Cattle Country Close-up
International Masters of Brand Advantages participants loved visiting a real ranch and watching cowboys move a group of heifers from one pasture to another.
Certified Angus Beef tour brings international influencers to Texas Panhandle for one-of-a-kind experience
By Katrina Huffstutler
When the 25 members of the 2016 International Masters of Brand Advantages class arrived in Amarillo Nov. 13, 2016, most had never been to Texas. Six had never set foot in the U.S. Though the center-of-the-plate specialists’ livelihoods depend on selling American beef, many had never seen where it all begins.
The program, in its second year, is a spinoff of the domestic version of Certified Angus Beef® brand’s long-running Masters of Brand Advantages. Unlike the 3-week domestic version, though, the international class learned the entire pasture-to-plate story in 1 intensive week. The first 3 days brought them to the Texas Panhandle.
Geof Bednar, Certified Angus Beef brand’s director of international, says it was the perfect choice.
“By coming to Amarillo, we get them into real cattle country, where we can take the class not only to cow-calf operations but to the feedyards and packers, too,” Bednar says. “It’s a great location for the first part of their experience.”
That experience is one most consider once-in-a-lifetime. However, it is not just a fun trip to the States for its participants, Bednar says. It is one that drastically improves their beef industry knowledge and gives them a connection to those involved in getting it to their countries, freezers and plates.
“What we try to do through this event is empower them to be better at representing the Certified Angus Beef brand in their market, so they’re more successful at reaching their goals, which are typically selling beef and selling beef at a higher margin,” he says.
However, it is not just about the bottom line.
“This program is more than just teaching them about selling beef and specifically the Certified Angus Beef brand,” Bednar says. “If you look at our international partners, in many of these countries they are not self-sufficient at producing their own food. They are very curious about where this food comes from, and they want to build trust in American beef production. That’s why we share the entire story of our industry.”
Monday, Nov. 14
The first morning kicked off with some cattle industry 101 in a classroom setting, where Certified Angus Beef brand staff members covered everything from basic genetics and management to marketing and lifecycle timelines. Then the participants boarded the bus to Amarillo Livestock Auction for a quick but up-close look at how most ranchers market their calves.
Next up was a trip to Randall County Feedyard, a 90,000-head yard owned by Friona Industries LP. The class heard from Jay Cortese, cattle procurement manager, and Jerrid Vincent, feedyard manager, as the bus drove around the operation. Cortese and Vincent answered questions that ranged from how different feedstuffs affect flavor to how often they ship cattle.
Kara Lee, productions brand manager for the Certified Angus Beef brand, says that while the language barrier and cultural differences can bring challenges to events like this, the class was not that different from its domestic counterparts.
“We’re all people who care about where our food comes from, how it tastes, and that it’s good for us,” Lee says. “They have the same questions that anybody would have. They want to make sure the animals are treated well, and meet the people who are responsible for their care. There is some nostalgia in it for them, too — everybody loves getting their picture taken with the guy in the cowboy hat. At the end of the day, it’s very cool for them to have the chance to meet the cattlemen and women who are putting meat on the plate.”
She says one thing each of the participants has in common with the cattle raisers and feeders they meet is a passion for what they do. In addition, while they may not understand the ins and outs of running a successful feedyard, there are many universal concepts.
“It’s very interesting, as you start to dive deeper into some of those conversations about how a feedyard calculates profit and loss,” Lee says. “They may not understand how to balance a feedyard ration, and we don’t expect them to. But at the end of the day when they’re sitting down and talking business to business, we all have to run our businesses the same way.”
For one, they understood the importance of occupancy.
“In their business, that’s cheeks in the seats at a restaurant. In a feedyard business, occupancy is keeping pens full of cattle. That was one way they found common ground and made a connection,” Lee says.
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Bright and early on Day 2, the class boarded the bus for a tour of Amarillo’s Tyson plant. Some were dreading the stop, some were excited to see how it is done in America — but all were prepared to learn. By the time they got back on the bus, each one of them was confident in the process and impressed at the level of hard work that goes into each step.
After a lunch break, it was back on the bus and southbound 287 toward the Bradley 3 Ranch in Memphis.
Upon arrival, the class filed into the sale barn where James Henderson told the history of the ranch and answered questions about day-to-day operations, marketing and how the Certified Angus Beef brand impacts his business.
He says it is an honor to have the guests — representing 12 countries — on the ranch and be able to tell his part of the beef cattle story.
“It’s a great opportunity to be able to show them that we cattlemen try to put every bit as much effort into what we produce and sell as they put into what they sell on our behalf,” Henderson says. “It’s a partnership all up and down the chain.”
He was impressed by the group’s energy and excitement.
“It’s always pleasing to have a group like this, one that’s really curious about where the product that they’re selling comes from, that it didn’t just show up in a box,” Henderson says. “There was somebody out that was spending time, whether the weather was good, or it was Christmas Day, or whatever it was, to make sure that we had product coming to them that was something they wanted to sell.”
Gebran Charbine, marketing manager for Alyasra Foods in Kuwait, says visiting the cow-calf operation was the highlight of his trip to Texas.
“You know it’s a great product,” he says. “But when you get out on that ranch, you see where it comes from and you really get it. You see the rancher and how he does what he does to feed his family — just as you do. You are not just supporting some CEO — you’re supporting a family. It’s not just a box of beef. It’s passion. It’s integrity. It’s commitment. It’s their commitment to you that if we won’t feed it to our family, we won’t feed it to your family.”
“Cattle Country Close-up” is excerpted from the February 2017 issue of The Cattleman magazine.