I love explaining to professional marketing people how we go about marketing cattle in our industry. Most are amazed. They would argue we don’t really market our cattle; we simply offer them for sale.

In some respects, they are right, but they don’t understand how our industry has evolved. They do not understand that marketing a commodity product and marketing a differentiated product are two entirely different things.

We have been steadily moving away from commodity marketing for the last 40-50 years, to the point their argument that we must redefine what cattle marketing is has validity. However, I would argue taking an active role in marketing, rather than simply taking calves to the market and hoping for the best, is widely accepted.

The trap of tradition

I would argue the No. 1 hurdle we face is not accepting the role of marketing, but rather overcoming tradition. Have you heard the story of crab traps? Nobody could devise a trap a crab wasn’t able to escape from until someone stumbled across the simplest of traps — a tall wire trap with a large hole at the top. You simply put bait in the trap, and a crab crawls in. Soon others follow. They are a lot like humans in that they have a strong herd instinct and feel comfortable doing what everyone else is doing.

The crabs eventually eat the small amount of bait, but by then there are quite a few crabs in the trap. When a crab decides to crawl out, others reach up and pull it back in. The opening at the top of the cage never closes; it is the other crabs that prevent anyone from escaping.

Players would rather struggle from the free-throw line than be seen as different.

Tradition in marketing serves a very similar role. We can see the value of differentiating our product. The market has demonstrated significant premiums for those cattle that give buyers more information, more access to markets and more market flexibility, while reducing the risk of purchasing cattle. Buyers and sellers alike understand the value of genetics when it comes to increasing profitability and reducing risks. Both sides are understandably frustrated by the old commodity system where the “good” cattle subsidize the “poorer” cattle.

With that said, most cattle are still marketed conventionally, not because we don’t know there is a better way. It is just difficult to break away from the herd mentality.

Unconventional

Rick Barry shot his free throws underhanded (granny shot) and was widely successful. Rick Barry was one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history. Yet even though a lot of basketball players struggle shooting free throws the conventional way, there are very few who have attempted to shoot a granny shot from the free-throw line. The main reason is because players would rather struggle from the free-throw line than be seen as different.

There is not a lot of glamour in investing in superior genetics and taking an average price for them, but there is safety in doing it the way it has always been done. We are comfortable competing. We compare everything — weaning weights, weaned calf percentages, ranch entrances and the trucks we drive. We recognize the value of genetics and embrace the price differences we pay for bulls. But all of those are conventional or accepted norms.

Taking an active role in marketing your calves, and actively differentiating your calves when they are sold is simply a natural thing to do for many. Yet, many who have invested in superior Angus genetics are still electing to let those cattle enter the marketing stream with nothing more than a marketing agent stating, “XYZ ranch uses good bulls.”

Risk management

Buyers want to buy the better cattle. There is more margin in them and less risk. But, put yourself in their shoes. Without documentation and verification of the claims made about cattle, you can’t afford the risk of paying a premium, especially when you know you will be paying average prices for below-average cattle, as well.

Without documentation, all you have is reputation. Reputation is a great thing, and something we should always strive to maintain and develop, but reputation in our widely diverse industry is by definition very limited and difficult to attain.

AngusLink^SM was created to remove the risk for the sellers. It is simple. All you need to get started is the starting and ending calving date, and a list of the sire registration numbers that sired the calves. It carries virtually no risk and is extremely low-cost, with an extremely solid return on investment, or ROI.

AngusLink creates “reputation” cattle for most buyers, it provides the verified documentation that reduces risk and gives buyers the confidence to pay premiums, as well as the information they need to manage and market the cattle more effectively.

Most importantly, it begins to reward producers for the genetic merit they have created. It doesn’t require you to change the avenue in which you market your cattle, just the documentation you provide for your buyers.

Editor’s note: Troy Marshall is director of commercial industry relations for the American Angus Association. For more information about AngusLink,  click here [Lead photo by Wassiliy from Getty Images.]

Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, Vol. 17, No. 1-A