“Getting Out of the Norm – Marketing Cattle”

By: Dallas Gale

 

There is a story I heard a while back, about a woman who used to cut the back ¼ of her roasts off and throw them away before she put them into the oven. One day her daughter asked why she did it. Puzzled the woman thought I do it cuz’ that’s how my mom does it but thought that there must be some reason to why, maybe it made it more tender, or juicy. Still puzzled the mother called her mom and asked. The reply she got was “because my mom did it”. They both decided to contact the great grandmother to the daughter to get to the bottom of it. When asked, the great grandmother simply said “I had to my oven was too small”.

 

All of that time and meat was wasted because no one was willing to question the norm. Think about how many things you might be doing without knowing why. In regards to marketing cattle, I believe we do things the way our dads, and grandpas did them. Raising cattle is hard enough as it is, let’s not waste ¼ of our meat, or profits, or time, simply because we are too afraid to challenge the norm.

 

I conducted research and experimented marketing strategies in different ways than the “norm” through my family ranch here in Cedar City, UT. The cattle market has been run the same way for decades and no one seems to have any better ideas or better ways to influence the market and find different ways to market cattle. This project resulted in a better understanding of and new ideas of local cattle markets of Cedar City, Utah as well as ways to market Cedar City cattle outside of the Cedar City market.

 

I reached out to ranchers here in Southern Utah as well as rancher outside of the local market. We had lengthy discussions regarding strategies of cattle marketing that they have used and ideas that they have had. We also discussed my plans for new and innovative ways to market cattle. I found that the majority of cattlemen in the area are open to new ways of marketing cattle as long as it gives them options on cattle prices. 

 

I was able to market 3 heifers and was actually able to sell 1 heifer cow in different ways than “the norm”, with one transaction still pending. Although the transaction is still pending, I was able to learn and accomplish my goals and outcomes for this project. With the markets being influenced so heavily on government regulations, the new and innovative ways and/or options I participated in will help hard working locals have better ways to turn their hard work into greater success. 

 

In my original proposal, I identified the specific ways that would attempt to market these heifers. I identified that I was going to attempt to market 3 heifers. The 3 ways I identified and marketed cattle in were:

•             “On the Hoof Marketing” – I attempted to add value to the sale of cattle by letting consumers see the product before it ended up in little white packaging, and let them be involved in the production of the beef itself. By doing this people get the experience as well as the knowledge that beef does not come from Walmart, it comes from cattle ranches. I did this by inviting an individual from big city California to come and participate in cattle work, then gave him the sales pitch to buy cattle for his family directly from us where you know the quality of the meat. The transaction is still pending.

•             “Direct to You Marketing” – I loaded and hauled cattle to be sold in a different auction market than just here in Cedar City. I hauled them to Salina Utah and penciled out the costs vs. the benefits. Heifer was sold and was not profitable to a margin that was worth it.

•             “Buy in Bulk Marketing” – I used word of mouth and written word strategies to let locals know that they can buy home grown hormone free beef in bulk for a cheaper price than the grocery store. The transaction is still pending.

 

By experimenting new ways to market cattle, I was able to educate others on the different options out there to sell cattle. This will help local ranchers make the most educated decisions on what is best for their ranches, cattle, and way of life. By providing more options for cattle sales, we will be able to have more say of what our cattle market for on a local basis.

 

Together we will be able to be the best ranchers with the most options possible.