Caprock Industries Teams with Seedstock Plus

Caprock Industries, one of the nation's leading cattle feeders, and Seedstock Plus, one of the nation's largest seedstock suppliers recently formalized an agreement that should benefit beef consumers and the producers building product for them.

"We are becoming more involved in the genetics because the focus of the beef business has shifted away from commodity production toward serving individual consumers," explains Ben Brophy, manager of value-added alliances for Caprock. "In order to repeatedly service customers with the right product we have to have a better handle on genetics and know the genetic differences."

Likewise, John Burbank, Chief Executive Officer of Seedstock Plus, says, "We are working hand-in-hand with beef feeders and suppliers like Caprock because we understand that genetics have a new role in the beef industry. It's no longer a matter of propagating cattle, it's about building specific products the beef consumer demands."

So, rather than build and market their own seedstock, Caprock is selecting consumer-based Preferred Genetic Suppliers they can recommend to the producers they buy calves from-all Caprock cattle are company owned; it's not a custom yard.

"We're not saying the people we buy cattle from must use these genetics,but we're illustrating a direction for them to go," explains Brophy. In this case, he says the specific direction is toward a source-verified beef production system thatfocuses on the customer and strives to efficiently produce a consistent product. 
Closer to home, Brophy explains, "Our goal is a balanced animal that is efficient in the feedyard but one that also fits our targets on the carcass and consumer side of the equation. Keep in mind adding value is not just increasing premiums; there is as much value to be added through decreased non-conformance as there is through premiums." Plus, he points out there are a number of genetic paths producers can take to decrease non-conformance and increase premium potential.

What's more, cattle that qualify for Caprock's Sharing Total Added Value(STAV) program keep the cow/calf producer involved in the value measuring process. If  you're not familiar with it, STAV is a program by which Caprock shares feeding and carcass information with the cow/calf producer for free as well as paying a post-harvest bonus to producers if their cattle meet pre-established performance targets. Along the way, cattle that qualify for the STAV program also typically qualify for a variety of mainstream branded beef programs.

With that in mind, Caprock's Preferred Genetic Suppliers thus far-currently there are only two-are those who offer a variety of different predictable genetics in volume, with the data to verify the predictably of meeting consumer targets.

"That's one of the reasons we elected to work with Seedstock Plus," explains Brophy. "Their purebred and hybrid genetics fit our target." As an example Brophy points to the Balancers-Angus X Gelbvieh hybrids- offered by Seedstock Plus. He explains, "The nice thing about the Balancer is that you have a bull that can be used as a terminal sire, but with the maternal  advantages of Gelbvieh as the Continental component, you also have the ability to retain replacement females out of the cross."

Leveraging Mutual Interests

"We're excited to be a genetic supplier to a value-added, consumer-based program like Caprock," says Burbank. "We appreciate the confidence they have shown in our genetics and the added opportunity it offers our members and customers."

For the record, Seedstock Plus is a cooperative of 60 individual breeders located in 16 states that collectively develops and markets bulls and females regionally-Seedstock Plus marketed 800 bulls last year-then provides a range of customer services including an unconditional guarantee for the first breeding season and guaranteed bids on calves out of the system's genetics.

In this case, Caprock is one of a growing number of vertically cooperative systems that Seedstock Plus supplies with genetics. "In our agreement both parties agree to work together to facilitate genetic improvement in the beef industry and support each others' efforts through shared performance information, promotion and networking in the cow-calf sector," says Brophy. Simple as that.

So, buying a Seedstock Plus bull doesn't mean Caprock will buy a producer's calves. It does mean they know Seedstock Plus genetics work in their system and are actively seeking cattle that are a product of them. Plus, Brophy emphasizes, "This offers producers added market access with the ability to generate information without retaining ownership in their cattle. And, it's important to know this isn't an exclusive arrangement. Seedstock Plus provides genetics to other systems, too, which I think is necessary if they want to offer a complete program to producers."

Seedstock Plus is convinced the industry will continue to evolve away from commodity production toward consumer defined and valued specifics, but they're just as convinced building cattle that fit mainstream targets will yield more competition. "Our whole reason for being is to offer our own members and their customers the most opportunity possible," says Burbank. "The better we are at crafting genetics that fit a number of different programs with similar targets and the more of them we work with, the more opportunity we see for everyone involved.

Keep in mind; neither Burbank nor Brophy is saying that commercial producers will necessarily have to swear allegiance to any particular system in the future. Rather, they believe a producer is going to have to have the information and genetics to be able to be part of a system. Moreover, Brophy believes this kind of positioning demands tighter relationships between commercial producers and their seedstock suppliers.

"We're not saying a seedstock producer has to be part of our system for their genetics to be acceptable, or that commercial producers need to utilize our genetic suppliers or those that are aligned with other systems," explains Brophy. "We are suggesting that rather than have a loose relationship with multiple seedstock suppliers, commercial producers need to establish a strong relationship with one or two like Seedstock Plus that understand their needs and have a sense of the direction a producer is trying to go."

For more information about Seedstock Plus, contact 877-486-1160; for more information about Caprock's STAV program, call 806-371-3711.

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