Customer Service Is Top Priority At Wulf Cattle

0:00The Ranch It Up radio show starts right now. Good day, everyone. And thanks for riding with us on this all new episode of the Ranch It Up radio show. I'm Jeff Tigger, Earhart and I'm Rebecca Warner, aka back. A big thank you goes out to our sponsors and partners for today's episode, CK Bar Ranch, Jorgensen Landon cattle, livestockmarket.com, ranch channel.com, Sire buyer, Wolf cattle, Westway feed products, and this fine radio station. First and foremost, thoughts and prayers to so many in Nebraska affected by wildfires. 750,000 plus acres have been burned, making this the largest wildfire in Nebraska history. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen issued an emergency proclamation on March 13th and response to the fire, deploying the state national guard to assist local fire crews.

1:01In an effort to help producers, the Nebraska cattleman disaster relief fund activated the disaster relief account and is accepting monetary donations until further notice. We have the link to the fund in the show notes at RanchItUpShow.com. Included in that link will be information to donate hay and supplies and several hot lines that are set up around the state. Now I know for myself, I've not dealt with wildfires. I've seen way too many blizzards, one too many floods in my life. Mother nature can be brutal as all I can say. Tigger, you've been up and close with wildfires. When I lived in Oklahoma and what was that like 10 years ago, something like that, I think that terrible fire was, I tell you what, it is such a scary situation when you get to that point where you just have to start cutting barbed wire fence and you have to start tearing corals apart just to get livestock out because that minutes turns into seconds. So I mean, we can't say enough thoughts and prayers out to so many people affected

2:03in Nebraska. So again, we do have the link to the Nebraska cattleman in the show notes at RanchItUpShow.com. A number of different hotlines and numbers, but there are relief efforts. I know that are set up across the state, the Salvation Army. I mean, many, many, many communities. So you just have to Google and you will find somebody within a stone throw that is willing to help out. But again, thoughts and prayers to so many people in Nebraska. Okay, news. What else you got for us? Thousands of workers for the world's largest meat packing company began a two week strike Monday in Colorado, threatening to make already costly beef, even more expensive for US consumers. The first walk out at a US beef slaughterhouse in four decades follows accusations from union officials that the company retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices. They said the company offered wage increases of less than 2% annually, which is below Colorado's inflation rate. Union officials said 99% of the plants 3800 unionized workers voted to

3:06strike more than 2600 showed up at the picket line by early Monday, afternoon and others were expected to check in over coming days. The union said its workers performed some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the country and deserve higher wages and better health care. It said JBS and many cases has charged workers 1100 dollars or more to offset the company's expenses for personal protective equipment. The strike comes at a 75 year low in US cattle numbers with a January first inventory of 86.2 million animals down 1% from the prior year. The decline has been driven in partly by drought and low prices offered to ranchers. Meanwhile, beef prices have soared to record levels. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, have also curved imports, pressed to act on affordability issues after Republican losses last November, Trump accused foreign owned companies of driving up US beef prices and asked the Department of Justice to investigate.

4:06The price of 100% ground chug beef more than doubled over the past two decades from $2.55 to $6.7 per pound according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase has added to economic anxiety in the US. The Trump administration has promoted a trade deal with Argentina in efforts to lower prices for food, including beef. According to a livestock market advisor for industry consultant, Everig, the Greeley plant has about 6% of the total US beef slaughterhouse capacity. I am sure Kirk will cover a bit more about this later in the program. Beef prices have climbed steadily over the past several years. Ground beef that once felt like a dependable value now commands a noticeably higher price per pound. Steak prices have risen sharply since 2020. Retail averages remain near historic highs. The Wall Street Journal put it plainly. High prices are the new normal in the US beef market. Under normal market conditions, sustained price increases often demand. This hasn't happened with beef.

5:08Despite elevated prices, consumer spending on fresh beef continues to grow. Beef remains the largest contributor to fresh meat sales in the United States. And total retail dollar sales are at record levels. The most important story is not the price itself, but the durability of demand. The economic explanation is real, but it doesn't fully capture what's happening in people's kitchens. The deeper story is cultural and psychological. Beef holds a distinct place in American food culture with survey data from beef research consumer insights program showing that 71% of Americans eat beef at least weekly burgers, tacos, brisket, mealof, and steaks for celebrations are woven into routine and tradition. These meals represent familiarity and share experience. When budgets tighten, households often reduce discretionary spending before giving up core food rituals. Consumers prioritization of protein for strength, satisfaction and overall wellness reinforce that loyalty. Beef benefits from strong perceptions around protein quality and nutrient density.

6:10That positioning supports willingness to pay. Consumers are responding to higher prices, but many are adjusting within beef rather than leaving it. Ground beef remains the volume leader at retail and often becomes the practical option when premium cuts feel out of reach shoppers shift from rib eyes to ground beef by larger packs, watch for promotions and move between branded and private label offerings beef staying power is not accidental. It is rooted in culture, nutrition perception and consumer habits. Those fundamentals remain durable. That's all for the news. Time for a quick break. The ranch and a radio show will be right back. Wolf cattle. Presents the 38th opportunity sale of 2026 Thursday, April 2nd, 300 registered limousine Limflex and Angus Bulls, fall yearlings and spring yearlings, plus 30 registered females online only with live bidding through superior livestock and DV auction sale details at wolf cattle dot com DV auction superior livestock and ranch channel wolf cattle where beef is our business.

7:15Bull and female sales commercial heifers products, services and information. It's all on ranch channel dot com. Make it easy on yourself. Head to ranch channel dot com on your phone. Click those three little dots in the corner and save it to your home screen. Use it like it. Love it. Ranch channel dot com. Welcome to sire buyer, a place where we connect cattlemen, the nation's number one destination for buying and selling breeding genetics in depth reviews and upbeat news on your favorite sires. Sire buyer features the top Angus Bulls across the country. Be sure to sign up to receive your directory by emailing info at sire buyer dot com. If you're looking for the best place in breeding genetics, you've just found it. It's the sale worth waiting for CK bar ranch. Semintol and Semangus Bulls designed at pounds and profit to your program were bulls offer the best of both worlds with proving having ease and growth to maternal strength. Join the CK bar ranch crew Friday April 3rd at St.

8:17Onge livestock in St. Onge South Dakota, bidding by online at DV auction and videos catalogs and sale information available at ranch channel dot com and CK bar ranch dot com. Join us April 3rd in St. Onge South Dakota for a powerful set of bulls ready to go to work for you. Welcome back to the ranch and up radio show customer service is not just important. It is the foundation at Wolf cattle. In fact, it's mandatory their open house and production sale is coming up. It's right around the corner featuring limousine, limb flex and Angus genetics. Casey Fanta joins us today talking about the wolf cattle program and how they help customers find the perfect walk in boats to fit their outfits. Hey, Casey, thanks for coming on the program. Let's first talk about the open house that's coming up next week. Tuesday and Wednesday and because I know that's very important that's coming up next week on Tuesday and Wednesday on the 24th and 25th.

9:22That is an extremely important part of your operation, not just for customer service, but creating matches, finding just the right genetics, getting to know customers. Why did you start that and how does that kind of fit into your program? And then we'll get into how the bulls can actually be sold, which is interesting in and of itself. Yeah. So we started with the open house format when we had when we were well, after we were forced to go online with our bullsale during the COVID. We went online with the bullsale and everybody really liked it. We had them come in ahead of time and look at the bulls and we got to spend extra time with them and discuss their programs. And we feed a lot of our customers' calves. So we went over their carcass data with them and their health, you know, the health history on their calves and that type of thing. And we just really liked how it worked. And so the year after we could have went back to a live sale. I mean, things are still a little shaky as far as people getting out and about. But we could have went back to a live sale.

10:24But we decided to leave the sale online and continue with the open house format because it just gave us so much more time to connect with our customers. You know, the typical bullsale guys are running late and they get there. The hour before it starts and they rush through the pens and you might get to say hello. And that was about it. You know, and so we figured that when guys take the time to come and look through our bulls, we'd like to spend time with them and look through them with them and make suggestions. And it's just worked out really well for us. Now, if I'm interested in moving into Wolf cattle genetics, if I haven't before, I know you would prefer that if I could come to the Sandy Ridge Ranch in Nebraska and you could visit with me and my family and find out, you know, a lot of those fine-tuned details. But if I can't get there, especially in light of, you know, what's going on environmentally around everybody right now with fires and blizzards and you name it, I can still come in and purchase a bull. I can still call one of the crew from Wolf cattle and do that, right, case?

11:28Yeah, no, no. You can call me or anyone else anytime. And you know, if the open house dates don't work, we can set up a different time. We do a lot of sight on scene purchases. You know, if you, if we buy something for you or you buy it online, you're not happy. You basically don't own it. So we do a lot of that stuff. And you know, it's nice to meet in person. But nowadays everybody's busy. You got a lot going on and you know, accidents in Nebraska is a long way. It's from a lot of places where we do business. So we sell a lot of bulls that are that are sight on scene and we just make sure that you're happy when you get them. But I do know that that is a very important part of your program, especially, you know, that's maybe one of the good things that came out of COVID. If you could say something good happened because of it that it forced you into a situation where you really had to spend some time with your customers, be it on the phone,

12:29be it if you could actually get in person, if you could see cattle, if you could see their cattle and vice versa. And that has almost become kind of the moniker, I think, of Wolf cattle has been really focusing on exactly what that customer needs versus. Let's just sell them a bull. Yeah, well, and sometimes the reasons are just a little bit selfish because we feed those cattle. So we want, we want to success all the way through the chain, right? We want to make sure that they're using the right genetics that work for their program, that enhance their program and give us the best cattle to feed possible. We like to know the nuts and bolts of their operation and make sure that we got a good fit. Does that same scenario apply for feeding some of my calves where I may be purchased genetics or I'm trying to move in. Can I talk to one of the representatives and say, here's the type of cattle that I've been raising. Would you be interested, Casey, in purchasing these, of feeding these, of partnering,

13:30or also some of the other different arrangements that you have? We don't have a set of arrangements with anybody, but we do have people that we've been feeding their calves for 25, 10, whatever years, you know, and we just continue to do business. We just offer that, you know, if you're breeding the kind of cattle that we want to feed, we're going to have a competitive bid come sale time. And that's been our goal and our objective of our program. And having that competitive bid, it just takes to when it comes to the auction business, right? Right, right. We buy a log calves direct off the farm. They know that we've been competitive over the years and that we're going to pay for those cattle because we want them back in our yards. And now moving into the bull sale, and you and I have talked about this before and you just said it a little bit ago that the online format worked so well. You decided to stay with it, but it's with a twist. It's online only with live bidding. So there's that little caveat. Explain exactly what that is. Yeah, so the sale starts at 12 o'clock noon on April 2nd,

14:35and you'll tune in to eb auction or our superior livestock. And it's just like a live sale auctioneer sitting there. We go through, we sell in catalog order. So we start with lot number one and sell all the way through to lot 330. And so do you have some different people sitting in front of some computer screens there, live and fort worth where you're going to be at? So we have we have superior representatives are sitting there. You can contact them even by phone and they'll place your bids. Our representatives having a lot of bids are the DB or even superior now. They both have a click the bid format so you can just just click the bid and everybody's pretty comfortable with it anymore. Like you say, you know, some guys are kind of hesitant when we first started it this way, but once they found out they could do all this from the comfort of their own home or their office or the casino or wherever they choose, it's they've kind of taken a liking to it.

15:36So now let's talk a little bit about the cattle. There's, you know, 300 plus bows that are going to be offered spring yearlings. You've got fall yearlings in there representing limousine, limb flex, angus bows. You've also got a selection of some registered females in there as well. Let's talk a little bit about the cattle, the type of cattle that are going to be represented. We're going to offer right at 300 bulls. That's what we ended up cataloging. And then we've got we've got limousine, limb flex and some angus bulls. We strive for cattle. I got some muscle too on what we still we still value high-dressing percentages. We like a high percentage of retail product in our cattle, but over the years we have worked to improve the marbling. Everybody knows the value of a good quality grade these days too. So first and foremost, we like muscle on the bulls and we like cattle that will convert. We do a lot of feed efficiency testing. The feed efficiency is something that's very important to us as we, you know, we feed it. Like I said, we feed a lot of these cattle out.

16:38And it's the one thing that nobody can say they don't want in the cattle business because nobody wants to feed extra feed that they don't need to. Casey Fanto with Wolf Cattle, the open house next week, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Sandy Ridge Ranch at Conson Nebraska, the sale Thursday, April 2nd, tuning in on DV auction or superior livestock to bid. And you can call Casey at any time to ask questions about the cattle. We have all that information at your fingertips on ranchchannel.com or you can head to wolfcattle.com. Thanks, Casey. That was just part one for the rest of the story where we go in-depth into the bull offering the type of cattle finding the right genetics to fit your outfit. Genomics, all of those details check out the complete conversation by heading to the sale series found only on ranchchannel.com. You're listening to The Ranch It Up Radio Show and we'll be right back after this. When you're looking for the best way to raise beef, whether on pasture, crop residue,

17:42or in a dry lot, choose Westway feed products. Our liquid supplements boost forage utilization, efficiency, and sustainability. Find your nearest rep at 800-875-17 or visit WestwayFeed.com. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Call 800-875-17 or go to WestwayFeed.com If you're buying or selling cattle, make your first stop livestockmarket.com. Livestock Market features private treaty sales, online auctions, and live production sale bidding. You'll also find horses, sheep, goats, and hay. Check out the free livestock market magazine wherever you pick up tractorhouse and download the livestock market mobile app today. Jorgensenland and cattle. The nation's largest seedstock supplier invites you to the ranch and ideal South Dakota for the 54th annual Top Cut Angus Bulls sale powered by the mother load,

18:44featuring 200 registered Angus Bulls backed by proven maternal strength and long-term cow herd value. All sale information at ranchchannel.com and Jorgensenfarms.com. For 54 years, the Top Cut sale has been the standard for practical performance-driven Angus genetics. Jorgensenland and cattle after ranch Monday, April 20. Well, I run a 150 cow calf operation. Two years ago, Nick Small of Fullerton ran into scourge in his cow calf operation. I had a big problem with the toxicity of scourge and I went to my whole herd. The next year, after getting his herd on a dosage of farmatans, sweet chestnut, salmon. How many cases of scourge did you have? Zero. I'm not a kid. I ain't not a baby. Learn more at farmatanusa.com. We're called Joe Noppet 402-340-3323.

19:44Welcome back everyone to the Ranch It Up radio show. Y'all know what's next. It's that time in the program. We check in with Kirk Don's Box Stone X financial incorporated recap on the markets from the previous week. So Kirk numbers wise, what do you got for us today, buddy? Good morning, Kigger and all your listeners out there. As of Friday, March 13, we had the big news that the Greenley JBS plant was not receiving any cattle. Obviously, that shook the markets a little bit. As far as the futures go, April feeder futures closed the week at 3.43, 72 and a half. That's down 7.67 and a half on the week with the CME feeder index down 8.97 at 358.35. That left the basis at a positive $8.62 and a half cents versus March futures. April, live cattle closed the week at 2.35. That's down 4.17 and a half on the week. Cash trading 2.35 in all regions with some 2.36 is traded in Texas. That left the five area weighted average down 5.23, closing the week at 2.34.77 with the basis

20:45at a positive $3.92 versus April futures. Choice box was rallied again this week at 10.70, closing the week at 3.97.92. Weekly slaughter was 525,000 heads. That's 4,000 heads above last week and 61,000 heads below the same week last year. Dress weights were up 1 pounds at 896 pounds. That's 25 pounds higher than the same week last year. The combination left yearly production of 2 tenths of a percent at 7.6 percent below the same week last year. Fresh beef imports were up 1 percent, so 11 percent more than this time last year. That increase was driven by Brazil, which increased 4 percent on the week, the 31 percent over on the year, and Mexico up 3 percent on the week at 14 percent above this time last year. To wrap this up, December corn features closed at 491. That's up 650 on the week. The big concern with corn is spring fertilizer prices have rallied dramatically with the increase in oil. There's a real possibility that corn acres will be cut and switched to soybeans

21:51if corn can't rally enough to offset the increase in fertilizer. So before I say fairly well, I got a question for you about the the Greeley plant not receiving any beef. What kind of impact does that particular plant have on the overall production and processing capacity in and say a week's worth time here in the United States? Do you know that? JBS Greeley killed about 5,000 a week roughly. The numbers are not are not the concerning factor relative to the market. There's plenty of hooks available relative to the low cow herd numbers. The concern is the leverage that gives the packer over the feed lots. The packer needs to buy cattle a little less than the feed lot needs to sell on this week because that plant is closed. So it's not it's not a hooks question. There's plenty of hooks. It's a leverage question. And as you can see by the cash market that clearly swung leverage towards the packers a little bit. Are you curious about how EIDs fit into your current

22:52tagging system? Hey hey, I'm Shay Wanner and I host the casual cattle conversations podcast. I recently visited with Brittany Kelsey from the cattle tags team and she explains how EIDs can fit into your current tagging system. Here's a portion of our conversation. The EID tags we get a lot of questions about those and it's not really a complicated system. It's just very unfamiliar for producers and they haven't haven't used them as much so they're not as confident with it. One of the biggest benefits with these EID tags is that it reduces that error in it helps to contain all of your information within that EID number. One thing that we get a lot of questions about is oh hey I bought a bull from so-and-so and he has an EID tag. Can I scan that and see all of his life information? That would be really cool if it could do that but they don't. So all those EID tags do is just they store that premise ID number that the bull originated,

23:57what have originated from, but they don't actually store information. So that is one of the big misconceptions about that. Ready to tune into the full conversation? Check out the casual cattle conversations podcast on your favorite podcast player as soon as you're done listening to The Ranch It Up Radio Show. The Ranch Channel sales calendar Monday March 23rd Miller Angus Farms yearling in two-year-old Angus bulls and registered yearling heifers at Glacier Lakes Livestock Watertown South Dakota Tuesday March 24th you two quality seedstock 254 Red Angus and Angus Bulls along with 35 commercial heifers Cole Dale Alberta Canada Tuesday March 24th and Wednesday March 25th the Wolf cattle open house along with seminars to where the cattle and find the perfect match of over 300 limousine Limflax and Angus Bulls at the Sandy Ridge Ranch in Atkinson, Nebraska. Then on Thursday April 2nd is the online sale with live bidding through

24:59Devi Auction and Superior Livestock. ISA Beef Master's Private Treaty Bull and Heifer Sale is open for bids. Get ahold of Lorenzo to view the Beef Master Bulls and Heifers at the Ranch San Angelo, Texas. Friday April 3rd C.K. Bar Ranch, Semitol in Simangus Bulls, St. Ange, Livestock in St. Ange, South Dakota. We talked to Kelly just the other day and he said this is phenotypically the best set of bulls he has ever offered. Saturday April 4th, 6 Mile Ranch, Angus Red Angus in Simitol yearling in aged bulls along with 7 elite Red Angus Heifers and a select group of commercial Red Angus and Angus Heifers at the 6 Mile Ranch, Fur Mountain, Saskatchewan, Canada. Other sales coming up in April from some of the nation's most recognized seedstock providers, Volmer Angus Ranch, Prairie View Farms, Thomas Ranch, Dawginson Landon cattle and Gil Red Angus. All catalogs, videos, and online bidding platforms and sale information is available at ranchchannel.com.

25:59A big thank you goes out to our partners for today's episode C.K. Bar Ranch, Jorgenson Landon cattle, livestockmarket.com, ranchchannel.com, sirebuyer, wolf cattle, westwave feed products in this fine radio station. Crew, so glad you're all able to join us one more time as we ranch it up. Be sure to follow and like us on Facebook at ranchitupshow or email ranchitupshow at gmail.com. It calls 247 at 707 Ranch 20.707 726 2420. Spread the good word and join us again next week where it's always ticker and back approved. I usually end up saying that part. Stay ranchy and ranch it up.