Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

American Simmental Association’s 70:70 grid hopes to increase premiums for for cattle that receive good yield and quality scores. Tri-State Neighbor photo by Lura Roti

The cattle in the Upper Midwest are some of the best, according to Mark Guge, owner of TwoRiver Cattle in Esterville, Iowa.

“There is no doubt about it - cattle in the Upper Midwest are some of the best cattle,” Guge said. “Packers want those cattle because they grade better.”

He is working with the American Simmental Association and JBS Swift & Company to get higher premiums for producers who raise cattle that have a good combination of yield and quality grades - from all over the United States, not just the Midwest. He is working to procure cattle for the 70:70 Beef Marketing Grid.

“This grid is an opportunity to reward cattle, not just for their quality grade, but also for their yield grade,” said Guge, who is the grid manager of the program. “A lot of your grids will focus more on quality - putting some big premiums on Primes and upper-end Choice, but it's all focused on the quality side of it. This program rewards for both.”

JBS Swift & Company approached the American Simmental Association, headquartered in Bozeman, Mont., to see if the association would work with the packer to increase the number of cattle that come through their plant that grade well in both quality and yield.

The association had been looking for an opportunity to bring higher premiums to their producers and the cattle industry - the relationship seemed like a win-win for both parties.

“We have been trying to build a system and set up relationships that would increase the premiums downstream,” said Marty Ropp, director of field services for the American Simmental Association. “Among the Continental breeds we are the highest marbling breed. We have spent a significant amount of time working with genetics to add marbling without reducing yield.”

The 70:70 Beef Marketing Grid has the goal to provide JBS Swift & Company with groups of cattle that at least 70 percent of which quality grade Choice or higher and are yield grades 1 and 2.

“The 70 percent goal is one that people have talked about for a long time,” Ropp said.

The American Simmental Association worked with JBS Swift & Company to put together a marketing arrangement that provides extra premiums - an average of $30 to upwards of $60 per head over market price - for cattle that meet these standards.

“This is good for the producer and better for the packer,” Guge said. “The fat that gets trimmed off a fat carcass and thrown on the floor is not worth a whole lot.”

Currently, Guge is responsible for managing the scheduling of all cattle that go in on the 70:70 Beef Marketing Grid.

He works directly with JBS Swift & Company to insure that the cattle receive fair premiums.

“We assist JBS Swift & Company in finding cattle that have a chance of being 70:70 - basically we are helping them procure cattle and in turn they will give producers a little extra money when they bring these high quality cattle to them,” Ropp said.

Even though the 70:70 grid is organized through the American Simmental Association the 70:70 grid program it is not limited to Simmental cattle.

“We don't build fences for this grid. If your cattle can be valuable on this grid, you need to have a chance to sell them,” Ropp said. “Rather than put a breed spec and say that all the cattle have to be at least Simm/cross, we let the quality of cattle dictate who plays.”

To learn more about the 70:70 Beef Marketing Grid, visit http://7070beef.com.

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