Derek Thompson, his brother, Damon, and their cousin, Brad Lindstrom, grew up around cattle, although Thompson says it was more of a hobby than anything. Fast forward a handful of years and a couple of different industries later, and the trio is running a fully integrated cattle and beef business.
NextGen Cattle Co. was formed in 2015 in Paxico, KS, with the mindset of “the next generation farmer or rancher is going to have to do things differently than dad and grandpa did,” Thompson said. “That was the vision from day one.”
[inline_image file=”5ebdade796a42907d2b4b48f6eafb4d3.jpg” caption=”Bulls at the 2021 Fall Flint Hills Classic.”]
Feedyards
Thompson said prior to establishing NextGen, the partners fed a lot of cattle and invested in a feedyard close to 10 years ago, where they ran a lot of yearlings. After Thompson had the opportunity to sell out of a business he started, the trio moved into the cattle business full time. The first big purchase they made was a feedyard in southwest Kansas, just outside of Garden City, in Hugoton. The 50,000 head finishing yard, NextGen at Riverbend, is ideally located near packing plants.
In northeast Kansas, just outside of Allen, NextGen at Allen is a 10,000-12,000 head starter, grow and finishing yard. The yard was traditionally a starter and grow yard, but after NextGen’s recent acquisition of a packing plant in Pleasant Hope, MO, more cattle are being finished at the yard, Thompson said.
Both feedyards are BeefCARE, Global Animal Partnership (GAP), Natural and non-hormone treated cattle (NHTC) certified by third-party auditors.
Genetics
As a fully integrated operation, NextGen also has a genetics sector. “As we were buying cattle from all across the country, we were buying some genetics that were somewhat unknown, just trying to keep our yards full,” Thompson said. “We thought we would get involved in the genetic side and get more control over that.”
[inline_image file=”4a9038650165fd4149e560c57bdd128d.jpg” caption=”A trio of the next generation at the 2021 Fall Flint Hills Classic.”]
Enter the NextGen seedstock operation, which hosts two bull sales a year: one in April and the other in September. Thompson said NextGen sold close to 600 bulls in 2021, including private treaty, and will likely sell closer to 700-750 bulls in 2022. The seedstock genetics comprise mostly Beefmaster and Charolais cattle. Thompson said this is a little unique for Kansas and the rest of the Midwest, where there is a lot of Angus and Red Angus cattle and primarily black commercial cattle.
“We’re huge believers in crossbreeding,” Thompson explained. “We see the benefits in the feedyard, from health, to feed efficiency, to yield—all of the things people don’t typically talk about, mostly focusing on the carcass side. But there’s some other factors in the yard that could really help you make money feeding cattle.”
[inline_image file=”2bc1ec06a49419bf0075cad1bc70d8f1.jpg” caption=”Sale day at the 2020 Flint Hills Classic.”]
He said NextGen felt Beefmasters were the best maternal breed and Charolais were the best terminal cross, and the two complimented Angus-based cow herds the most. NextGen will also begin to offer Angus bulls in 2022. “We need a good lineup of heifer bulls, and we definitely feel like Angus bulls have a place there, as well as for all the benefits that they bring to the table,” Thompson said. “So that will be our lineup going forward.”
Beef
Thompson explained how a few years ago, NextGen began to meet with Stacy Davies, ranch manager of the Roaring Springs Ranch. NextGen had been selling bulls to Davies for several years and had the opportunity to get to know him, which led to the idea of partnering on a processing facility east of the Rockies in the Midwest. Davies was also instrumental in helping to grow the Country Natural Beef program, which was pioneered by Doc and Connie Hatfield in the late ’80s.
Thompson said the program was formed by a group of ranchers “who were tired of not getting what they felt was the right value for their calf crop.” The program went from zero to over 100,000 head in a year, and Davies and his team sold the meat at the retail level.
[inline_image file=”daf1eb39e4a14fa0dfabb93d24d21dcd.jpg” caption=”Pens at NextGen Cattle Co.”]
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic—when there was a surge in direct marketing and buying local beef—Thompson said they thought there was an opportunity to take the rancher to the retail and consumer level. Before the pandemic hit, NextGen had been working with three other processing facilities around the country. “We had our shackle space ripped out from underneath us overnight,” Thompson said.
“And a lot of meat companies that didn’t have their own packing plant were pretty much kicked to the side. And we knew at that time, if we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, we needed to get more control over our shackle space.”
This idea developed into purchasing a processing facility in southwest Missouri in Pleasant Hope, and NextGen opened the doors to Missouri Prime Beef Packers in March 2021. The facility was previously a beef plant that had been converted to a pork plant and had been closed for two years prior to Missouri Prime Beef Packers’ acquisition.
[inline_image file=”46c6b75430f899a7a133df9c73c64214.jpg” caption=”An aerial view of Missouri Prime Beef Packers.”]
“What we’re trying to do is take that message from the birth of the calf at the ranch level and the whole process all the way to the retail consumer,” Thompson said. He added that COVID-19 put the meat industry in the spotlight, with plants not running at full capacity and protein options being taken away from consumers. “I think it really brought back the value of today’s American rancher and the impact that they have on the food supply chain,” Thompson explained. “And I think timing couldn’t be better for what we’re trying to put together.”
Branded beef
The plant processes roughly 1,500-1,700 head per week, which are mostly sold into different branded beef programs, the foremost being the Missouri Show Me Beef program. The plant also does some custom processing, about 100-150 head a week, but Thompson said that number is decreasing due to the growth of their branded beef programs.
Cattle processed for the Show Me Beef program are born, raised, finished and harvested in the state of Missouri, and they meet the standards of the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Missouri Grown program. “With our plant being in Missouri, we thought we’d build a program to benefit Missouri producers,” Thompson said.
[inline_image file=”0cf265f1c2580c156015806c48bbdbeb.jpg” caption=”The front of the Missouri Prime Beef Packers plant.”]
Missouri Prime Beef currently processes about 400 head a week for the program, and Thompson expects it to move closer to 700-800 head a week. He added that so far, Missouri consumers are loving the Show Me Beef products, which have won taste awards at local retail grocery stores. “We couldn’t be more excited about the future of that program,” he said.
In addition, the plant also has a Flint Hills Beef program, an all-natural program with most products going to Whole Foods and other partners. Cattle are grown without the use of antibiotics or added hormones, are age and source verified, and are audited under the Global Animal Partnership’s standards. About 250-300 head a week are processed for that program, although Thompson expects it to grow closer to 400-500 head a week in 2022.
[inline_image file=”808845d952ace58ff6a6d360d8fc8e92.jpg” caption=”nextgen logo”]
NextGen has a couple of other brands, including a grass-fed program called Grass Valley Beef, where cattle are raised on grass without antibiotics or added hormones. In addition, Thompson said they slaughter some cows for their grind programs, such as Show Me Beef.
The plant has the capacity to reach up to 500 head a day, although Thompson noted he felt going from zero to 350 head was already an impressive accomplishment, especially considering the labor shortage and construction issues related to COVID-19 the plant has faced. In the future, NextGen does plan to add cooler space and a warehouse space to process 750-1,000 head a day.
Looking forward
Evident by their name, NextGen is committed to finding ways to improve the industry, ultimately for the next batch of ranchers to take over. Thompson said he believes the emphasis for the future is going to be more on genetics. To further this idea, NextGen has been working with Neogen to back genetics by DNA all the way from the ranch to retail.
“It’s really helping that producer find every ounce of margin he can get out of his cow herd through proper crossbreeding,” he said. “Making sure your cattle perform on the rail adds another benefit to your ranch.” NextGen passes down significant dollars to ranchers who participate in value-added programs such as all natural, Thompson said.
[inline_image file=”1231c050cd29b730fe0c7467762c3482.jpg” caption=”Logo on trailer.jpg”]
In the long run, Thompson said the goal is to connect ranchers with the packing plant to bring some of the benefits they see at the packer level back down to the rancher.
“It’s also helping them connect with the consumer. If we can help connect the rancher to the retail consumer and allow the consumer to understand the challenges ranchers go through, and what ranching life is about, we feel like there could be a really good connection to that retail consumer and allow them to ultimately buy more beef,” Thompson concluded.
