Most Routt County beef producers participate in the global market, selling their weaned calves to the next step in the chain, a grow-yard. After the calves’ gain weight on corn stalks or wheat grass, they go to the next step, the feedlot, where they will put on the finishing pounds with a combination of grain, silage and hay.
Once they meet the weight goal, the cattle are sold to a meat processing company where their carcasses are scored, and premium money is given to the seller for better grade, quality and cutability. Routt County ranchers have a reputation for producing high quality calves due to our hospitable climate and high protein mountain grasses.
Having a better-quality beef product trickle down to the beef producers in our county. These four steps of beef production are within U.S. markets, but from there we hit the world stage.
The U.S. imports more beef than we export, which means the U.S. can’t supply its own demand. Our imported beef is almost entirely lean trim. Trim is the meat that remains after steaks, roasts and cuts are removed. Beef fat is added to it, and it becomes ground beef.
The U.S. is essentially importing hamburger meat. Some consumers exclaim, “Let’s eat our own hamburger!” In theory, that would be ideal, but we don’t have enough supply to feed American’s demand for hamburgers.
If we truly wanted to keep up, we would need to take those quality high-valued steaks and ground them up into the lowest priced beef product, hamburger. The U.S. is a victim of its own making — our beef quality is so high that it doesn’t make sense to grind it into hamburger.
We have perfected the steak, and because the carcass is worth so much more as a steak product, we don’t want to feed the hamburger demand with it. Thus, the American economy imports beef. Fast food restaurant hamburgers should not be made with our top-notch U.S. beef carcasses. Rather, American beef is more suitable when we put those steaks on our Sunday dinner table.
The U.S. is part of a global economy, and the beef industry is no exception. The world wants our beef, especially Asia.
This year, U.S. beef export value totals $5.6 billion or $477 per head of fed cattle slaughter. Approximately 23% of fed steer value is attributed to beef exports. According to Beef Magazine, 85% of U.S. Short Ribs are exported, while only 3% of tenderloins.
We tend to keep the good cuts for ourselves, but the lesser-known products make more money internationally. The typical American doesn’t want to eat tongue, liver, intestines or kidneys, so exports help find a home for those less desired cuts of beef.
Rather than have them discarded, the U.S. export market gets more money for the beef producer by sending them off to foreign consumers. Tongue is by far the most expensive variety cut. Exporting tongue across the ocean adds $17.58 per head value to U.S. fed beef.
The latest USDA survey showed close to 26,000 head of cattle in Routt County, about the same as the county’s human population. Our ranchers are looking for ways to make the most profit they can in a low margin business, and by taking part in the global beef market, ranchers can add value to their livelihood.