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Price Not Only Factor Influencing Beef Purchases

High cattle and beef prices provide quite a case study for the entire industry. The beef industry has learned a lot about consumers over the last decade. Certified Angus Beef ® brand president John Stika said with higher beef prices, they thought consumers would respond by choosing to always lower their quality standards, by just focusing on price.

"As an overall beef industry, we’ve learned a lot," Stika said. "Consumers don’t just buy on price alone. They buy on price in relation to value. As you look at that, it’s really created a lot of opportunity that U.S. cattlemen have really taken advantage of as we’ve ramped up the quality of product that we produce for consumers over the last decades."

Beef grading has reached record high levels at the same time when cattle inventories hit rock bottom. That might dilute the signals, but they’re still there, Stika says.

"In a market where supplies are really tight, even the poor cattle are worth more than they probably should be," Stika said. "What’s important is that many producers are in it for the long haul, and even today in a tight supply market where maybe the differential in price maybe isn’t as much as we’d like to see there is still a difference in the premium being paid for higher quality cattle."

Capitalizing on consumer demand starts at the ranch level.

"A decision to use carcass-oriented and quality-oriented genetics are as important today as ever before and the economic signals to make that decision have never been louder," he said. "Whether you’re directly tied to an outlet for beef or you’re located in the most rural part of the U.S. raising cattle and so forth, you can tie right into this growing demand for quality beef, or the quality beef movement as we like to call it, simply by making a conscious decision to target your genetics and management to a quality endpoint."

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In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. David Rosero from Iowa State University explores the critical aspects of fat quality and oxidation in swine diets. He discusses how different types of lipids affect pig performance and provides actionable insights on managing lipid oxidation in feed mills. Don’t miss this episode—available on all major platforms.

Highlight quote: "Increasing levels of oxidized fats in swine diets reduced the efficiency of feed utilization, increased mortality, and led to more pigs being classified as culls, reducing the number of full-value pigs entering the finishing barns."

Meet the guest: Dr. David Rosero / davidrosero is an assistant professor of animal science at Iowa State University. His research program focuses on conducting applied research on swine nutrition and the practical application of smart farming. He previously served as the technical officer for The Hanor Company, overseeing nutrition, research, and innovation efforts.