| Integrated Vertical Cooperative |
 |
Cooperating Feeders
| The Customer
Decision Support System REQUIRES
feedlot DATA for individual
cattle. Not all feedlots are equipped or interested in providing
individual information. Moreover, we PLAN
TO IDENTIFY the SIRES OF
the individual ANIMALS
having the HIGHEST NET RETURN
based on the combination of feedlot costs and carcass value. This
requires DNA SAMPLES
be taken, identified and saved FOR
EACH INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL being fed. Again, not all
feedlots are equipped or interested in adding this function to the
services they provide.
In addition, we are interested in FEEDERS who WANT high QUALITY CATTLE rather than "commodity cattle". These FEEDERS must HAVE a proven track RECORD of FEEDING and MANAGEMENT to secure the HIGHEST possible RETURN on the individual cattle being fed. This means sorting, and marketing cattle when they are finished and ready to be sold, not full pen closeouts. Again, not all feeders offer this kind of service. Fortunately, there are a number of feeders who meet our profile and will provide these services. We are CURRENTLY EVALUATING FOUR feeders in Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. These feeders are being EVALUATED ON CRITERIA we have established for this purpose. A part of our criteria is that they have a reasonable APPROXIMATION to a PACKING PLANT. In addition, we plan to have ACCESS TO as many Packers as is geographically feasible TO MAXIMIZE the availability of the various GRIDS. This is done in order to have as many alternatives as possible TO OPTIMIZE the economic VALUE of the finished cattle. We anticipate these feeders will be successful in meeting our requirements. If so, they will become the nucleus of the network of feeders participating in the PMB Integrated Vertical Cooperative. We will CONTINUE TO EVALUATE feeders over a wide geographical area UNTIL our NETWORK CAN SUPPORT the needs of our present and future BULL CUSTOMERS wherever they may be located. |