From Seedstock to Meat Case, A Vision Becomes Reality for Nebraska Rancher
Each year, Top Producer recognizes a producer under the age of 35 who demonstrates excellence in the business of farming, specifically marketing, finance, technology and family and employee relations. Congratulations to Trey Wasserburger, the 2023 recipient of the Tomorrow’s Top Producer Horizon Award. He will be recognized at a ceremony held Feb. 24 during Top Producer Summit in Nashville.
Trey Wasserburger always wanted to be a cowboy, but that opportunity didn’t exist through family ties.
In 2016, Wasserburger met Bill Rishel, a legend in the Angus breed, thanks to their mutual banker, Greg Wilkie.
When the two met at the ranch near North Platte, Neb. Rishel quickly saw Wasserburger’s passion for the cattle business and within a matter of weeks made him his protégé. Wasserburger never owned registered stock prior to that but he and his wife, Dayna, jumped in with both feet.
By Jan. 1, 2017, Wasserburger owned a seedstock business, TD Angus. Two months later, he had his first bull sale featuring 112 bulls. This year, Wasserburger will offer about 400 bulls at its March 17 sale. To show accountability, commercial customers can sell or consign their feeder cattle to the first-of-its-kind TD Angus Calf Feed Test.
“We’ll give out $20,000 for calves we pull into our feedyard from customers based on rate of daily gain, highest yield, conversion feed efficiency and total prime percentage,” he says. “Customers can stay in at a 50% partner or retain total ownership all the way through and market as they wish.”
TD Angus owns 1,200 registered cows. To accelerate genetic improvements, they put 300 to 400 embryos in their own herds as well as customers’ herds. They also conduct DNA and genomic testing on all offspring.
“I want to DNA that calf at birth and have him registered with his DNA,” Wasserburger says. “If I like what happened genetically, I might do it again.”
TD Angus specializes in cattle procurement and heifer development and runs 4,500 yearlings on grass and develops 400 to 600 commercial bred heifers a year.
“We try to buy back those steer calves specifically. We also have a heifer development program, so we have an avenue for both sets of calves and then usually try to get them back here to our family feedlot,” he explains.
Sustainable Beef Was Born
The pandemic showed Wasserburger just how fragile the food supply and the cattle market are, and from that Sustainable Beef was born.
“For the first time ever, we actually have under one roof and under one team at Sustainable Beef, a seedstock producer who’s going to provide a high marbling, high tenderness product through our calves that will come back to our family feedlot, Sustainable Beef and then go into Walmart’s food supply.
This is a one-of-a-kind supply chain partnership with Walmart that stems from shared sustainability goals.
“What’s really cool is our carbon footprint is limited to within 15 miles of each other,” Wasserburger says. “These bulls, our feedlot and our packing plant and the Walmart distribution center are all within 15 miles of each other. That’s huge, and we’re proud of that.
The nearly $400 million plant is currently under construction and will be ready for business in 2024. Wasserburger says it’s the last step in their conception-to-consumer model. And it’s just one of the reasons this visionary leader is Tomorrow’s Top Producer Horizon Award winner.
Get to know the other 2023 Top Producer award winners:
Marcia Ruff, Executive Women in Agriculture Trailblazer Award
Silent Shade Planting Company, Top Producer of the Year
