These are tough times for cattle feeders, and particularly so for Ron Shortridge.
Shortridge is chief financial officer of Cattle Empire LLC, of Santanta, Kan. His family-owned operation consists of three commercial feedyards, all within 20 miles of each other, with a one-time capacity of 170,000 head, and when those cattle arrive, they stay a while. "We're primarily 200-day feeders," Shortridge said. "We call ourselves, 'The Lightweight Cattle Feeding Specialists of the Country'."
And when feed prices are at record highs, he admitted, "there's no doubt that our program has a lot tougher 'rassling match to go through." Cattle Empire, Shortridge said, makes up for it with volume purchases of feed and pharmaceuticals, and with the more efficient conversion rate that comes with keeping the cattle in one place.
"Traditionally," he said, "lightweight calves would go to grower yards, and then from that grower yard they're shipped to commercial feedyards."
Instead, their calves are placed on a single ration—although the ration changes; more on that later—and remain there, until they head for the packer.
Lightweight Heifers
There's something else unusual about Cattle Empire's operation—they primarily buy she-stock. "In feeding that lightweight heifer," said Shortridge, "we think we can get a little bit of an edge on the competition, by making the purchase at the right time and in the right place." And with specialization comes expertise: "We also have just developed a fundamental understanding of how you take care of the heifer, as opposed to the steer." The proof, he said, is in the pudding—their three lots have among the country's top five conversion rates.
Cattle Empire procures a large majority of its cattle at sale barns to both the east and west…and almost all of them in the South. "We buy a lot of Texas cattle," Shortridge said, "and a lot of Oklahoma cattle, Kentucky cattle, Missouri cattle…a few Florida calves." And almost all of them are bought in a partnership arrangement with the order buyer, stocker-feeder or cow/calf operator. "Our way of doing business," he said, "is to show our faith in our feeding system by saying, 'you bring your cattle in and we'll negotiate a fair value, and we'll own half and you own half."
Arriving at Cattle Empire
Upon arrival, the cattle go into a receiving area, and are immediately tested for PI BVD (persistently infected Bovine Viral Diarrhea). PI calves get the disease in the womb, and will shed 10,000-1,000,000 times as much virus as an acutely infected animal, bringing down the productivity of the entire herd. There's no reason to cull the PI animals, Shortridge said; although there's a slightly higher death loss, "the product's still good; the beef's still good." So all the PI animals go into a quarantine pen and are fed out the usual way; he said the PI rate is just four of 1,000 animals, "so it doesn't take a very large pen."
Then, after they get their shots and implants, the cattle are placed on feed. "We have a series of five rations that we step 'em up through, and the ration, in using my language, gets 'hotter' as we go"—that is, it's designed to steadily increase the rate of gain. A consulting nutritionist ensures the animals get the right amount of energy to both gain and maintain body frame. Their targets are 64-65 percent yield, and for more than 50 percent of the animals to grade Choice or better.
Industry Efforts
Shortridge said the industry is going to go through a lot of changes, whether or not feed remains at historically high levels. "We have to do a lot more risk-management programs," he said, "not only for ourselves but for our customers…and we're going to have to develop instincts and the wherewithal and resources to make sure that when we have good opportunities and good buying opportunities, we buy for much longer periods of time. So it's going to be a much more capital intensive business than it historically has been."
