D4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Decamber 24, 1994 ROY W CROW HOLSTEIN 55 WM& KATHLEEN SCHRODEU2 HOLSTEIN 125 GEN FARM I HOLSTEIN 125 HILLS DAIRY PARTNERSHIP HOLSTEIN 341 BRICK HOUSE FM INC HOLSTEIN 104 GREENWOOD ACRES HOLSTEIN 79 MONTGOMERY COUNTY HERD HERD COWS IN NAME BREED HERDT MENDELSSOHN TERRACE FARM HOLSTEIN 125 ARTIE-JAY FARM HOLSTEIN 97 POTOMAC VALLEY HERD HERD NAME BREED CALVIN P DAYTON HOLSTEIN KANSAS CITY, Mo. —A major beef industry alliance has been formed between Midland Cattle Co., Mid Ag, and the American Hereford Association (AHA) to market certified Here ford beef (CHB) as a branded product. Contracts have been signed granting Mid Ag rights to distrib ute CHB. Retail license agree ments to market the product will be issued by the American Here ford Association. Formal announce ment of the coalition was made by officials of Mid Ag, Midland Cat tle Co., and the American Here ford Association in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 7, at AHA’s annual membership meeting. Midland Cattle Co., and its affiliate, Mid Ag, are Midwestern based operations with headquar ters in Red Oak, lowa. Gordon Reisinger is the president and CEO of Midland and Mid Ag. Midland Cattle Co. has operated as a major order buying firm for the past 10 years and Mid Ag is a new company formed to process and distribute Certified Hereford Beef. With an aggressive plan to ensure consistent quality of the branded beef product, Midland and Mid Ag will maintain control of CHB from selecting feeder cat tle genetics to selling beef to the consumer. Midland will be involved in procuring high quality Hereford and Hereford crossbred feeder cattle, managing retained ownership cattle, and monitoring feedlot management in cooperat ing yards. Mid Ag will be involved in buying finished cattle, making arrangements for custom slaughter, monitoring product management, and making sales to retail stores, purveyors, and restaurants. “ With strong Midwestern roots, Midland has always had a reputation for buying high quality feeder cattle,” said Reisinger. “Many of our customers are farmer feeders who insist on qual ity cattle. Over the years, we have primarily bought British type feeder cattle. We have always bought and fed a lot of Hereford cattle with good results. Data from the Colorado State University (CSU) Hereford Study stimulated our interest in Hereford cattle as a source of beef with consistent quality.” Reisinger and his associates first approached AHA to discuss Midland’s Quality Calf Program. The lowa order buying firm was interested in locating new sources of high quality Hereford feeder cattle with superior genetics. In addition, they were searching for progressive producers who would cooperate with Midland’s VAC 45 feeder calf backgrounding rec Maryland DHIA Report For November (Continued from Pago 03) COWS IN HERDT Alliance Forms To Market Hereford Beef ommendations. Results from the CSU Hereford Study, which demonstrated a high degree of consistent quality, were a major factor in stimulating Midland’s interest in expansion into market ing Hereford beef as a branded product. “Four years ago, the American Hereford Association provided funding for the Colorado State University Hereford Study,” said H.H. Dickenson, AHA executive vice president. “We had the opportunity to participate in a large scale project conducted by some of the most respected meats 'scientists in the world. The results from the CSU Hereford Study provide the breed with a very complete documentation of feed lot performance, carcass charac teristics and eating quality of the final beef product.” The CSU Hereford Study rep resents the most comprehensive project ever undertaken by any breed to measure feedlot perfor mance and merit of the end prod uct. More over 2,000 Hereford and Hereford crossbred steers were involved in the study con ducted by Colorado State Univer sity in cooperation with the feed ing and packing divisions of Mon fort Con Agra. The project design called for measuring, feedlot per formance and carcass merit at varying time-on-feed endpoints. Excellent feed conversion emerged as a strong Hereford trait as the dry matter feed conversion ranged from 5.35 to 5.65 pounds per pound of gain. Average daily gains of 3.84 to 4.09 pounds were recorded for test groups, and data concluded that Hereford cattle required fewer days on feed than the industry norm. A very important pattern of beef quality and consistency emerged from the Hereford study as professional taste test panels sampled steaks from hundreds of test cattle. A desirable tenderness rating was achieved on 93 percent of the Hereford steaks sampled as compared to 78 percent for com modity Choice. Hereford Choice steaks outscored both USDA high Choice and USDA Choice for juiciness, flavor and overall palatability. “The Hereford study results were impressive and convincing. Our company was seriously con sidering the marketing of a brand ed beef product. A thorough review of the Hereford study data, and our own experience in feeding good quality Hereford cattle, convinced Midland Cattle Co. that Certified Hereford Beef had great potential to answer beef industry problems of inconsisten cy and lack of quality. We are very pleased about our alliance with Hereford producers to mar ket a very consistent, quality QUEEN ANNES COUNTY HERD HERD COWS IN NAME BREED HERDT PINTAIL POINT FARM HOLSTEIN 76 BOONE BROTHERS HOLSTEIN 146 F&J MOORE HOLSTEIN 120 CHARLES R PATTERSON HOLSTEIN 104 HARRY LSCHRADER&SONS HOLSTEIN 190 BENJAMIN STANTON HOLSTEIN 45 L J & W E PALMATARY HOLSTEIN 190 MCFARLAND, DONNIE & WAYNE HOLSTEIN 145 MILKAVG FCMT 679 656 TALBOT COUNTY HERD HERD COWS IN MILKAVG NAME BREED HERDT FCMT WILLIS SNOW & HENRY HOLSTEIN 47 74,9 WM. BRJNSFIELD HOLSTEIN 50 7FO MILKAVG FCMT 672 Chuck Merrill product,” said Reisinger. Midland Cattle Co. order buy ers have been active in the feeder cattle market during the late sum mer and fall months of 1994. They expect to have some 25,000 to 30,000 head of Hereford and Hereford crossbred cattle on feed by year end. These numbers rep resent feedlot cattle owned by Midland and retained ownership cattle managed by the company. Cooperating feedlots are primari ly located in lowa and neighbor ing Nebraska. “Quality cattle are worth more money,” said Ralph Myrick, head order buyer for Midland. “We will add value to these cattle as we locate, segregate and properly feed and manage consistent genetics. I believe consistent quality should be the number one consideration in value based mar keting.” In addition to his busy sched ule of buying cattle, Myrick, along with Craig Huffhines, AHA director of Certified Hereford Beef programs, have conducted producer meetings in several states. Groups of cattlemen have learned of Midland’s goals to buy high quality, genetically superior feeder, cattle. The order buying company strongly encourages backgrounding and proper vacci nations and is willing to pay pre miums for feeder cattle from pro ducers following their quality calf program. In many instances, ranchers have offered cattle for sale at these producer meetings and feeders have been contracted and bought by Midland within days. “One of the major differences in the Certified Hereford Beef program and other branded pro grams is that we identify live cat- HERD NAME ISAAC AND DIANE MARTIN CURTIS WAUSHERMAN LYNN STRITE MARVIN L ZIMMERMAN LESTER STRITE KEVIN & MARLIN MARTIN DEBAUCH FARMS CREEK BOUND FARM ARTHUR RHODERICR SUNRISE VIEW FARMS E ANDREW STONE JOHN & CINDY BURTNER BARER FARMS HURT & JULIE WILLIAMS TIMOTHY & LAVONDA MARTIN MARSH-HAVEN FARM MILKAVG FCMT 78J 758 721 77(1 71.3 70.6 67.4 66.1 Dave Ellicott tie that qualify when they are feeders,” said Myrick. “We can do a much better job of control ling quality and consistency by buying high quality feeder cattle in the beginning. This, we believe, is better than trying to identify genetics at the back door of the packing house. We are buying straight Hereford and Hereford-British cross feeders.” Most of the feeder cattle ear marked for the CHB program are shipped by Midland to one of these feedyards at the present time: John Owner, Milford, Iowa; Platte Valley Feedyard, Kearney, Nebraska; Duane Lewis Feed yard, Kearney, Nebraska; North Platte Feeders, North Platte, Nebraska; Dick Mercer, Kearney, Nebraska; JD Cattle Co., Kear ney, Nebraska; Oak Ridge Feed lot, Sutherland, Iowa; Feller Feedyard, Wisner, Nebraska; and Maple Park Farms, Eldora, lowa. One of Midland’s objectives in their closely monitored feedlot management system is to control days on feed to avoid excess fat and maximize quality. “Wp have deep roots in the Midwest and strongly believe corn-fed beef adds to the paya bility and eating satisfaction of the end-product,” said Reisinger. Midland’s recent expansion into the branded beef business has resulted in the formation of Mid Ag which will control the production and sales of CHB. Reisinger has brought the talents GetMOQOviri dJ&sL WASHINGTON COUNTY HERD COWS IN MILKAVG BREED HERDT FCMT HOLSTEIN 52 790 HOLSTEIN 167 762 HOLSTEIN 75 74,7 HOLSTEIN 140 741 HOLSTEIN 59 706 HOLSTEIN 41 68.9 HOLSTEIN 94 68.3 HOLSTEIN HO 67.9 HOLSTEIN 225 672 HOLSTEIN 119 667 HOLSTEIN 181 66.7 HOLSTEIN 32 66.2 HOLSTEIN 122 661 HOLSTEIN 52 65.7 HOLSTEIN 78 65.6 HOLSTEIN 75 650 Gordon Reisinger and experience of two top execu tives to Mid Ag to manage the beef operation. Heading up Mid Ag’s beef operations as general manager will be Dave Ellicott of Greeley, Colo. Ellicott left his position as category manager, fresh meats, for King Soopers, Denver, Colo., to take the position with Mid Ag. In his previous position, Ellicott was responsible for all fresh and frozen meat purchasing for King Soopers Retail Processing and Distribution Center which serves 69 retail locations. A native of Eads, Colo., Dave Ellicott is a Colorado State University gradu ate with a 1980 bachelor’s degree in animal science. Dave’s wife, Tami, will serve as Mid Ag’s office manager and the couple will soon be relocating to Red Oak, lowa. Bringing with him a wealth of experience from the beef packing industry, Chuck Meml!, Parker, Colo., has been hired as manager of beef operations for Mid Ag. Merrill resigned from his position with Champion Boxed Beef Co., to take this new position. He has had previous experience with Beef America in Omaha, Neb., Circle C Meat Co., in Denver, Colo., and IBP. Chuck is a native of Wichita, Kan., and earned a degree in business administration from Wichita State University in 1973. He will primarily be responsible for sales and market ing and production operations for Mid Ag.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers