Beef Quality Assurance isn't a new program, but a new partnership with Certified Angus Beef is working to give cattle producers the credit they deserve with consumers. Miranda Reiman chats with CAB's Bruce Cobb about the ways this could help cattlemen.
They discuss:
Visit cutthebull.info to share your certification to add to the story.
Thanks to this episode's sponsors Westway Feed Products.
Find more information to make Angus work for you in the Angus Beef Bulletin and ABB EXTRA. Make sure you're subscribed! Sign up here to the print Angus Beef Bulletin and the digital Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA. Have questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you! Contact our team at abbeditorial@angus.org.
Beef Quality Assurance isn't a new program, but a new partnership with Certified Angus Beef is working to give cattle producers the credit they deserve with consumers. Miranda Reiman chats with CAB's Bruce Cobb about the ways this could help cattlemen.
They discuss:
Visit cutthebull.info to share your certification to add to the story.
Thanks to this episode's sponsors Westway Feed Products.
Find more information to make Angus work for you in the Angus Beef Bulletin and ABB EXTRA. Make sure you're subscribed! Sign up here to the print Angus Beef Bulletin and the digital Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA. Have questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you! Contact our team at abbeditorial@angus.org.
Hello and welcome to Angus at Work. I'm Kasey Brown. Today we're talking about Beef Quality Assurance. It's not a new program. You've probably read about it in the Angus Beef Bulletin a time or two. It's a way to document that you're doing the right things, ranging from health, nutrition, environmental stewardship to recordkeeping, worker safety and planning. It helps give credit where credit is due, and the Certified Angus Beef Brand is partnered with BQA, to help share the story of good animal welfare work in the industry with its consumer-facing partners. Now, this episode is sponsored by Westway Feed Products, and we appreciate their support.
Today, Miranda Reiman chats with Bruce Cobb about this new partnership, why you should visit cutthebull.info, and much more. So, let's dig in.
Miranda Reiman:
Welcome to Angus at Work. I'm your host, Miranda Reiman, and today I have Bruce Cobb, executive vice president of production for Certified Angus Beef. Good to have a friendly face on the other end of the mic.
Bruce Cobb:
It's good to see you, Miranda. I'm looking forward to this.
Miranda Reiman:
So, why don't you... We were joking, executive vice president of production is a pretty long title, but tell me what that means. What do you do there at CAB?
Bruce Cobb:
I'll simplify it beyond the title, and basically it's a role that allows me the opportunity with the whole production team to engage that supply chain from beginning with seed stock producers, cow-calf producers, feed yard operations, and then our packing sector. So, if it's about preparing CAB to go into the box and go to restaurants, that's the part that we do on production.
Miranda Reiman:
Excellent. And your resume was pretty well set up to do that, given your experience, from retail to feed yard experience, et cetera?
Bruce Cobb:
Yeah. So that, for me at least, Certified Angus beef is a culmination of everything. You're working on the supply side for so many years with feeding operations, and then the demand side as well with retailers, and then the export market. And it's just fun to be able to understand both sides of the supply chain to where we can craft programs and build business that helps producers all along the way. It's fun too.
Miranda Reiman:
It is fun, and you get good beef.
Bruce Cobb:
Right.
Miranda Reiman:
So today, we're going to talk about the end of that supply chain, which is the consumer, which is what I'd say Certified Angus Beef does so well in our industry. No matter where you're at as a cattle producer, it connects all of those dots for us to the consumer. And so, why don't you start out by just giving me a foundation, a lay of the land of consumer demand. What is it historically been built on, and what do you guys see as the forward-looking, where we're headed with it?
Bruce Cobb:
So, the one thing that producers know about Angus producers and what they produce, is that it's excellent. And we've built the brand off of what producers have been doing for so many years, and that's producing high quality Angus product. And we're doing it still, we're doing it better than we've ever done it. There's more cattle now that are going into the brand than ever before, about 5.9 million carcasses. So, consumers know when they buy Certified Angus beef, it's going to be excellent because of the excellent supply chain that Angus producers have built. What's interesting is that consumer demands, they're evolving. They're evolving from one of good quality product to excellent product, but it's not just taste anymore. We've built it on taste, but now we're evolving into really meeting those expectations that consumers have related to cattle care.
Miranda Reiman:
So, it's that quality and then?
Bruce Cobb:
And then some.
Miranda Reiman:
Sure. Absolutely. So, how do we get to that and then some?
Bruce Cobb:
The way we get to the and then some, is again, utilizing the brand to communicate to consumers what the brand is all about and what is happening in the supply chain. So, we have long been able to tell the story very well about producers throughout the supply chain. So now, we're evolving that ability to tell that story beyond just product quality, to the product's production system. And that production system, it's about producers and what they've always done, which is taking great care of cattle. They've always done that. That's nothing new. But now the brand is in a position where we can communicate more information about the production system, especially about cattle care.
Miranda Reiman:
And how are you looking to communicate that, or what documentation systems, et cetera?
Bruce Cobb:
So, we have been longtime supporters of Beef Quality Assurance, or BQA, that's known in the industry. And we are now partnered up with the BQA program, and we are promoting and advocating more certifications through a campaign called Cut the Bull. The neat thing about Beef Quality Assurance is it provides a framework for us to capture information, and then share that information with consumers. So the Cut the Bull campaign, it's as much about producers continuing to get better, but it's just as much about us at the brand being able to communicate to consumers about what producers have always done relative to cattle care which is, it's excellent, just like the product itself.
Miranda Reiman:
And that Cut the Bull campaign is a tongue in cheek way to get that same message across?
Bruce Cobb:
It is. Again, there's noise in the... Whether you're talking about the beef cattle production place or the consumer place, there's noise. And there's been a lot of noise with consumers about what is or isn't happening with producers and cattle care. And so, we're just cutting through the noise, we're cutting the bull as we say in the industry. We're cutting the bull, and we're going to get down to what really is happening, and then sharing that information with consumers.
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Miranda Reiman:
A lot of times when I hear topics like this or I'm talking with producers, I will hear that, "We don't need more paperwork, we don't need to..." Why is it important for you guys to have that documented?
Bruce Cobb:
Yeah, so the neat thing about BQA is it doesn't require paperwork. There's a training program, there's education, which really documents what producers already know, and then it allows us to share that information, because there's a certification process. So, we can quantify that here's a system, here's a program that producers are involved with that communicates cattle care. When we talk about BQA with consumers, the research is out there that before they're introduced consumers, before they're introduced to beef quality assurance, and then after they're exposed to it, their level of trust and confidence goes up about 70%.
So the brand, if you think about trust, we've built a lot of trust with consumers. This is going to help us augment that level of trust with consumers, producers, getting involved, doing the training, doing the certification, and then we can capture that information. Build a richer story that then translates with consumers.
Miranda Reiman:
So, it's no longer just take our word for it?
Bruce Cobb:
Absolutely. There's a lot of that that goes on in the industry, obviously, because we're built on relationships within the industry. There's a lot of trust between producers, but there's millions and millions of consumers. So, we've got to be able to capture that information and again, augment that trust. Because there's no way that any one producer can communicate with millions of consumers from New York, to Florida, to Washington, to Japan. So, we're going to be doing that on their behalf, and helping them understand that we can be trusted in the production sector to do the right thing with the cattle, that we've always done, we're just quantifying it.
Miranda Reiman:
One thing that we've learned over time is that cattlemen are really good at responding to signals. The signals for quality were there, and cattlemen have blown past that. What's the signal that we expect to have in this area of animal welfare, or sustainability, or those things?
Bruce Cobb:
I love that question. So, what we expect will happen is... And I've referenced already, these are things that we've done for decades, and from generation to generation, is good quality cattle care, and there's a culture of cattle care in the industry. Consumers don't know that. And so, what I expect will happen is as we continue to augment the culture of cattle care in the industry and communicate, that we're going to get better. It's like we can in everything else, like we've done in product quality. We're going to get better in cattle care, and we're going to get better in communicating that cattle care message to consumers, and help them better understand that we truly have a culture of cattle care. And we're not resting on where we are, we're getting better, and going down the track of continuously improving where we are.
Miranda Reiman:
Do you ever think there will be an economic signal someday down the line for... BQA certification, would you make more money? Or any of the sustainability claims, et cetera?
Bruce Cobb:
I do. So, I think as it is today, there's already an economic signal associated with Certified Angus Beef. And that's demonstrated whether it's with the product itself being sold by the packer to the retailer, but it's also demonstrated by the packer buying those cattle that have the ability to hit Certified Angus Beef in the form of a Certified Angus Beef premium. And what we're seeing is, that signal continues to grow because of product quality. But the future is that the brand itself has a halo that will then be able to create more of an economic signal, again, because of the attribute of cattle cattle care. As we do our job in growing demand for Certified Angus Beef, product quality, cattle care, then the track record says that that premium will grow. If we continue to do our job and build demand for Certified Angus Beef, then again, track record is that those signals are strengthened to producers.
Miranda Reiman:
Sure. Just trying to watch out for my people if they're going to do more work, Bruce.
Bruce Cobb:
I wish I could quantify exactly what that signal's going to be, but I would say it's up and to the right.
Miranda Reiman:
Right, absolutely. So, Certified Angus Beef has this Cut the Bull campaign. Can you go into that in a little more detail for me?
Bruce Cobb:
Absolutely. So, we're not doing anything differently as it relates to changing beef quality assurance. What we are doing as in partnership with Beef Quality Assurance, is engaging producers in their locations with educational programs and trainings. So, what our preference and what our need is, is that producers A, they attend these functions. And we're starting out small in Nebraska and in Kansas, and we're going to have some trainings over the next few months. And what we need from producers is A, participate in the training, and then B, get certified. And then tell us that you're certified. That's what we need, because those certifications are going to help us tell that story and communicate to consumers the level of involvement that producers have in quality of care. So, go to the BQA website, and help us understand and know, and give us that information that you are getting certified.Miranda Reiman:
That's right. And if they don't have a training in their area, there's pretty quick online. I think it's about four hours online program. You can go through the modules that way.
Bruce Cobb:
You can do it online. And interestingly there's also, all the states have a state BQA coordinator. They do trainings and education throughout the year all around the country. So locate, identify the state BQA coordinator. Get certified, no matter what state that you're in, and then share that information with us whenever you get certified.
Miranda Reiman:
Well, is there anything about this topic that I haven't asked you about yet that you want to add?
Bruce Cobb:
I think the one thing that we need to really impress on is that, there's a heritage and there's nobility in the industry relative to cattle care. And that's something that we all understand, producers from coast to coast, and they're proud of it. And what we're doing at the brand is, we're helping to share that information so that consumers can be just as proud of the cattle care as what producers are. It's there, it's real, it's authentic. And our role at the brand is to help consumers understand the authenticity of that cattle care, and they truly are involved in a noble and honorable profession.
Miranda Reiman:
Absolutely. So, we always end the podcast on this question. The cattle business is really a people business, so we want to know-
Bruce Cobb:
That's good.
Miranda Reiman:
... what is something good that's happened either personally or professionally lately? Give us some good news, Bruce.
Bruce Cobb:
One of the things that I really enjoy about what I do in [inaudible 00:15:11], is talking to producers, and yesterday afternoon we had a meeting with a group of producers to help them better understand some things in the industry. And when you can see the beginning and then the end of a conversation and there's a change, there's transformation, there's a higher level of understanding. And you walk away and you think, I made a difference. That really makes you sleep better at night.
Kasey Brown:
Listeners, to get more information to help make Angus work for you, check out the Angus People Bulletin and the digital Angus People Bulletin extra publications.
You'll find links to subscribe to both of those in our show notes. If you have questions or comments, please let us know at abbeditorial@angus.org.
And we'd sure appreciate it if you would rate this podcast or leave a review to tell us what you learned, or what was helpful, and share this episode with any other prophet mind cattleman. And we are grateful that this episode is sponsored Westway Feed Products. Thanks for listening. This has been Angus at Work.