bundle several claims, when they go to the marketplace, they can market those cattle to different buyers that are looking for those verification claims based on the contracts they have with different packing plants,” Stanton said.
More packing plants, food brands and retailers are looking to build sustainability-based claim supply chains for beef products.
Heinen’s, an upscale, family-owned grocery chain with 23 stores primarily based in Ohio, is already utilizing CARE Certified for both its pork and beef brands. The chain also procures poultry products from a long-time customer who is also CARE Certified, according to Stanton.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”26ae594e-c767-11ee-a84f-17f7672abb0a”}}
“A simple Google search will show you how in demand climate-smart and sustainable branded beef is becoming. Since launching CARE Certified in 2020, several large retailers and brands have announced their internal sustainability goals. CARE Certified is a way they can meet that demand in a verifiable and traceable way.” Stanton said. “Because of this, there’s definitely a demand for CARE Certified cattle and it’s just getting started.”
Some program participants support FFA, donate food or a half a beef, Stanton says. “Beef operations should also be thinking about succession planning. A lot of times, we find that Dad has something planned, but he hasn’t shared that with his kids yet. You need to have those conversations and get something in writing. Part of sustainability is the cattle operation carrying on from one generation to the next.” — Sarah Hill for the Red Angus Magazine
