THANK YOU | - | SURGE IN INTEREST | - | GRASS FED BEEF | - | AUSTRALIAN BEST STEAKESTABLISHING NUTRITION | BULL FOR SALE? |GENETIC MERIT | CATTLEFAX

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

eNEWS

Taste Excellence

Official Publication

www.wagyu.org208-262-8100

EDITORPaul Redneremail pcredner@hotmail.comphone (719)331-6531

PUBLISHERAmerican Wagyu AssociationMichael Beattie - Executive Directoremail office@wagyu.orgphone (208)262-8100website www.wagyu.org

CONTRIBUTORSPaul Redner, Radio New Zealand,Australian Wagyu Association,Japan News, AWA staff, Cattlefax

GRAPHIC DESIGN / ADVERTISINGJon Hayenga / Erik Christophersonemail graphics@wagyu.orgphone (208)262-8100

DISCLAIMERAmerican Wagyu Association, Inc (AWA) makes no statements, representations or warranties about the accuracy or complete-ness of, any information relating to third party advertising and/or, inquiries made through this medium; and, disclaims all responsibility for information and all liability (including with-out limitation, liability in negligence) for all ex-penses, losses, damages, and costs you may incur as a result of information being inaccu-rate or incomplete in any way for any reason. Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without prior written permission to the AWA.

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

2

THANK YOU - CONFERENCE MEAT SPONSORS

Tom and Vicki Moon donated3 night Romantic Getaway stay in a historic log cabin

BUCK Knives donated2 signed knives - 110 folding hunter & special model 119

Steak Center Cattle Company donated2 night stay + $50 dining cert. at the

White Buffalo Club in Jackson Hole, WY

Cattlesoft Inc. donated$250 valued Livestock software, &

$100 credit at cattletags.com

JDA donatedHalf page advert in the Wagyu World Magazine

Kings High Ranch donated5 units of WSI Hatsuhikari FB 16971

Chisholm Cattle Co. donated10 units of JC Rueshaw 92 FB16182

The Webb Family donated20 units of Webbco Othniel FB18295

BAR R CATTLE CO. donated (2) five straw lots of Bar R Arimura 30B PB17438,

10 units of semen on Bull JB-Bar R Ichiro 68A FB17299,& 10 units on Bull R-MCC Shigenami 82A FB16754

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

On behalf of the American Wagyu Association we would like to thank all of whom donated to the 2015 Eco-Tec conference. Your commitment to helping the conference and the AWA is sincerely appreciated.

Most of the money raised will be used to fund our long term health study of Wagyu cattle.

3

THANK YOU - CONFERENCE AUCTION DONATIONS

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

Australia’s Jacks Creek Wagyu brand is sitting on top of the world after its representative was named the ‘World’s Best Steak’ at the first World Steak Challenge at London’s Hyde Park in October.

All the beef producing giants from north and south America as well as most European countries were represented in the 70 entries.

The Jacks Creek world beater came from the company’s operation based in the NSW Hunter Valley at Breeza and Willow Tree. The Breeza operation will host a visit during the 2016 Wagyu post conference tour.

The Warmoll family entered the Wagyu business in 1991 by crossing Tajima Wagyu sires over their Angus herd.

In 2000, Jacks Creek became one of the first Australian companies to breed, grow, feed, process and market their own brand Wagyu beef. Today Jacks Creek processes and markets grain fed Wagyu and Angus to 20 destinations worldwide.

Since 1995, specialist Wagyu feeder Geoff Willett of Maydan feedlot near Warwick on Queensland’s Darling Downs has been responsible for feeding he Jacks Creek Wagyu which are then processed at the Northern Cooperative Meat Co at Casino in the NSW northern rivers.

The winner was described as marble score 8 after being fed for just over 400 days starting with a wheat based diet and lifting onto corn for the last 100 days.

AA CO ALSO ON WINNERS PODIUMSerial branded beef award winners AA Co also muscled into the top bracket in the World Steak Challenge when their Darling Downs Wagyu, produced from an F1, was awarded a Gold medal, one of only 11 Gold Medals awarded.

The steak came from an animal born and raised on AA Co’s Avon Downs in the Northern Territory and grain finished for 300 days at the company’s Aronui feedlot on Queensland’s Darling Downs.

AA Co Wagyu brands have won six Gold Medals in Australian branded beef competitions so far this year to make it the most prolific winner of awards in that section of fine food competitions.

More information and photographs in the December issue of Wagyu Update.

4

WORLD STEAK CHALLENGEfrom Australian Wagyu Association - Wagyu.org.au

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

5

A Wagyu cattle primary growth partnership is gaining momentum as dairy farmers look to increase the value of bobby calves by introducing better beef genetics into their herds.

The partnership is a joint initiative between the government and two Hawke’s Bay companies, Brownrigg Agriculture and the marketing company Firstlight Foods.

Wagyu is a type of cattle known for its marbling qualities, or how fat is distributed through its meat.

The programme manager Matt Crowther said the seven-year programme was at the half way point and there’s been a surge of interest in the past year.

“The mating numbers from last year were approximately 11,000 and we’re now clicked over 26,000 matings this year, so the number of calves we’re going to have is basically doubling.

Mr Crowther said the milk payout dropping resulted in a surge in interest around September.

“There’s a general interest from the dairy industry in alternative options for traditional bobby calves. We’re focusing on what’s called the kiwi-cross - a cross between the Fresian and Jersey - and that’s traditionally the lowest value calf out of the dairy industry, so what

Wagyu offers is a higher value option for those animals. Rather than getting $20 odd for a bobby, you can get up to $150 for a four day old Wagyu cross, so that’s an attractive alternative revenue stream for some dairy farmers.”

The main markets for the beef are California, the United Kingdom, and he said there’s great prices coming out of the United Arab Emerits on a cost per kilo basis.

For more information or to view original source click on the following link below

www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/288325/low-dairy-pric-es-behind-surge-in-wagyu-interest

SURGE IN WAGYU INTERESTfrom Radio New Zealand - Updated 29 October 2015

An exhibitor arranges machine-sliced olive meat, a kind of Wagyu beef, at a showcase in Singapore

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

6

What a roller coaster. That’s the most accurate description of the extremely volatile U.S. market. Now the analysts have it all figured out, after the fact as usual. They’ve attributed a 37% fall off in the market to the strong U.S. dollar resulting in fewer exports and less export dollars. They’ve claimed the herd expansion has resulted in an increase in supply. They claim the increase in the supply of competitive meats, chicken and pork, have contributed to the price decline. The Australian drought and the corresponding increase in imports has made a contribution to the increase in supply. A long standing claim that the millennial generation and the children of the millennials are not disposed to eating beef continues to be heard.

Now all these things are at least partially correct or have a hint of correctness to them, but let’s look at them in detail. The strong dollar has caused our exports to pull

back, but that market is only about 15% of our total market at best, so a decline would only have a marginal effect. Herd expansion is nonsense. The drought that effected much of the southwestern states and a signifi-cant part of the cattle growing regions only ended in 2014. The expansion that began with heifer retention in 2015 certainly has had no effect on the beef supply yet, but the imports from Australia have definitely had an effect. The off fall in beef demand by some of the younger generation also have had some effect.

Collectively these often quoted changes in the market place undoubtedly have had an effect, but a 37% fall off, I think not. On the other hand the very rapid rise of the market in 2014 had an equal number of reasons, although nobody bothered to analyze things that closely. What then has caused the very phenomenal rise and fall of the live cattle (beef) market? How about High Frequency Trading (HFT)? Ever heard of it? Well it’s here and it can turn a market around in a heartbeat.

Most are aware of the Futures Market. For those of you who are not, futures are used, or rather were tradition-ally used, as a means to insure or better limit against the risk of the fat cattle market as well as other commodity markets. The “traditional” use is now only a rather small part of the “parking place” equity that fund managers and their like, use as they embrace the commodities market. Opinions vary but it does seem that, at least initially, the commodities market seemed a good place to

US MARKET from the editors desk - Paul Redner

The possibility that grass-fed red meat could help reduce heart disease is to be explored by AgResearch and Hawke’s Bay company Firstlight Foods, in a project awarded a share of a $7 million research fund.

The High Value Nutrition National Science Challenge project aims to build the science behind innovative food products and the grant covers the spectrum of NZ food production, including red meat, mussels, kiwifruit and A2 milk.

Firstlight Foods managing director Gerard Hickey said the grant was a significant boost for the company as it

worked to target the high value premium beef market with its grass-fed wagyu meat. For more information, visit http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/74694653/

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

7

US MARKET (CONT.)

park funds when conditions in the equity market demanded it. Somewhere along the way it seems that these managers found that their input could in fact move the market. Nothing can move a market like input and that input in the form of contracts and lots of them

could move the market. Wait, it gets worse. Suppose not only do we introduce a huge volume of business but do so via a high speed computer that allows contracts to be processed at a superhuman rate. What you end up is a techno, or machine induced rally or panic as you prefer. There have been assertionsto this phenomena, but a lot of industry observers are dismissing this explanation as simplistic.

The usual reasons don’t, however account for the largest drop in the history of the market.

RESEARCH ON GRASS FED BEEFfrom NZFarmer December 8 2015

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

8

The government is prepared to hold full-fledged discussions over assistance measures for farming households that could be negatively affected by the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, which was recently sealed by participating countries.

“We’ll consider all possible domestic measures capable of coping with any problems,” Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The government plans to support such farmers as producers of luxury Japanese-brand beef and other high-quality farming products that can be exported, as well as farmers who will invest in expanding the sizes of their production.

Under the basic TPP agreement, it was decided that the United States will set a tariff-free import quota for Japanese beef to allow Japan to increase exports of domestically produced beef.

Japanese beef exports could increase further since Japanese luxury-brand beef has been riding a washoku Japanese food cuisine boom overseas. To increase production volumes of high-priced

Wagyu beef, the government is planning to expand a range of assistance measures including subsidies for transplanting fertilized eggs of Wagyu cattle into milk cows and improving cattle barns.

Based on the recently signed basic trade deal, the Cabinet Office will likely compile an impact assessment for domestic farming industries as early as November. The government and ruling parties will then likely calculate the necessary budget for domestic measures.

The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Zenchu) raised concerns about the content of the basic agreement on Tuesday in a statement issued under the name of its president, saying, “Budgetary spending and all other possible measures are essential.”

For more information visit the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002474202( Sign up required to access the article in its entirety )

JAPAN GOVERNMENT MULLS ASSISTANCE from the Japan News October 06, 2015

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

9

Most of you will recall the agreement on Data sharing that came out of the First International Wagyu Conference in Australia earlier this year. The following article from the Australian E-Newsletter gives us an in-troduction to the world of information that’s out there and available to us.

Also it makes us aware of the real lack of information and information gathering capability that we have. The development of EBV’s which is an on going but slow going project is really the future of our breed.

The task of discovering the best Wagyu genetics for Marbling and Marbling Fineness has become much easier with EBVs for those revenue driving traits now available on 78,657 animals in Wagyu Australia’s data-base. This is a dramatic 10 fold overnight increase on

the previous 7,893.With the rapid growth in demand for elite Wagyu beef in Australia and globally, production is expanding rapidly, with major opportunities available for producers and processors. Well described, high performing Wagyu genetics are in high demand. In response, Australian Wagyu seedstock registrations doubled in 2013 and increased a further 14% in 2014.

The Australian Wagyu Association has used world renowned BREEDPLAN genetic analysis technology since 1992, producing Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) to describe the economically important traits in Wagyu production, including fertility, maternal, growth and carcase.

Read more at http://wagyu.org.au/discovering-wagyus-best-marbling-genetics/

DISCOVERING WAGYU’S BEST MARBLING GENETICSfrom Wagyu.org December, 2015

In this study, we will establish the nutritional composition of beef from grass-fed and grain-fed full blood Black Wagyu and Red Wagyu, Black and Red Wagyu F1, and prime Angus steers. It has been established that the more oleic acid in beef, the greater the overall palatability of the beef. Oleic acid provides a more fluid mouth feel, which is perceived as more desirable. Our laboratory also has demonstrated that high-oleic acid ground beef increases HDL-cholesterol increased significantly in men and women.

Oleic acid can be increased in beef by selection of breed types that deposit more oleic acid, by grain feeding, or by a combination of appropriate genet-ics and grain feeding. Carcass fat from Japanese Black cattle contains considerably more oleic acid, than car-cass fat from typical U.S. domestic cattle. The same is true for marbling fat from Japanese Black and American Wagyy cattle. The primary determinant of lipid melting

points is stearic acid, and beef from Japanese Black and American Wagyu cattle contains much less stearic acid than beef from conventional cattle.

In one study from our laboratory, Angus steers were raised to 26 months of age, whereas 7/8 American Wagyu steers were raised to 34 months of age. Cattle were fed limited amounts of a finishing ration with a targeted rate of gain of 2 pounds/day. The Angus steers attained a Japanese Beef Marbling Score (BMS) of 4.50, whereas the American Wagyu steers achieved a BMS of 7.30, graded at the 6th rib by Japanese grading standards. For comparison, cattle that grade USDA Prime have BMS scores of less than 4.0. Twelfth rib intramuscular lipid percent was 14.5% for Angus steers and 18.9% for American Wagyu steers.

The proposed research will, for the first time, document that full blood Wagyu steers fed only pasture and hay will produce higher quality carcasses than Angus steers fed the same high-roughage diet. Based on our previous research (described above), we propose that F1 Wagyu steers will be intermediate in the ability to accumulate marbling and oleic acid. Full blood, registered Black Wagyu, Black Wagyu F1, full blood Red Wagyu, and Red Wagyu F1 steers (n = 20 for each breed type) will be obtained from Wagyu producers around the U.S. Additionally, 20 Angus steers will be obtained from the research herd at the Texas A&M University McGregor Research Center. It is projected that the Wagyu steer

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

10

ESTABLISHING NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITIONfrom Dr. Stephen B. Smith December, 2015

calves will be born Spring 2016 and shipped to Texas A&M University during early Fall 2016. The Angus steer calves will be born late Fall 2016 and started on their dietary treatments Spring 2017. All F1 steers will be produced from Wagyu sires/semen and Angus dams. Steer calves will be shipped by the individual producers to the Texas A&M University McGregor Research Center. Upon arrival, all calves will be allowed free ac-cess to native pasture and provided creep feed to allow adaptation to the new environment. Half of the cattle (n = 10 for each breed type) will be fed a corn-based, finishing ration. The remaining cattle (n = 10 for each breed type) will be raised on pasture without supplemental grain (grass-fed).

Angus steers will be raised to 18 months of age and Wa-gyu steers will be raised to 26 months of age. Cattle will be transported by cattle trucks to Sam Kane Beef Processors, Inc., Corpus Christi, TX. Cattle will be slaughtered by standard industry procedures following an overnight fast. Carcasses will be chilled at 4°C and graded 48 hours postmortem by federal inspectors. After carcass grading, samples of the 12th – 13th lon-gissumus muscle rib section (bone in) from each carcass of each breed type will be removed, vacuum packaged, and frozen at -20°C until analyzed. Following guidelines provided by each supplier of the Wagyu steers, whole carcasses or primals will be shipped to the preselected packing plants for further processing. Samples of the rib steaks will be used to measure total intramuscular

fat, fatty acid composition, lipid melting points, and cholesterol. All chemical analyses will be conducted at Texas A&M University.

InvestigatorsStephen B. Smith (contact PI), Regents Professor, Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Phone: 979-845-3939, E-mail: sbsmith@tamu.eduSherwin Siff, M.D., Clinical Professor, Baylor College of Medicine and UTMB, Galveston, TXH. Russell Cross, Professor and Head, Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M UniversityGary C. Smith, Professor, Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M UniversityRod Bowling, Owner, AgriFood Solutions InternationalJimmy Horner, Ph.D., CEO, Protocol Technologies, Bridgeport, TX

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

11

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

11

ESTABLISHING NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION (CONT.)

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

What you should know about VFD.

Any of our members who are feeding cattle in a commercial feedyard should be familiar with the new requirements on feeding cattle as they relate to antibiotic use. Those who are feeding to an organic or Natural finish will not be concerned with these regulations, but it’s always good to know what’s going on in the marketplace.

Changing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regu-lations regarding the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) have been a prominent topic of discussion in beef industry trade media. But what do these new regulations really mean for cattle producers, veterinarians and feed distributors? Here is a quick guide to understanding the basics of the Veterinary Feed Directive.

1. A VFD will only be required for antibiotics in the feed or water, not injectables.

2. VFDs will only be required for antibiotics considered “medically important to humans”, which includes the following antibiotics used in beef cattle: o Tilmicosin (currently requires a VFD)o Neomycino Tylosino Virginiamycino Chlortetracyclineo Oxytetracycline 3. Antibiotics in the feed cannot be fed off-label, even with a veterinarian’s consent. This is current law and will not change with the new VFD regulations.

4. Start building relationships with a veterinarian and feed distributor now! The new VFD regulation will be active for all “medically important” fed antibiotics by January 1, 2017.

For the full article, please visit: http://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/beef/4535/26318

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

12

Veterinary Feed Directive from University of Nebraska-Lincoln

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

13

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

Your American Wagyu Association will be manning a booth, again this year, at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual meeting in San Diego. Last year our focus was on breeding bulls primarily for first calf com-mercial heifers. This seemed to work real well and we got a lot of interest and bull sales as a result. Keep- in mind that the commercial cattleman is primarily inter-ested in calving ease and not high price3d genetics. The average on the breeding bulls last year was about $4,700, but that was an “UP” market and we all know that’s not the case today. If you do have a bull or several bulls for sale and you can let them go in the range of probably $$K, (just a guess). , send your name and contact

information to Michael at the home office. He’ll put your name on a list that we’ll distribute to booth visitors.Actually we’ve doubled our exhibit space this year at that show and we’ll have a meet case with different primals displayed. If you want your name in lights do-nate some meat. Again contact Michael for the details.

HAVE A BULL FOR SALE?from the editors desk - Paul Redner

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

14

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

14

Verified Beef of Bozeman Montana a USDA source and age verified program has come up with a more advanced look at feeder calves. Most of you are familiar with process verified programs and how their documentation of a calf crop impart added value to the producer. The actual value is difficult to establish with several programs in the fold and the USDA offering only weak excuses as to why they can’t rack such programs through sales and sale barns as they do with all sales. However it is well established that such a program does produce value.

Capitalizing on this success Verified Beef has taken another major step to provide more value to the consumer. Their Reputation Feeder Cattle Program www.reputationfeedercattle.com describes a program that looks at the “Genetic Merit” of a calf herd. VB uses a starred evaluation system, similar to the Former Pfizer system to evaluate the genetic potential of calves in several areas. Included are Average Daily Gain, Carcass weight, feed gain, ribeye area, yield grade and percentage of choice.

This program relies on information authorized by the producer for VB to secure from his breed’s registry. The system is based on EPD’s and of course that wouldn’t be possible with Wagyu as we have yet to establish a meaningful data base. With the help of our producers this can change.

The beef cattle world is constantly changing and I think we can all see when these programs will be of value to us. We need to first develop our data and when we do that column “percentage of choice” will be changed to “percentage of prime”.

GENETIC MERIT

5 COUNTRIES HAVE MORE CATTLE THAN PEOPLE

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

15

I am pleased to announce that we have several new staff joining the AWA team.

Chris Kastella will temporarily be moving into the accounting assistants position starting Monday Nov 30 until a permanent staff member has been appointed & Michelle Norton will be moving into a general adminis-tration / registration position which Ashlee Carter will be vacating. Michelle will be joining us on Dec 7.

Ashlee had been with the AWA for over 2 years and she recently decided to go back to school to pursue other interests. Her bubbly personality will be sorely missed around the office. We will also be without our graphic guru Jon Hayenga who has been offered a full-time

position so his skillset will be greatly missed after a 15 month internship. We are currently working with the local Community College to offer another internship to another graphic design student, so hopefully we have some good news around the corner!

Ashlee’s last day was Nov 24 and Jon’s last day was Nov 25 so we wish them both all the best in their future endeavors.

On behalf of the AWA team we would like to extend a warm welcome to both Chris and Michelle. They both bring a wealth of experience that we will definitely draw from and continue the great work that is being done.

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

A Bar N Ranchcontact Cade Nichols 972-978-9296

A to Z Feeders contact Jim Skartvedt 712-243-4515

Agri Beef contact Office 208-338-2500

Imperial Wagyu Beef contact Lawrence Adams 402-426-8512

Jackman Florida Wagyu Beefcontact Mark Hoegh 903-910-9121

Mishima Reserve Wagyu Beefcontact Shane Lindsay 208-941-3793

Morris Stock Farmcontact Joe Morris 806-922-5274

* If anyone else is in the market for stocker calves, feeder calves or fats just send us an e-mail with your contact information and we’ll post you to our buyers list. *

WAGYU CATTLE BUYER$

NEWS FROM THE OFFICE......

DATES TO REMEMBER

2016 National Western Stock Show Jan. 18-23 Denver, CONCBA Trade Show - San Diego, CA Jan. 27-29Texas Wagyu Association April 22Steaks are High sale April 23Designer Wagyu - Waukesha WI Aug. 06 Prime Time International Sale

COMEDY CORNER

DON’

T FOR

GET..

.

DEC. 18, 2015

NOV. - DEC.2015

AWANEWSLETTER

16

WA/OR CO MT/WY CA NV/UT AZ/NM /ID AL AR FL GA LA/MS KY/TN

wts9-108-97-86-75-64-5

8-97-86-75-64-5

utilcn/cutbulls

wts9-108-97-86-75-64-5

8-97-86-75-64-5

utilcn/cutbulls

wts9-108-97-86-75-64-5

8-97-86-75-64-5

utilcn/cutbulls

STEER137-142 143-148 133-138 131-137 132-137 127-137143-148 147-159 138-143 136-142 137-143 132-142149-155 150-164 143-149 141-148 142-150 137-148157-166 157-169 150-159 146-158 148-161 142-156175-186 179-199 170-180 169-181 168-181 167-182197-209 202-217 192-202 189-201 190-204 185-200HEIFER131-136 128-142 129-134 127-133 125-133 123-133141-147 140-153 134-140 132-139 133-141 128-139144-153 139-159 136-145 135-144 134-147 131-145153-164 148-170 151-161 150-161 147-159 147-162176-188 176-194 170-180 167-179 168-182 163-178COWS62-72 61-72 63-69 64-70 59-69 62-7159-69 52-69 57-63 59-67 54-64 56-6687-97 84-96 72-83 71-83 70-87 72-85

STEER134-138 133-142 141-146 141-146 135-139 139-144142-146 138-147 145-150 145-150 144-148 143-148146-151 141-151 150-156 153-159 146-153 149-155148-155 146-160 155-164 162-171 155-162 159-168162-172 165-190 179-190 176-187 185-195 173-184193-205 183-211 198-210 195-207 200-212 192-204HEIFER130-134 129-135 131-136 135-140 132-136 132-137135-140 133-142 144-150 138-144 137-142 135-141137-144 137-147 143-152 144-153 141-148 141-150145-155 137-160 152-163 154-165 148-158 151-162163-175 156-176 180-192 178-190 163-175 175-187COWS62-68 61-68 65-75 66-76 58-65 65-7556-64 55-65 59-69 57-67 54-60 57-6782-92 84-92 84-94 80-90 91-95 82-92

STEER131-135 132-136 127-131 131-135 131-135 134-138136-140 135-139 130-134 134-138 135-139 136-140140-145 137-142 135-140 139-144 139-144 135-140143-150 146-153 139-146 142-149 143-150 145-152155-165 166-176 150-160 152-162 157-167 166-176184-196 191-203 183-195 184-196 183-195 180-192HEIFER127-131 129-133 123-127 127-131 127-131 120-124131-136 132-137 127-132 131-136 131-136 125-130136-143 133-140 133-140 136-143 136-143 131-138137-147 137-147 134-144 136-146 139-149 135-145153-165 148-160 149-161 150-162 156-168 158-170COWS69-78 62-67 68-76 69-77 62-72 60-6566-71 55-62 64-71 65-72 56-66 60-6485-93 82-89 91-98 92-99 85-95 85-94

West — Feeder cattle prices were mostly $9 to $12 lower. Calf prices were mostly $6 to $14 lower. Slaughter cow prices were mostly $2 to $6 lower. — Chad Spearman

Southeast — Feeder cattle prices were $8 to $10 lower for the week. Calves were mostly $5 to $12 lower. Market cows were $2 to $5 lower. — Troy Applehans

Central — Feeder cattle prices were $5 to $15 lower for the week. Calves were also $5 to $15 lower. Market cows were $1 to $4 lower. — Troy Applehans

TX KS/MO ND/SD NE OK IA

West & Northwest Central Southeast

It’s not a job for everyone. It’s ajob for you.Let’s stand for what we believe in. We believe in you. It’s a lot of responsibility—your cattle, your land, your community and your business—and they mean as much to us as they do to you.

Let’s stand together at responsibleBeef.com.

2 Giralda Farms • Madison, NJ 07940 • merck-animal-health-usa.com • 800-521-5767Copyright © 2015 Intervet Inc., doing business as Merck Animal Health, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.5/15 BV-48776-05R