Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 283: Inside NextGen Cattle: The Genetic Strategy Behind Better Feeder Calves with Derek Thompson

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283: Inside NextGen Cattle: The Genetic Strategy Behind Better Feeder Calves with Derek Thompson · CattleUSA Daily

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In today's episode, we are bringing on Derek Thompson, who
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is one of the owners of NextGen Cattle here in Kansas.
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Derek comes on to share a little bit about Nextgen's unique setup
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and what they provide to the industry as cattle producers
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here in the Midwest and what that truly looks like for them
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as a company, but then also for the commercial cattle producer
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as a whole. Derek brings so much insight and
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knowledge and just amazing passion for the industry to
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today's episode and I am so excited to share it with all of
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you. Before we hop into today's
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episode, if you're watching on any of our podcast platforms, if
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you're watching on YouTube, make sure you hit that subscribe
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Without further ado, let's go ahead and hear it from Welcome
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to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for the latest
1:08
livestock markets, industry insights and the updates shaping
1:11
agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
1:14
passionate advocate for agriculture here to keep you
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informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
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episode. Derek, welcome to the podcast.
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I am so excited to have you on. Before we dive into the
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operation itself and talking about Next Gen., I would love to
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just get a little bit more background on you, if you could
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share kind of your story and then also how that journey
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eventually LED into you being a part of starting next in cattle.
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Yeah, well, thank you for having me, Lauren.
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I've listened to a lot of your podcasts and Cattle USA does a
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phenomenal job. So thank you for everything you
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do for the industry. But a little bit more about
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myself, I have wife and and three children, grew up in
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Silver Lake, KS and Northeast Kansas and have always been
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around cattle at some level but definitely not at the level we
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are today. Out of out of college I went to
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work in financial services industry and I was blessed to
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have some success in in that career path and just wanted to
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do something different. So I was able to exit that
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industry after about 20 years and have always been had some
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land out here in the Flint Hills.
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We ran a lot of yearling cattle. It's kind of a side hobby.
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Why I had my day job in the Flint Hills and became a part
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owner of a feed lot throughout that process.
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And I've always enjoyed feeding cattle.
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And when I was able to exit my previous career, we were just
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going to run some cow calf operation here in the Flint
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Hills. And, and I run some yearlings
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and feed some cattle. And then we started sitting down
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with my, my brother and, and, and cousin Brad, my brother
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Damon and cousin Brad, we decided let's do something
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together. They were ready to exit their
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career out of financial services as well and do something that
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we're super passionate about. South Next Gen. was formed in
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2017. Doesn't look like a cow calf and
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a few feeder operation today. We'd get into that, but been
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very blessed. It starts with an amazing team
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that we have around us and yeah, super passionate about the
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cattle industry. Absolutely.
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I would love to just hear more about the start of NextGen and
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what that kind of looked like and how you guys went from just
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a few feeder cattle and a handful of land and some cows in
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the backyard type of situation to what you guys run now.
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And just how in depth your guys's operation is and just the
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model that you have set up with hundreds of employees now and
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kind of what NextGen stands for? Well, we, we, we really started
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with purchasing a feed lot in Southwest Kansas.
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That was a location that we wanted to have a potential to
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pick up a feed yard. That was our first purchase in
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2017. It was a 17 1/2 or 17,500 head
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feed yard at the time back in 2017.
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And Fast forward to today, we're at red at 50,000 head.
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We've done a lot of expansion out there, but we're currently
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working on to expand to 75,000 head.
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We're really excited about that. Then that really the owning that
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feed yard is really what led us into the seed stock side of the
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business. And that wasn't something we had
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originally set out that we had in our mind.
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But we know how important genetics matter in the feed lot
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setting and to the Packer who is our partner.
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And we sat down and and looked at how we can help commercial
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cattlemen produce the best feeder calf for the feed lot
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setting. And that really LED us to three
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breeds of cattle, which can make things a little complicated.
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So we have around 1000 purebred animals here at our ranch in
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Northeast Kansas. We're in the Angus, charlet and
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beef master breed. Our philosophy really goes back
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to building elite cow families in an elite cow base depending
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on where your location is. So a lot of people ask us in
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Kansas, you know, where do the beef masters fit?
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Well, we do a lot of business in the South South of here.
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So Florida throughout the southeast part of the country,
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Texas, South of what I would say, you know, Florida and
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Oregon and everything S the beef masters have a have a real good
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place for the maternal side of things.
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I mentioned building an elite cow to go out and produce for
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you as a producer. And then we have, we also use
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our Angus, our Angus genetics that have a real great maternal
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influence as well. And so again, we're, we're we'd
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like to set our C stock operation up to how can we can
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have a big impact going out and help them build elite cow
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families and then bring a terminal cross over the top of
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them and built an elite feeder animal for the feed lot setting.
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So that's where the charlets come in.
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I little bias. I don't think there's a better
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terminal across out there than a Charlotte.
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It gives you pounds on the ground in a market like we're in
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today where calves are worth, you know, call it 5 bucks.
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If you can pick up an extra 40 to to 70 lbs on a calf, those
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are real dollars in today's market.
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So that's where we're based on. We'll sell about 800 bulls a
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year across those three breeds with the philosophy that that we
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want to have when we set out day one leading kind of backing up
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into the seed stock side of things.
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So we wanted to have a our there's no confusion around next
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into our customers and that's the commercial cattle producer.
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Yes, we'll sell bulls to other seed stock operations and that's
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great and we appreciate that. People may respect the genetics
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we've built, but every day we come to work, we have the
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commercial cattlemen in mind. And we we know the more
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successful we can help them be, the more successful we're going
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to be with a with a really good end product that we can present
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to the Packer through our feed lot system.
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So it's something we're passionate about.
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Get out all the time. Just a week ago we were all
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throughout the Southeast part of the country meeting bull
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producers, some of our team, Brad and a couple of our team
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members were in Oklahoma last night producing with the with
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the 80 producers at a dinner pitching our program.
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We were in Texas at the last week.
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I mean, we're all over the place out seeing commercial producers
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throughout the country and selling our story and selling
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the benefit of being a partnership with Next Gen.
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Yeah. Can you guys going back a little
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bit more into the fact that you guys touch multiple points of
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just the beef supply chain? Can you talk about why that was
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important to you guys as you continue to grow your operation
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and why it's still one of your values today?
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Yeah, I think it goes back to at the end of the day, genetics
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matter and it's all throughout the process.
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So we know at the feed lot, you know, we're going to we're going
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to sell roughly, you know, call it we'll turn the yard over, you
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know, 1 1/2 times, call it 80 to 100,000 head a year to our
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Packer partners. And when it comes to hanging
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animals up on the rail, genetics matter.
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And it's not just carcass, for example.
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I mean, it's feed lot performance, it's health, it's
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growth, it's performance back at the ranch level.
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And, and, and really one of the things we focus on, I know I'm
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kind of all over the place. So back to how important it is
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to find the, the best genetics for your location.
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I mean, an animal, a cow that's built for South Florida, it's
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not the same animal. It's built for Northeast Kansas,
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and we talked to producers about that.
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A lot is going out and building the best set of commercial cows
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you can for your environment, and they'll let us help you do
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that and then bring the best terminal across over the top of
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it and make an elite feeder calf.
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If you're looking to make females, we can help you do that
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as well. But I think a lot of producers
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get caught up in trying to build what they think is best for the
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market. And that can lead challenges at
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the ranch level of animals that just aren't built for those
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environments. You know, we have some, we have
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some bulls and some really harsh environments in the South that,
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you know, are, are tough on the cows and you have to build a cow
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for that environment. And so we're really big on that.
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Every ranch is different. We work with people from Montana
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to Florida to to high desert out out West, you know, all over.
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And then and, and those cows that were helping those folks
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build look a lot different in those locations.
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Can you talk a little bit about how you guys do that, being
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centrally located in Kansas? How are you building a cow or a
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bowl that is going to be able to be sent to Arizona or to Florida
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and be able to thrive and kind of do what they're doing there
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on the genetic side, on the development side, all of those
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things? No, it's really good.
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The development is is a big piece of that when it comes to
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the bull side of things. We one of the things we started
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from day one is we don't sell many yearling bulls.
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We sell a lot of 18 month old mature bulls, which I think is a
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component to that. It's very difficult to push a
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bowl to get ready for a sale and have them go out as a yearling
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and start covering cows and then be able to get them back in
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shape to use going forward. So I think we're a little
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unique. We're not the only one selling
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aged bulls, but we allows us to develop in the right way at the
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ranch. So once we once we, you know,
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win those bulls off of potential bulls for the sale, we we
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develop and in a certain way, we kick a lot of them out here in
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the Flint Hills and get them exercise, get them hardened up.
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One of the comments we get from a lot of our producers is your
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bulls don't fall apart. That's really, really important
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to us. So you ask, how are we getting
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a, you know, a bull to leave Kansas and go work in, you know,
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a harsh environment like South Florida as an example?
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What it, it comes into how they're developed.
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They don't just live in a feed lot setting their whole life and
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then expect to go out and perform on a, you know, a ranch
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that's got, you know, 5000 acres.
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Like, I mean, we have animals running at, you know, eight,
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9000 feet out in the out West and high desert covering cows
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over 20,000 acres. You know, the animals got to get
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out. The bulls got to get out and
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travel and be developed in a way that they can go out perform.
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That's all part of the process. And I think that starts with
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selling aged bulls. Yeah, absolutely.
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I couldn't agree more. I think that when you just look
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at long term success of operations, going out and buying
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bulls, especially when you're talking about your ideal
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customer being that commercial cattlemen.
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So having those aged bulls is really going to help with that.
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And I think you hit the nail on the head.
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They're they're not just sitting in the feed lot their entire
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lives up until that 18 month mark when they're getting sold.
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They're really going out and they're putting in those miles.
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They're putting in the work and really showing that development
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side of things too. On the genetic side, on the
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bulls side, you guys, because you touch multiple points of the
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industry, you see them from the seed stock portion all the way
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until the feed lot as well. How has that really impacted
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your guys's selection of genetics, really being focused
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on that long term animal sustainability and not just,
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hey, this is what's working best for me and my operation calves
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are hitting the ground, they're hitting the cell barn, then
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they're none of my business after that.
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But you guys really kind of have to worry about that whole life
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cycle of that animal. Absolutely.
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We invested Tom in it and I have the numbers written down here.
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So the last two years we purchased 18,157 head that's
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20/20/24 and 2025 back from our bullet customers.
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So for a total of this summer might shock some people.
11:47
The cast are expensive for $54.1 million.
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So when we say we invest back into our producers, we we
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absolutely do. A huge component of that is we
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get DNA back out of those animals that go through the
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process. So if you're a producer in
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Oklahoma, for example, and you have a calf crop out of next
12:06
Gen. bulls, we're collecting DNA on those calves.
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The minute we get them in our feed yard, I will take a ear
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sample and we'll get those verified back to the sire of how
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they were sired. And all that data goes back into
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our breeding decisions as well as the producer.
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I mean, the bulls only half, half of the the process when it
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comes to breeding cattle. So they learn a lot about their
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cow herd and areas that they can make make an improvement.
12:30
But when you, when your analysts go through our system, we hand
12:32
you how you stacked against all the other cattle in our yard.
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If you're in a certain geographical area, similar to EP
12:39
DS contemporary groups, but it's not fair to compare a South
12:43
Florida animal to a Montana calf.
12:45
So you, you will break it down on how you performed against
12:48
other folks in your contemporary group, if you will, and show
12:52
them how they performed from a average day of the game, feed
12:54
conversion, health, and then ultimately on the carcass side
12:57
of things. So if your cattle are
12:59
individually tagged, we'll give it right back to your individual
13:01
cow on your ranch. Some folks don't tag their
13:04
calves so we, we can give them a group data set, but that's a
13:07
huge, that plays a huge role. We have a full time data analyst
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in our office that works with our Cal calf operations and
13:13
sharing them data back on their calf crops.
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And that's something that the majority of commercial Cal
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producers sell their calves and they have no idea how they
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performed. I tell them if the same guy
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comes back and buys your calves every year, they're probably
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doing pretty well. If you have somewhat different
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behind your calf crop every year, that's probably a sign
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that you didn't need to make some improvements.
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So we tell people, I mean, the, the Cal cap producer, they're
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Super Bowls when they sell their calf crop and you should do
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everything in your in that you possibly can to have the most
13:41
success for that day. And in my opinion, it starts
13:44
with genetics and building that elite feeder calf that can go in
13:47
and, and perform for whoever's going to purchase a cattle.
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And when they do that, you're going to have a list of people
13:52
trying to buy your calves. And as you know, it only takes
13:55
two or three fighting over them to to set record prices in
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today's market. Absolutely.
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Can you talk a little bit more about that partnership that you
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guys are really kind of walk into with your customers and
14:05
people that walk into that just partnership with next Gen. and
14:09
what that kind of looks like for you guys in a long term
14:12
sustainability aspect? No, that's that's.
14:14
Very good and we we pride ourselves on fitting whatever
14:17
fits best in that range. So we have producers that have
14:20
people they're like, well, I'm always going to sell my cash
14:23
through this sale barn. It's just how I do it.
14:25
And we're like perfect. We have order buyers and the
14:27
majority of all the sale barns throughout the country.
14:29
We have folks that that sell their cats off the ranch and
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that's just how they like to do it.
14:32
Guess what we love doing that will come and and show you how
14:35
we buy cats off the ranch. We do.
14:38
We've got to be a top two or three buyer off Superior
14:40
livestock productions. As an example, we buy thousands
14:43
of cattle off Superior. So there's multiple ways we want
14:45
to fit whatever best fits the ranch on the buyback.
14:48
And I think that's really, really important because we're
14:50
not asking them to to change overnight how they do their
14:53
business wherever they however they want to market their CAS,
14:56
we'll be there to support them. And I can't tell you what what
14:59
what routes the best. I mean, there's certain weeks
15:01
that I wouldn't want to sell my cabs anywhere else other than a
15:04
sale barn. Then I get that.
15:05
And sometimes you want the flexibility of selling them
15:08
online. We do a lot of future delivery
15:10
deals. So right now we're cab prices
15:12
are really, really good. I can't guarantee you in six
15:14
months when you go to sell your calf that they're going to be as
15:16
high as they are today. So we buy a lot of cattle on
15:19
contract. We agree to a price today and
15:21
they'll deliver six months, seven months from now.
15:24
And we do a ton of that as well. So one of the things we pride
15:27
ourselves on is I don't know the scenario that we can't fit in
15:30
with a with a producer. We obviously we need full loads
15:33
of cattle if we're buying them off the ranch.
15:35
We have a lot of places that set up and work together with other
15:37
local ranches and can put together full loads of calves
15:41
that way. So like through a buying station
15:43
concepts, there's all kinds of different ways we can fit in
15:47
with today's producers. Yeah.
15:50
And I think one thing that really stands out to me on that
15:53
is that you're like we're fitting bowls, we're fitting
15:56
cows to what works best for that operation and that producer or
16:00
just say scenarios and situations for.
16:02
We're really walking into this in a partnership with you guys
16:06
rather than just being like, hey, we've got great genetics
16:08
come by them and then kind of dropping people off after that.
16:12
You guys really do care about where those genetics are going
16:15
because you're obviously you're going back and you're rebuying
16:18
those genetics after that calf cross top is hit, which I think
16:20
is really important to show you believe in your product.
16:24
Yeah, absolutely. And I know I've been talking a
16:26
lot about a cap that's built for the feed lot setting.
16:29
We can't forget that. We we can't forget about the
16:31
power of the Mama cow on the ranches.
16:33
I mean, building longevity, breeding percentages, making
16:38
sure they're where they need to be.
16:39
And there's a lot that goes into it because if you forget about
16:42
your cows and your ranch, you're going to lose money ultimately,
16:45
at the end of the day. Yeah, we may win with an elite
16:47
feeder cap, but if we forget about the cows at the cow calf
16:50
level, then you know we're going to lose their.
16:52
So it really is both the maternal and the terminal side
16:56
of the business. Yeah, absolutely.
16:58
So I want to zoom out a little bit to just like the industry as
17:02
a whole and your opinion and your thoughts.
17:05
As we look over the next decade, what do you think that the
17:08
biggest opportunities are for producers who are really kind of
17:11
paying attention to the cattle industry that we're currently
17:13
operating in? Yeah, no, I'll have an opinion,
17:16
but it doesn't mean it's right because there's a lot of them.
17:19
I, I will tell you it is, it is wild out there right now in a,
17:23
in a good way. But I, we're in the camp that
17:26
obviously we have record tight supply and a record low cow
17:28
herd. We're in the camp that I don't
17:30
know if we'll ever be able to get the cow herd back to where
17:32
it was. We're in the belief that if you
17:35
can build a really high quality calf, you're going to get paid
17:38
for it. Not for the rest of our
17:39
lifetime. If you look at just the amount
17:42
of land that's going out of production, which we don't like,
17:46
but it is reality with whether it's urban sprawl and areas that
17:50
once had thousands of cows on it or is now selling by the square
17:53
foot for development and things that nature.
17:55
We were just down in Florida for a week last week and I mean
17:58
they're going in and buying 1020 thousand acre tranches of land
18:02
and putting up communities because there's a big flock of
18:04
people wanting to live in Florida while those cows will
18:06
never go back into production. So I think beef is going to be
18:09
the elite protein we've proven to the consumer demands at an
18:13
all time high. They love our product.
18:15
We're just going to produce less of it.
18:16
So unfortunately for the consumers probably going to cost
18:19
a little bit more, but they've proven that they're willing to
18:22
spend money on high quality beef.
18:25
So I can't goes back to the producers.
18:26
If you can produce it, you're going to get paid for it.
18:29
Yeah, I could not agree more on that.
18:31
And I also am kind of on the camp of I don't know if we're
18:34
going to see a herd rebuilding in the ways that we think that
18:37
we are. Are the numbers they're showing
18:39
that we do have higher heifer retention and things like that
18:42
happening right now? Absolutely.
18:43
But at the same time, I don't think that we're going to be
18:46
able to look back in 15 years and be like, oh, we've made it
18:49
right. Like I, I don't think that there
18:51
is a finish line. We've made it scenario that is
18:54
going to come to us as cattle producers.
18:57
I couldn't agree more. And then I mean, well, I guess
18:59
we'll ultimately see. I also think the amount of risk
19:04
in today's market is substantial.
19:05
You know the cost of having in our example, having 50,000 head
19:09
on feed is substantially higher than it was a few years ago.
19:12
And at the producer level, I've talked to a lot of them is
19:15
making sure that they're looking at the tools out there from a
19:17
risk management perspective. Calves are worth a lot of money.
19:20
If you're used to selling your calves 60 days weed or off the
19:23
cow, there's tools out there you can take advantage of to walk in
19:26
some of your profits. Don't be that guy that's sitting
19:28
there with no plan for your Super Bowl moment that I talked
19:32
about. There's tools out there and we
19:34
can certainly help with that as well from a risk management
19:36
perspective and share ideas of of what we do and what other
19:40
folks do as well. But tremendous amount of
19:42
volatility that probably won't change and a lot of risk and
19:45
just making sure you have a plan I think is my message to to
19:48
people. Absolutely.
19:51
Every single week come on here and do 2 episodes with two
19:54
different groups of people and talk about the cattle market.
19:57
And I made a comment the last week, I was like, you know what,
19:59
if I had a dollar for every single time that we said that
20:02
the cattle, cattle market was volatile, I would be a really
20:05
rich woman right now. Because that has just been the
20:08
theme of the past year. And I don't see it necessarily
20:11
going away as we go into this year either.
20:15
We're a very reactive cattle market.
20:17
It is a it's a very interesting time out there, but I think.
20:20
That it really goes to show as well that the producers that are
20:24
preparing themselves and they're doing what they can to move
20:27
forward, whether it be on the genetic side, whether it be on
20:30
the risk protection, whether it be on securing land and capital
20:34
and whatever business decision that is, the people that are
20:38
really being proactive are the ones that are going to be able
20:41
to continue to win as we move forward.
20:44
Yeah. I think if it is a is a Cal calf
20:47
operator, if you're looking to expand, what a great time to
20:49
build your balance sheet up. And I think there will be
20:52
opportunities in the next several years of unfortunately
20:55
people that maybe didn't do that.
20:57
So there'll be opportunities for growth if you have a plan and in
21:00
place and treat it as a true business for sure.
21:03
We preach that all the time. I could not agree more that, you
21:07
know, I, that's also my soapbox that I like to stand on is
21:11
treating this cattle operation and our family operations like
21:15
the businesses that they are and not like a little hobby farm in
21:18
the backyard. So I could not agree more on
21:20
that in any way, shape or form. But on the business side of
21:24
things, you guys have some exciting things coming up on the
21:27
next Gen. side. So I'd love it if you could just
21:30
kind of share a little bit about your guys's feeder calf sale
21:32
that we have coming up and what that is why you guys decided to
21:35
start it. And I'm kind of opportunity that
21:38
it is for producers there as well.
21:40
Yeah, we, we're extremely excited.
21:42
It's April 4th, we're partnering with Winter Livestock and doing
21:46
a special feeder cast sale with just Next Gen.
21:48
Genetics and Salina at the sale barn there at 11 O clock on
21:51
April 4th, Saturday. Very well, First off, very
21:54
humbled that Winter Livestock is willing to partner with Next
21:57
Gen. and and partner up the brands.
21:59
We think a lot of those guys they've they've done a
22:02
tremendous job. They're neighbors to us.
22:03
They own the Ranch Rd. across the street and they've gotten to
22:06
know them over the years and they have producers that have
22:08
that they know that have been buying our genetics and we're
22:10
like what a great way to to showcase our buyback program and
22:14
you know really how how important our producers are to
22:16
us to do a special feeder calf sales.
22:18
So it looks like even in the last two days we picked up some
22:21
more calves that are out of our bowls, but we're going to have,
22:25
you know ±1000 head that we'll be selling.
22:28
A lot of people are like, why would you?
22:31
Why would you do this in a public setting?
22:33
You're going to have other feed yards, maybe buying your
22:35
genetics. And we're completely fine with
22:36
that. It goes back to what I talked
22:37
about our customer and there's no confusion of it is the
22:40
commercial cattle producer. We will have a number that that
22:43
we have that we're capable of paying for those calves.
22:45
Someone might pay more, but typically who wins and that is
22:48
the producer. So they'll be friendly
22:51
competitors. You know the feed lot side of
22:53
the business is a very tight knit group, especially the
22:56
larger ones. We know all of them consider
22:58
them friends. They've already a lot of them
23:00
have already agreed to participate in it.
23:02
So I think it shows on a local level, which is really important
23:05
to us. We love building local business.
23:07
I mentioned we, I think we sold bulls in 38 different states
23:10
last year and you know, some have been outside of the
23:13
country, but there's nothing more than important to us in
23:16
doing local business. And this gives our local
23:19
producers throughout the area to see in action how we support our
23:24
Cal cap producer. So we'll be there.
23:25
I'm super pumped. The cattle look great that I've
23:28
seen videos of. They'll be bred heifers, they'll
23:32
be bred cows out of our bulls and they'll be about 800 to 900
23:36
feet or cattle from six Wick cows all the way up to true
23:39
yearlings coming off wheat that'll be there.
23:41
And I'm excited to showcase 1, the producers and their
23:45
commitment to us, but that more importantly, how competitive we
23:48
are on our buyback program. I tell people all the time, we
23:53
track obviously every lot that would kill out of the close in,
23:56
in a close manner on how much money we're bringing back above
23:59
the live price. We grid all of our cattle.
24:01
And when we have known genetics and know how they're going to
24:04
perform, guess what? We can pay a little bit more for
24:06
them. And and that's that's where I
24:08
think you'll start to see producers win with our buyback
24:11
program. We get asked all the time, how
24:13
do I get involved? If you're at the local area, I
24:16
said the local area, this part of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma
24:21
and you want to participate. It's really getting next and to
24:23
next on the ground. We will be doing more feeder
24:25
cast sales, maybe even outside of Salina.
24:28
And you know, like I said, the winners on 7 different sail
24:32
barns. And then we've also kicked
24:33
around maybe doing a video option as well for folks that
24:36
aren't local to, you know, this part of the country.
24:39
So really excited about Build Not.
24:40
This is our first one and I'm confident people will be
24:45
impressed with how how we pull it off.
24:47
So April's a very busy month. April 16th to 17th is our next
24:51
bowl sale. We'll be selling about 250
24:53
Angus, Charley and Beef Master bowls.
24:56
We like to have a good time. So on Thursday night, April
24:59
16th, we'll have we'll want a really good industry
25:02
presentation. We have a panel talking about
25:04
the markets. We have a risk management
25:07
section. We have Cargill talking from the
25:09
packing plate side. We'll obviously talk about next
25:12
Gen. genetics and more about our buybacks.
25:13
That's a really good time at 4 O clock on Thursday.
25:17
And we'll have four or five food trucks set up.
25:19
We have a live band coming in from Louisiana Country Band
25:22
who's really, really good. We have a cigar roller.
25:25
We have all kinds of entertainment.
25:26
It's very kid friendly. We have kids running around
25:29
playing and having a good time. So it's really we try to create
25:31
that family environment and like I said, this industry is very
25:35
difficult. The three of the other 364 days
25:38
out of the year, we like to have a good time and celebrate with,
25:41
with our people. And then Friday morning we get
25:43
down to business and and sell bulls.
25:46
So we'd love to have everybody come out and check the ranch
25:48
out. If you just want to see a little
25:50
bit more about our program, you're, you're obviously
25:52
welcome. So super excited about that
25:54
coming up. Hopefully we have some good
25:55
weather. Yes, I know it is always a time
26:00
and a half there at the Next Gen.
26:02
Ranch for their sale. And just from the industry
26:05
standpoint, it's great to get there and get to meet new
26:08
people. But then it's also just
26:10
everything else that you guys provide as well, whether it be
26:13
the panels or discussions or just everything else that you
26:16
facilitate with that. And it's not just a sale, it is
26:19
truly a community building aspect.
26:21
So I know that that is just a really, really great, great
26:24
thing that you guys provide for that industry.
26:26
And I mean, as we look out over the next 10 years, I really
26:30
would love to hear your insight and thoughts as a producer
26:33
yourself, what your thoughts are on the cattle industry over the
26:37
next 10 years and what people really and your thoughts and
26:40
opinions, what we need to be doing as a cattle industry to
26:44
continue to thrive and survive. Yeah, that's a, that's a good
26:48
question. You know, specifically the next
26:50
Gen., I hopefully people look back after 10 years and, and see
26:53
that we had a big impact on the commercial sector.
26:56
And that's something that's really important to us as an
26:59
industry. I think we got to continue to
27:01
keep grinding on the genetic side.
27:03
We've come so far as an industry the last 10 years.
27:06
I think the next 10 years is going to be incredible on that
27:09
side as well. And then keep fighting for the
27:11
land and keeping our our, our, our industry afloat from that
27:16
standpoint. So I know there's discussions in
27:18
Washington to open up some grazing opportunities.
27:20
Again, need, I mean the consumer wants our product.
27:22
We've got to keep fighting for our cow herd, if you will, each
27:26
and every day. So I think that's something
27:27
that's going to be really important going forward is just
27:30
just that. Yeah, absolutely.
27:33
And then when we're looking at next Gen. over the next 1020
27:36
years, what do you guys really hope that you are leaving on the
27:39
industry and continue to kind of really focus on and just the
27:42
heart behind your future? Yeah, Excite.
27:46
One of the most exciting topics right now is the expansion at
27:48
the feed yard. So if we can get that up to 75
27:50
to 80,000 head, that's going to be really exciting for us.
27:55
Continue to almost double the impact we have on the feeding
27:58
side of our business of feeding a lot more next in genetics and
28:01
kind of like I talked about, you know, hopefully people realize
28:04
that we're getting back to the industry at a high level and
28:07
having an impact on the commercial cattle sector.
28:12
Love it. Amazing.
28:13
Well, Derek, thank you for coming on today and just sharing
28:16
about your guys's history and what Next Gen. is doing for that
28:19
commercial cattle producer and just for the industry as a
28:22
whole. And just sharing a little bit
28:23
more insight on everything to all of our listeners.
28:26
I will have all of the links where you can find more
28:29
information on that special feeder castle coming up and then
28:32
also on the April bull sale coming up for Next Gen. as well,
28:37
or just links where you can figure out more about their
28:39
operation if you want to learn more yourself.
28:42
Derek, thank you for your time to all of our listeners.
28:44
We will see you all next time on another episode of the Cattle
28:47
USA Daily Podcast. Thank you, Lauren.