Success today is less about competition and more about partnership. With a collaborative approach to beef production — ranchers focusing on genetics and health, feeders managing nutrition and growth, and packers providing detailed feedback — all segments can work together to drive continuous improvement throughout the supply chain.
An example of a successful collaboration is Minnesota cow-calf producer and feeder Dallas Knobloch and Upper Iowa Beef’s Travis Thomas. They took the hot seat during the recent Certified Angus Beef Feeding Quality Forum to discuss modern beef production strategies, emphasizing collaboration, data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
Knobloch manages a cow-calf herd and buys feeder calves to fill his Minnesota feedyard. He emphasizes the importance of adapting cattle genetics to local environments. Operating in a corn-rich region, he focuses on matching genetics to grazing conditions and production goals while maintaining high-quality carcass outcomes.
“We keep striving to improve them. And the neat thing about cows and calves is they get adjusted to fitting the environment,” he says.
Knobloch explains the challenges of producing Prime-grade cattle without simply overfeeding corn. His approach centers on building relationships with ranchers and providing detailed carcass performance data to help suppliers improve their herds. He’s careful not to dictate to experienced ranchers but instead shares data that allows them to make informed decisions.
The power of genetics and the highly heritability of carcass traits is a great thing for the beef industry.
He admits his region could win an award for overfeeding, producing 1,700 lb. to 1,900 lb. finished steers. He says the goal is to produce a 950 lb. carcass with some quality.
“I think that’s going to be our No. 1 challenge,” he explains. “Not falling back to where we have excessive fat and having something the consumer doesn’t want. We’ve added tremendous value. That’s why we’re at where we’re at today. We’ve added value to the carcass. If it was about price, they would have been eating chicken and pork a long time ago. We’ve given the consumers options, and that’s what we continue to do today. And it takes a lot of discipline to not give them the bunker full of corn and get that product that meets Travis’ needs.”
One of Knobloch’s successful strategies involves working closely with a group of seven to eight ranchers, focusing on health management and vaccination programs. By implementing a comprehensive health protocol, he’s dramatically reduced respiratory issues and death loss. For instance, one set of calves came in at 575 lb and wasn’t pulled for respiratory issues until January, demonstrating the effectiveness of their approach.
“It’s 100% relationship, and it’s strictly finding those guys who want to follow that all the way through,” Knobloch says.
Packer Perspective
Thomas, head of procurement for Upper Iowa Beef, complemented Knobloch’s perspective from a packing plant viewpoint. His facility processes about 2,500 cattle weekly, working with approximately 450 farmer-feeder accounts ranging from small trailer deliveries to regular weekly potloads.
Thomas explains transparency is key. His plant provides individual carcass data for every animal, including harvest weight, quality grade, yield grade and trim reports.
“I can’t ask you to make the cattle better if I don’t give you the information on the backside to help you do that,” he explains.
He says the plant is exploring additional data collection like hoof scoring and health tracking to help producers improve their cattle.
“We’re in a people business,” Thomas says. “We’re in a relationship business, so we always try to work with them first and get them to our standards.”
Relationships First
Both Thomas and Knobloch stress the importance of relationships compared to price competition. Thomas says they rarely lose customers and don’t procure many cattle on the open market.
Knobloch says when he works with ranchers, he encourages them to work on the 90% of things they can control. Price will follow.
“The price is the one thing, like the weather, that we cannot control,” he says.
Focus on Quality, Manage Size
The Upper Iowa Beef plant consistently runs 15% Prime, with 45% to 60% Certified Angus Beef and upper Choice daily. They’re seeing increasing carcass weights, with some days averaging more than 1,000 lb. hot carcass weights.
When discussing future challenges, both acknowledge the ongoing issue of increasingly large cattle. Thomas says he believes the industry will adapt, noting plants and restaurants can find creative solutions for larger cuts, such as serving oversized ribeyes as meals for two.
“People are pretty ingenuitive, especially when there’s economics involved,” Thomas says.
Both Thomas and Knobloch summarize it’s not just about producing beef; it’s building relationships, data sharing and working together for continuous improvement from the cow-calf to the packer.
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