Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 67: Beef Producers: Why You Can’t Ignore Sustainability Anymore with Dr. Kristin Nickles from Certified Angus Beef

Transcript

67: Beef Producers: Why You Can’t Ignore Sustainability Anymore with Dr. Kristin Nickles from Certified Angus Beef · CattleUSA Daily

0:00
Welcome to another episode of the Cattle USA Daily podcast.
0:03
Today we're welcoming Dr. Kristen Nichols on to the show
0:07
and she is with Certified Angus Beef here to talk all things
0:11
sustainability and what that means for our industry, what
0:15
that is looking like from both the producer standpoint and then
0:18
also a consumer standpoint. What are our consumers focused
0:21
on right now? Where is their focus?
0:24
What do they want to know? And then how is Certified Angus
0:27
Beef kind of drawing that line between the the producer and the
0:30
consumer right now to share that story of sustainability and just
0:35
share the story of agriculture? We have a consumer population
0:39
that is more than ever involved and wanting to know what what we
0:43
are doing in the beef industry, which is such a blessing at the
0:46
end of the day. And it is amazing to hear from
0:48
Kristen today and the amazing conversation that we have
0:51
surrounding this and what that looks like for all of you as
0:54
producers. She shares a lot of really great
0:56
information, a ton of just hands on, hey, this is what you guys
1:02
need to be doing. This is this is the definition.
1:04
This is why you don't need to be scared of the word
1:06
sustainability. And then, hey, here are some
1:08
things that you guys can be doing as producers to continue
1:11
to provide for a better livestock herd and just a better
1:15
agricultural community as a whole.
1:17
So without further ado, let's go ahead and dive into this episode
1:20
with Doctor Kristen Nichols. Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily
1:27
podcast, your go to source for the latest livestock markets,
1:30
industry insights and the updates shaping agriculture
1:33
today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
1:35
passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
1:38
informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
1:41
episode. Kristen, welcome to the podcast.
1:47
I would love it if you could just take it away and share a
1:50
little bit about yourself, your history, where you came from,
1:54
all the things for some of our listeners out there.
1:56
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Lauren, for having me
1:58
excited to spend some time with you today.
2:00
A bit to your point, my background, where I'm from, so I
2:03
actually grew up in a town called Loudonville, OH, which is
2:07
not far. It's about 30 minutes from where
2:09
Certified Angus Beef is actually headquartered in Wooster.
2:12
OH, so kind of North Central in our state and my family, so I
2:16
have production agriculture background.
2:17
We grain farm and then we also raise beef cattle.
2:20
My mom was a 4H agent through Ohio State University.
2:24
So grew up Cloverbutt all the way through through the 4H.
2:28
So just grew up in a truly AG family.
2:31
And I would say growing up that's what we were centered on
2:33
was going out to the barn together, doing shorts together.
2:35
So great way to grow up always I thought and knew that I wanted
2:39
to be involved in agriculture in some way, shape or form.
2:42
I would say I was I was probably like most kids that growing up.
2:45
You think that that is going to be through the form of being a
2:47
veterinarian. So I grew up always thinking,
2:50
hey, that school is going to be, you know, my end game.
2:52
That's where I want to be a large animal vet.
2:54
And then as I started to work through undergrad and just had
2:57
some internships actually with doctor Flew Hardy that was
3:00
working out of Ohio State and remnant nutrition.
3:02
It was kind of like the light bulb went on and thank goodness
3:06
he poured into me and said, Are you sure about schools exactly
3:09
what you want and, and just expose me to the world of
3:12
research and let me do some undergraduate research.
3:15
And I got to present that at meetings like the Midwest animal
3:18
science conferences and just really fell in love with that
3:21
piece that I didn't even really realize was out there.
3:24
I guess. So started just doing some
3:26
undergrad research and, and like I said, really liked it.
3:29
So actually changed my career track and went and started my
3:32
masters at Ohio State in ruminant nutrition and really
3:35
focus my masters more actually on the welfare side of things.
3:39
So weaning beef calves, how do we make that as low stress as we
3:42
possibly can? So looking at different
3:44
alternative wedding methods that we can use and how those impact
3:47
calf behavior and growth parameters and performance.
3:50
And then ended up still loving the research scene.
3:53
So I actually stayed on for my PhD right after that, continued
3:57
on and finished really kind of shifting gears a little bit and
4:00
then having more of that, I would say honestly even
4:04
environmental perspective. So here in Ohio, we deal with
4:08
very changing environments, very dramatically different
4:11
conditions with our spring calving herds.
4:13
So we are getting warmer and wetter throughout our winters.
4:17
And so we we just don't know how does that impact a gestating
4:21
female, whether it's a mature cow, whether it's a first calf
4:23
heifer. So my research then was really
4:26
focused on what are neutral requirements of those gestating
4:29
females in this different type of environment.
4:32
So really there had been no work done in females.
4:34
There'd been some done in feed lot cattle, but nothing in
4:37
gestating females. And how, you know, if we aren't
4:39
meeting those requirements, what's the impact on that fetus
4:42
that she's growing and then on that fetus later in life?
4:45
So that's kind of my career track up until I started with
4:49
Certified Angus Beef. So I would have started at the
4:52
brand about 3 years ago now. I actually just had my
4:54
anniversary not that long ago and I served today and it
4:59
started my role here as our sustainability and animal care
5:02
scientists. So it's a long job title and we
5:05
can get into that, Lauren, if you want to talk more of what
5:07
that is. But essentially what I do today
5:09
is I sit on our production team because I spend majority of my
5:13
time working with the cattle producers that make up our brand
5:17
network. So it'd be anything from seed
5:18
stock producers to commercial producers to feed yard managers
5:22
and owners and really every step in between there.
5:25
And just think of their continuous education and how do
5:28
we continue to think about sustainability in a way that
5:32
makes sense on the farm and the ranch.
5:33
And we're helping just document some of those things that are
5:36
happening and the good things realistically have been
5:38
happening for generations now. And then I would say the other a
5:42
part of my job that I actually really, really enjoy is actually
5:45
going out with all of our brand partners, whether it be food
5:48
service or retail or distribution partners and just
5:52
sharing out those phenomenal stories that we have of we are a
5:55
sustainable protein, we are a sustainable brand and we're
5:58
doing the right things. And here's how we can actually
6:01
tell that story and back that up in a way that makes sense to
6:04
them. So that's just kind of high
6:05
level. I know that's a little bit long,
6:07
but how I got to where I am today with the brand?
6:10
Absolutely. Can you talk a little bit more
6:12
about CAB and for I'm sure many people in the industry are
6:16
familiar with it, but not everyone truly understands the
6:20
full aspect of what you guys do and what you provide to the
6:25
industry as well. So can you just give a little
6:27
bit of background on that before we start diving into into some
6:31
sustainability? Yeah, sure thing.
6:33
So you're spot on with most people are familiar with the
6:37
brand, they've heard of us. They may have interacted with us
6:39
in some way shape perform, but there's still always a lot of
6:42
confusion. And we always joke it is a
6:44
little bit confusing how we work and how we operate.
6:47
So just to give some history, we were founded back in 1978 and a
6:51
lot of people wonder why are we headquartered in Wooster?
6:53
OH, and that's actually where the small group of farmers that
6:57
got together and said, hey, we can do better than this.
7:01
The beef that's on the restaurant menu today that said
7:04
Angus Beef was not good. So they said, hey, look, we are
7:08
Angus ranchers and farmers, we can do better than this.
7:11
And that's honestly how you know the the child of certified Angus
7:14
beef was born a little bit. It was just a group of
7:17
grassroots guys sitting at the table saying, hey, look, let's
7:20
create some sort of a branded beef program that at the end of
7:23
the day is driving that consistent high quality beef to
7:27
a consumer, right? And they know it's going to be
7:30
high quality and consistent beef every time they get it.
7:32
So the integrity system behind it was was a big piece of
7:35
developing the brand. But just to again give some
7:38
background, some high level, we would be actually a subsidiary
7:41
company of the American Angus Association.
7:44
So they are our parent company. So at the end of the day, you
7:48
know, to your point, we do a lot of different things.
7:50
We have a lot of different teams all the way from the production
7:53
team thinking more of how do we continue to drive that quality
7:57
message with producers. How do we get the right tools in
8:00
the toolbox of producers to target quality cattle production
8:03
and whether that be at the seed stock level or commercial level.
8:06
And then all the way to our sales team, our marketing teams,
8:09
our communication teams, we have, I mean, gosh, the whole
8:13
team that does all of our photo and our media to make sure that
8:16
we are driving value for all of our brain partners.
8:19
On the other end of the supply chain, thinking again, food
8:22
service, retail, all of our distributor partners, how do we
8:26
drive value for them? What resources can we provide
8:29
for them that help them tell that brand story?
8:32
But at the end of the day, so while we touch every single
8:35
really, realistically, every single piece of our supply chain
8:38
all the way from gate to plate, what's really neat is at the end
8:41
of the day, every single thing that we do helps us drive our
8:45
mission, which is ultimately to increase demand for registered
8:47
Angus cattle through our our branded beef program.
8:51
And we've got carcass specifications.
8:53
And, you know, there's a lot of things that it takes to actually
8:56
become certified Angus beef. And that doesn't happen until
8:59
it's at the packing plant. There's a lot of confusion, I
9:01
feel like around that too in our industry of what actually is
9:05
certified Angus beef and how does it become certified Angus
9:07
beef. So we can get into that too, if
9:10
you have more questions on that. But essentially, you know,
9:13
everything we do is ultimately to drive demand for registered
9:17
Angus genetics and drive that value all the way from the
9:19
consumer who's willing to pay more for that phenomenal eating
9:22
experience back to the seed stock producer.
9:25
Would love to dive into what makes certified Angus beef.
9:27
Like what? What does that mean, especially
9:30
in the packing plant? Yeah.
9:32
So we've got 10 carcass based specifications that a carcass
9:36
has to meet. So a lot of people get confused
9:38
on, you know, is that a certified Angus beef ranch or a
9:41
certified Angus beef feed yard? And we actually don't own any
9:44
cattle. We don't own any feed yards, we
9:46
don't own any packing plants. The only thing that we own as a
9:49
brand is our logo is that trademark.
9:52
So essentially how our our, our brand network works is we have
9:56
to license partners, whether it's a Packer or for the
10:00
processor or a food service distributor or restaurant or
10:03
retailer, they have to have a licensing agreement with us to
10:07
be able to 1 do certified Angus beef.
10:09
So thinking more, Lauren, to your point of how does it
10:12
actually become CAB? The packing plant has to be
10:15
licensed with us and have an agreement to actually be able to
10:17
produce it. So we think about that, say a
10:20
feed yard or a farmer would send a load of cattle to a packing
10:23
plant. If they're licensed with us,
10:25
they have to 1st pass our hide specification.
10:28
So it would be predominantly black hided, meaning no white
10:32
behind the shoulder above the flank.
10:34
Once those cattle are, are stamped Angus eligible or we
10:38
call on, you know, a type cattle or essentially they get
10:41
designated to the packing plant as this is eligible to be graded
10:45
for certified Angus beef. Then it would go through the
10:48
production line just as any other carcass would.
10:50
And once it actually gets to a grading stand and that's the
10:53
piece today that we requires, it's got to be someone there
10:57
from USDA calling that grade. They know our 10 carcass
11:00
specifications, everything from the marbling score it has to
11:03
meet all the way to the back bat thickness, the rib eye area.
11:07
All of those things play into producing that high quality but
11:11
also consistent carcass. Once it meets that high
11:14
specification, it then has to meet all ten of our carcass
11:17
specs. And if it does, then it will be
11:19
stamped, that carcass will be stamped as Certified Angus Beef
11:22
and then that packing plant can then sell whatever off of that
11:26
carcass as Certified Angus Beef. Absolutely.
11:28
And I feel like that ties directly into kind of your role
11:32
at Cav very closely in sustainability because in order
11:36
to have a super high quality cut of me at the end of the day, you
11:40
need a sustainable ranching operation and you need
11:43
sustainable cattle. And sustainable cattle are
11:45
actually, in my mind, I always tell people sustainable cattle
11:48
are just high quality cattle. Like if you're raising a high
11:51
quality animal, they're just naturally going to be very
11:54
sustainable for your ranching operation, for the environment,
11:57
everything like that. I would love to dive a little
11:59
bit more into your role in sustainability, what you guys
12:03
are kind of seeing right now, and just maybe some high level
12:06
thoughts on your guys's definition of sustainability and
12:08
then we can get into some of the nitty gritty details of what
12:11
we're seeing in the industry today.
12:12
Yeah, great questions. You know, I'd say the biggest
12:14
thing that we're seeing is the fact that sustainability, I
12:18
mean, we're we're going on a good ten years now, this being
12:21
kind of a buzzword in our industry.
12:23
And I would argue today it's no longer a buzzword, right?
12:25
It is truly inherent in what our consumer is asking for.
12:28
And you are spot on with we say this a lot with our brand
12:32
partners of high quality cattle care, high quality care of our
12:36
land of our resources of our people at the farm in the ranch
12:39
level inherently is a sustainable product, right.
12:42
But again, for us, it's how do we communicate that in a way
12:47
that makes sense and resonates with our consumers and where
12:50
their questions are at today. And I would say the biggest
12:52
shift that I've seen in sustainability is, you know, at
12:55
first it was kind of, this means something different to
12:58
everybody. It still does to a degree today.
13:01
But I would argue that we're seeing our consumer research,
13:05
you know, we follow a lot of different outlets of consumer
13:07
research to make sure that we're, we're staying in tune
13:10
with what our consumer is asking for.
13:12
And I think what we're seeing is while yes, taste and price and
13:16
quality, all of those are still top of mind for a consumer,
13:20
right? Taste is still king.
13:21
Taste is still what's bringing a consumer to the table and
13:24
bringing them back to beef and why beef is king.
13:27
But what we're seeing today is attributes like animal welfare
13:31
or questions about how that animal was raised or the
13:34
environmental impact that that that product has starting to
13:38
creep into the top, you know, the top 10 attributes.
13:40
And even humane animal care is actually the top creeping into
13:43
the top five. So we're seeing just consumers,
13:46
I think start to hone in on what that means to them.
13:48
But the more we get into the sustainability discussion, I
13:51
think consumers are starting to realize and showing us that for
13:55
them, at the end of the day, they just want to feel good
13:57
about the product that they're choosing, whether it's a food
14:00
service establishment, whether it's at the retail case.
14:03
They want to feel good about the product that they are taking
14:06
home or serving to their friends, their family, you name
14:08
it. And I think that the neatest
14:10
thing for us is that we're seeing a lot of consumer
14:12
research hone in and say, hey, look, our greatest opportunity
14:15
and our consumers greatest question first and foremost is
14:18
about animal welfare. So I think that just helps us as
14:21
an industry then say, OK, and us as a brand specifically say, OK,
14:26
that at least gives us a starting spot, right?
14:27
That gives us kind of at least a guiding star of where we can
14:30
start this conversation and where we really have a lot of
14:33
opportunity to grow consumer trust and what we do.
14:36
So we think about animal welfare, to your point, Lauren,
14:39
we're doing these things, right? We're we're producing high
14:41
quality carks as we're producing high quality cattle that
14:44
inherently has a positive animal welfare story behind it.
14:48
So now how do we actually document that and share that out
14:51
to a consumer, to a brain partner is where we're at.
14:54
Are you guys helping producers share that story and just really
14:58
start to advocate for that side of the industry of, OK, so we're
15:02
doing a great job, but now we need to, people need to see that
15:04
we're doing a great job. And so how are we sharing that
15:07
with the consumers and really communicating that?
15:10
Yeah. So I guess I'll hone in.
15:11
We're really doing this, I should say in three key areas
15:14
being cattle, care, the environment and people.
15:17
So when we talk about sustainability as a brand, those
15:19
are kind of our three key areas and three buckets that we are
15:22
trying to create initiatives, create programs that again, to
15:27
your point, address what consumers have questions and
15:30
concerns about, but at the same time provide opportunity for the
15:33
farmer and the rancher, right? Because the last thing we want
15:36
to do is dictate how you should raise your cattle or how you
15:39
should run your operation. But again, we've got to start
15:42
thinking about how do we document some things in ways
15:45
that do make sense on both sides of our of our business, right.
15:48
So I'll start first with cattle care just again, because it's
15:52
where consumers minds are at. We even invested a lot of coming
15:55
alongside of the beef quality assurance program.
15:58
You know, when we, we sat back when I started and said, OK,
16:01
we've got to start tackling this thing.
16:02
We've got to start communicating more than just telling a good
16:05
story. But how do we actually, to your
16:08
point, document and show it and, and gain that consumer
16:11
confidence and trust, not just us telling you that we're doing
16:15
the right things, but hey, here's some steps that we're
16:17
doing to actually show that we're doing the right things.
16:20
And for us, when we sat back and said, OK, beef quality assurance
16:23
has been around for decades, it's nothing new.
16:26
But you know what that program we know works, right.
16:28
We know it works from the standpoint of of a couple
16:31
different areas. One and just how we're producing
16:35
a high quality product. I mean no surprise to anybody.
16:37
Look at how far we've come with quality beef production and just
16:41
some of the the defects that we were dealing with back when BQA
16:44
was started, whether it was injection sites or dark cutters.
16:48
Now you look at that today and I would argue because of the beef
16:51
quality assurance program and the education for producers that
16:54
that's provided we don't we don't hardly see any of those
16:57
issues today, right? Not that they're completely non
16:59
existent, but they are extremely minimal today.
17:02
So for us, the beef quality insurance program is great from
17:05
its continuous education for the cattle producer, which is always
17:09
a great thing, right? I argue that if you go to BQA
17:12
training open minded, you will always at least take one thing
17:15
away that you learned or something that might make you
17:18
think a little bit different of, hey, you know, maybe we need to
17:21
change our loadout a little bit. Or, you know, cattle keep
17:24
getting bocked up here. Maybe we need to to think about
17:27
this a little bit different or how we're pressuring cattle, you
17:29
know, whatever it is, maybe it's a herd health program or by
17:32
security. There's always something that
17:34
you can take from BQA training. But for us, it's, it's great
17:38
continuous education for the producer.
17:40
But we also know, and this is the part that we really, really
17:43
love and think. So a huge opportunity for us as
17:45
a brand and as an industry is when you look at consumer
17:49
research coming out of the beef check off specific to BQA, we
17:53
know that BQA actually increases consumer trust and their
17:57
perceptions of what we do on the farm and the ranch.
17:59
So they've got some research that I always love to quote.
18:02
I think it just shows the power of this program.
18:05
When we looked at consumers that had a positive perception of how
18:08
cattle are raised for food before learning about BQA, only
18:12
44%, less than half of consumers in that study said they felt
18:17
positive or strongly positive about what we all do in our
18:20
day-to-day. After learning about beef
18:22
quality assurance, that number rose to 70%.
18:24
That's huge, right? Just learning that it's and they
18:27
they didn't get into any crazy details of what we're teaching
18:30
and what's what's in that program minus it's continuous
18:33
education for the producer. It teaches best management
18:36
practices. It incorporates the latest and
18:38
greatest research into that training and into that program
18:42
that's coming out of our our academic, you know, community
18:46
and even our industry community and just industry experts.
18:50
And that increased their trust. So for us, it's like that's a
18:53
double win, right? That's a win win all the way
18:55
around. We're growing demand for our
18:56
product because we're increasing consumer trust.
18:59
And at the same time, we're providing opportunity for farmer
19:02
and rancher, that network to just come alongside and just
19:04
say, hey, yeah, we can always get better, right?
19:07
I might be doing a phenomenal job today, but I can always get
19:09
better in some way, shape or form.
19:11
So to me it's really is a win, win that's bringing both ends of
19:15
our supply chain together around a common issue and we're moving
19:18
forward. So we, I guess just kind of to
19:21
touch on how we're actually doing that.
19:22
We have what we call our race with respect campaign.
19:25
So that would be a partnership and we can talk about this
19:27
because I think it's really unique and neat to see one of
19:30
our brand partners, Cisco, who would be our largest brand
19:34
partner, come alongside and say, hey, let's do this together,
19:38
right? At the end of the day, they,
19:40
they want the farming and ranching community to be
19:42
sustainable. So they just basically said, we
19:45
want to help. How can we help?
19:47
And so we've been able to host that Raise with Respect
19:49
campaign, which has allowed us to host BQA trainings across the
19:53
country to do just some really fun things around BQA and
19:56
incentivize folks for doing the right thing and taking that step
19:59
and getting BQA certified. So it's just been fun seeing, I
20:03
think a real world case example of a brand partner who's
20:06
interested in. What we're doing and wants to
20:08
support, and he's just come to the table in a very supportive
20:12
way, not saying here's how you need to raise cattle, but we
20:15
just want to help make sure that those family farms and ranches
20:18
are sustainable for our business in the future.
20:20
So that one's really neat, just one way of how we're doing that
20:23
one. Absolutely.
20:24
It is so fun to see industry partners come out.
20:27
Excuse me? It's so fun to see industry
20:29
partners come out like that and say like, hey, we want to
20:32
partner with you. It's becoming more and more
20:35
common. I feel like as we continue to go
20:38
along this path of the consumer mindset around beef and beef
20:42
production and what that looks like of seeing people come out
20:46
of the woodworks and be like, hey, we're going to work with
20:48
you on this. And we love seeing that because
20:50
no one listening to this wants to be told how to raise their
20:53
cattle and especially people that are at large production
20:56
skills that have been doing it so well for so long.
20:59
It's, it's hard to hear that right?
21:00
Like no one wants to sit there and be like, you're doing
21:02
everything wrong. And it's nice to see partners
21:05
come out and be like, hey, you guys are doing a lot of things
21:07
right. Let's continue to help you along
21:10
this path and continue to grow along with those lines For all
21:13
the producers listening to this, what are like if you could leave
21:17
people with anything of knowledge or things that you
21:21
want to see in the industry or maybe just things that you see
21:24
on the horizon? What are your kind of your
21:26
thoughts there? Yeah, another great question.
21:28
I would say my call to action first is, hey, just go get BQA
21:32
certified, right. It just, it has so much weight,
21:35
so much power behind it with our brain partners and just allows
21:38
us again to talk about animal welfare, not just tell a great
21:41
story, but say when they push a little bit harder and say, well,
21:44
how do I know that? How can you actually demonstrate
21:46
that that's a perfect way? And even if you're, you know, at
21:49
your local grocery store, your local restaurant, someone asked
21:51
a question, again, that's just an easy way for you to tell your
21:54
story. But again, back it up with
21:56
something that really has some weight behind it.
21:59
I would say the other thing is, you know, we didn't get to talk
22:01
about it yet, but our environment pillar, we've got a
22:04
lot of great programs there as well.
22:06
Because again, it's not that consumers aren't as concerned
22:08
with the environmental impact. I think it's just secondary to
22:12
the humane animal care part. But you know, we've got a lot of
22:14
great programs there. We have a collaboration with
22:16
Ducks Unlimited and just trying to help get that financial and
22:19
technical assistance. Boots on the ground, you know,
22:22
whether it's incorporating cover crops, if you're a mixed
22:24
operator, whether it's building more fencing or water
22:27
infrastructure, you name it. Coming up with the grazing
22:29
management plan, that's a phenomenal tool and a resource.
22:32
We've got another great partner in the Noble Research Institute
22:35
and of course that we call land stewardship.
22:38
If you go to CAB cattle.com, you can find information on that.
22:41
And again, that's continuous education around just how do we
22:43
become better stewards of our land?
22:45
What are, what are we doing in terms of soil health that's
22:48
going to make that farmer ranch sustainable and, and really more
22:51
resilient for the long run? So I would say honestly, Lauren,
22:55
it's just, there's a lot of tools, a lot of resources out
22:57
there. It's just don't be, don't be
23:00
afraid of the word sustainability.
23:03
Odds are you're doing a lot of these things already, right?
23:06
If you're still in the beef Business Today, you've been
23:09
doing a lot of great things over the years to be resilient, to be
23:12
sustainable, to produce a great product.
23:14
We just need to talk about it, right?
23:16
And we need to just be open and, and whether it's programs and
23:19
initiatives like what we're doing at the brand, be a part of
23:22
something that just helps communicate and be a part of
23:25
that network that shares isn't afraid to share some data with
23:28
consumers. Whether it's, yes, I am BQA
23:30
certified or yes, I went through the land stewardship course to,
23:33
to better myself and how I manage my lands, you know,
23:37
anything like that. And I would say I don't even
23:40
necessarily care what it is because every, every region is
23:42
going to be different, but just doing something and not just
23:45
kind of sitting back. And, and I think what we've done
23:48
is an industry is we are so good at just doing what we do best,
23:53
which is raising cattle, taking care of our working lands,
23:56
right? We don't necessarily want to be
23:57
out in the limelight telling that story, but at the end of
24:00
the day, we have a phenomenal story to tell.
24:02
And we've been saying we need to tell our story for years, but
24:05
now it's really time. We've got a consumer who I think
24:08
it's a huge plus, is more interested in what we do in the
24:12
farming and ranching community than ever before.
24:15
So let's take that as an opportunity to share our story,
24:18
get there or buy in and get their confidence in what we do
24:22
before we start to lose that consumer a little bit or we
24:25
don't step up and fill that void.
24:27
So then we do still have a consumer that has questions and
24:29
doesn't feel good about the product that they're buying.
24:32
Absolutely. I could not agree more and I do.
24:35
Before we end, I do want to talk about your environmental side of
24:37
things. I know it's maybe not as top of
24:39
mind as it has been in years past, but it is still a factor
24:43
that our consumers care about. So I would love to hear kind of
24:46
your thoughts on your environmental side, what you
24:49
guys are seeing, what's important to consumers there and
24:52
how you're partnering with cattle ranchers right now?
24:54
Yeah, I think the hard part, Lauren, is that the environment
24:58
piece is so complicated. And from my perspective, I was
25:01
just at the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, their General
25:05
Assembly. And the hardest part is still,
25:07
we know that cattle have a positive impact on the
25:10
environment, right? We know that there's soil carbon
25:13
sequestration happening. We know that by grazing cattle
25:15
and keeping working lands working and keeping them in the
25:18
hands of farming and ranching families, we're promoting clean
25:21
water, clean air, biodiversity, you name it.
25:23
We know that it has those impacts.
25:25
And I think the cool part is our collaboration with Ducks
25:28
Unlimited, which we call the Working Grasslands Conservation
25:31
Initiative, is allowing us to work with cattle producers.
25:35
It's all all focused on working lands obviously, and keeping
25:38
those farming and reaching families with cows on those
25:41
lands and keeping those lands intact.
25:43
And with grass, what's cool is we've been able to actually use
25:47
their scientist team and actually start to measure and
25:50
document some of those things. So we're looking at things like
25:52
soil carbon, we're looking at nitrogen and phosphorus runoff,
25:55
so essentially water quality. And we're looking at things like
25:58
soil erosion, biodiversity numbers inherently with with
26:02
Ducks Unlimited. And what's neat is we've been
26:04
able to actually put together kind of this portfolio of data
26:07
and now not just say he trusts us, cows are good for this
26:10
environment. Cows need to be a part of this
26:13
environment and this healthy ecosystem.
26:15
Now it's actually allowing us to say for that consumer or that
26:18
brand partner that says, well, how do you know that?
26:22
Great question. Let me show you.
26:23
Let me, let me talk you through some of the projects that we're
26:26
doing that we're helping fund alongside of DU and look at the
26:29
actual impacts that we're having, the positive impacts
26:32
that we're having. Now, I will say the challenging
26:35
side for us and I know the challenging side for producers
26:38
and the frustrations is how do we actually document and
26:40
quantify some of that. Whether I know there's so much
26:42
buzz around carbon credits and and scope 3 emissions.
26:45
And that I think from a producer standpoint is the part that just
26:49
gets extremely, extremely frustrating of feels like the
26:52
arrow might be pointed at us a little bit in terms of scope 3
26:55
emissions, whether it's a company trying to quantify.
26:57
And you know, I will say even the meetings I've been in the
27:00
last couple of months, we're really seeing a shift in.
27:03
And I would say a push away from just go through emissions and
27:06
saying and calling on the science and, and calling for
27:09
academia to help us figure out what some of those metrics are
27:13
that take into consideration all these other things and positive
27:16
impacts that cattle production has beyond just emissions.
27:20
So I think that's a huge swing that we're starting to see of
27:24
there's more benefit here than just greenhouse gas emissions,
27:28
not that we don't have to. Some companies, I mean they've
27:30
got commitments, they've got obligations, they've got to
27:33
think through that. But I think a positive for us as
27:35
an industry is, is saying we need more science, we need more
27:40
data to start to document, quantify some of this, but it's
27:42
not just focused on carbon. So that's a positive for me.
27:47
And I think plays nicely into what we're doing with Ducks
27:49
Unlimited. And then same thing with our
27:51
lane stewardship course. It's just saying, hey, look,
27:53
let's just in the meantime, let's just keep getting better.
27:56
We're doing a phenomenal job, but let's keep getting better.
27:59
Let's keep better records so that, you know, I don't know
28:01
what the future holds. I wish I could say my job would
28:04
be probably a lot easier if I had a crystal ball to say what
28:07
was going to happen. It's in carbon markets or
28:09
whatever it is, you know, five years down the road or whatever.
28:12
But I think in the meantime, we've just got to continually
28:14
have that mindset of let's keep getting better because it makes
28:17
us more resilient, it makes me more profitable.
28:20
And at the end of the day, that is a huge piece of
28:22
sustainability on the farm and the ranch, lots of shifts
28:25
happening, lots of things happening where I still think
28:27
cattle care and humane animal care is, you know, a huge
28:31
opportunity for us in the meantime while we start to kind
28:34
of see some of these environment things play out.
28:36
And and our goal is just to again put more tools in the
28:39
toolbox for producers in the meantime.
28:41
Absolutely. Going forth into the next year,
28:44
what is kind of your guys's main focus at CAB as far as
28:48
sustainability goes? As far as that consumer mindset
28:51
goes? Are you guys seeing any shifts
28:53
in the industry from one thing to another in this next year or
28:57
just kind of where your guys's focus is going to continue to
28:59
be? Yeah, great question.
29:01
So I think for US, high quality beef production is still going
29:05
to be huge focus number one, right, making sure that we stay
29:08
relevant as a brand to the cattle producing families that
29:12
that make makeup, whether it's the American Egg Association,
29:14
the commercial producers and trying to stay relevant to them.
29:17
So again, just trying to drive that demand with our brand
29:19
partners for high quality beef is just first and foremost.
29:23
But in the meantime, if we can continue to further our efforts
29:25
with beef quality assurance, with our environment initiatives
29:28
and again, just continue. I truly think that this needs to
29:32
be a part of that idea of how we're building demand.
29:34
Yes, it needs to be focused on quality and consistent beef
29:37
products, absolutely. But if we can then bring this
29:40
type of stuff in this message along with us and say, and did
29:44
you know and we are sustainable and you can feel good and you
29:48
can share that story with with your friends, your family that
29:51
this is a sustainable product. This is a sustainable protein
29:54
and, and I think that's what's most exciting to me.
29:57
And what we're seeing is a brand just play out in real life today
30:01
is, you know, when we do on farm or on ranch education events
30:04
with our brain partners, it's like, wow, I never knew that.
30:08
I'm, I'm so excited to go home and they're posting on Facebook
30:11
and they're saying, Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to go home and
30:13
tell my, my wife or my husband or my family or my kids been
30:17
asking me questions about beef. And is it, is it OK to eat beef
30:21
because of the environment? All these things I think are so
30:23
exciting that we're actually seeing our brand partners take
30:26
that home, not just in their business world, but in their
30:29
personal lives. And I just think as, as we start
30:32
to think about continuing to grow demand, this is going to
30:34
continue to be a part of it and just getting producers the
30:37
credit that they deserve for the phenomenal work that's been
30:40
happening, like I said, for generations.
30:42
So I'd say kind of a lot. We've got a lot of areas that
30:46
we're focusing in, but just exciting times ahead.
30:49
And we just continue to see beef demand be phenomenal, especially
30:52
for certified against beef. So just exciting things ahead,
30:56
Lauren. Absolutely, Kristen, thank you
30:58
so much for your time today. I so appreciate it.
31:01
And to all of you listeners out there, if you want to hear more
31:05
about any of the topics that we talked about, make sure you
31:08
check out the show notes down below.
31:09
We're going to have a bunch of links down there for you guys
31:11
for CAB Kristen's article, all of the things like that so that
31:15
you guys can check those out. And as always, make sure you
31:18
like subscribe, rate, review, share with a friend.
31:20
We really appreciate it here at the team and we will see you all
31:23
tomorrow on another episode of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast.
31:26
Have a good one y'all.