Capturing Superior Value on Sale Day ft. Josh Farley

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Welcome to Cattle Connect, your insight into Alabama's beef cattle industry.
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I'm your host Erin Beasley, and this is Cattle Connect, brought to you by the
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Alabama Cattlemen's Association.
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Welcome back to the Cattle Connect podcast. I'm your host Erin Beasley and as
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you know this is a podcast where we dive into all things cattle industry.
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Hey listeners I want you to know though first of all we are celebrating a milestone
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today as this is the 100th episode of the Cattle Connect podcast.
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So we're very proud about that.
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Today we're talking about one of the most important topics for any of our cow-calf
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operations out there and that is none other than how to bring value to your calves.
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We know that you are busy making sure that you have, you know,
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the best genetics and health programs that you can possibly have in order to
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get those calves on the ground.
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But when it comes to marketing strategies, every decision you make has an impact on your bottom line.
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And so we want to make sure that we share a lot of different resources we have.
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Today, we are joined by a representative from Superior Livestock Auction, and that is Josh Farley.
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And he's going to share with us about their platform and how they help producers
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maximize returns and reach buyers nationwide.
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So we're going to start off.
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Some of our listeners may know you. They might have done business with you before,
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but for those that don't, why don't you just start by telling us a little bit
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about who you are, where you're from.
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You and I, we figured out that we share something in common, don't we?
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Yeah, we figured out we grew up right across the river from each other.
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It's kind of a small world, but I grew up right there in Northeast Florida,
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a little town called Green Cove Springs.
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It's just south of Jacksonville. And I've been a rep since 2001.
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My dad, he came on as a rep in 1988, which is one year after Superior was formed.
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So kind of following in his footsteps and grew up in it. And dad,
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he ranched and traded cattle.
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And when he became a Superior rep, we, you know, we were right there with him.
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We didn't just help with the ranch stuff.
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We, we started helping him load cattle and everything. And, and,
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grew up in it and realized it was something that I
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enjoyed and something that I wanted to do too you know
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and it's kind of odd at an early age that you
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know that's what you want to do and that's kind of where I was you
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know eight or ten years old but fast forward
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through high school and went to college a day back and came home in 2001 the
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summer of 2001 that's when it started you know became a superior rep of my own
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you know so and it's just been it's been a good ride and And it's hard to believe it's been 24 years,
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almost 25 years that I've been a rep. But if you say it fast, it doesn't hurt as bad.
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Well, I got to ask, did you and your dad, did y'all both rep at the same time?
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Or how long did your dad rep for Superior? Yeah, he still reps to this day. Does he really?
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Yes, 77 years old and still reps.
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He shipped cattle yesterday in South Florida and filmed some cattle on his way
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back home for the next sale.
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How about that? Yeah, still loves it. And that's what I say. It's a good life to live.
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You get to see and meet so many different people. And, you know,
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it's brought me in contact with people I didn't know even existed, you know.
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And we've built relationships. And he's still doing business with people that
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he started off with in 88.
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Oh, wow. You know, I mean, it's something special, you know,
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to be able to have that long of a lasting relationship. Yeah.
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That's really neat. Yep. That's good stuff. Well, tell us a little bit,
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and your dad could probably really speak to this, but I would be curious how
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y'all would describe that, you know, working for Superior.
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How has that changed over the years from like maybe the 90s to where we are
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today with the changes in technology? I can't imagine how much that has evolved.
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Yeah, a lot has changed. A lot has stayed the same. Yeah.
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And there's a lot of things that, hey, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
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Sure. You know, the same mentality of doing business because at the end of the
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day, it's about reputation, integrity, and that's what's gotten superior as far as it has.
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Things that have changed, technology. Yeah. You just said it.
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And, I mean, it's mind-blowing. The things, like, they came to us a couple years
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ago and said, all right, we're about to start doing all our contracts on the
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portal. Well, I didn't even know what a portal was.
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You know, it was like, what the? And I was talking with a fellow rep in Kansas,
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and I told him, I said, Barrett, I'm not doing that portal deal.
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I'm just not going to do it, man. We have been writing contracts,
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handwritten contracts for all these years at works. I like sending it in, you know, that way.
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Farley, if you just take a chance, just try it. You'll love it.
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Just try it. Just try it. Famous last words. Yeah, yeah. Well,
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I tried it, and it was like, that's the only way to do it now.
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You know, and the technology is mind-blowing that I can pull up on my iPad,
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have a customer call me and say, hey, that mixed load of cattle we shipped in
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August of 25, you know, we're going to sell them on this next sale.
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How many steers, how many heifers did we have?
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Yeah. Give me just a second. I can pull it up and I can tell you.
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I can tell you the weights.
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I can tell you how much they slid, how much, you know, everything.
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Tell you who bought them. Tell you the day we shipped them, the day we sold them.
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And that is, it's mind blowing how easy it has made our life.
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I mean, I can do a contract in five to 10 minutes.
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Somebody that can type fast can probably do it quicker than that.
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You know, but the technology has really made a huge difference.
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Our website, you know, and back whenever it was first a website,
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it was just there's a website. Right.
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Spare your livestock and they may have, you know, sale dates,
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a schedule or something.
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Well, now, I mean, you can get on there and you can pull up sale results from
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way back, you know, And you can kind of see trends in the markets,
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and you can see scheduling, and it's really informative.
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There's definitely an immense amount of information at your fingertips these days.
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Oh, it's so crazy. It doesn't matter the industry you're even talking about,
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but just it's that instantaneous amount of information that you can just have it.
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That we just didn't have 10 years ago. That's it.
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It's amazing. And it has really boosted how we do business and it's really expanded our business. I bet.
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Because anything you need to know, you can pull it up on our website or,
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like I say, market results.
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You can look at lot details for every sale that we have, see what the cattle
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brought, your region or in California, however you want to look at it, you know, and that's
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It helps a seller stay in tune with the market. Yeah. So it's been pretty awesome.
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Well, good. Yeah, that's always
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fun just to kind of think about like how industries evolve and whatnot.
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And certainly just dealing in the load lot industry, how that business is conducted
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has changed tremendously.
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So, well, let's talk a little bit about, you know, just when you're dealing
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with your customers and all. And, you know, there's got to be some key factors
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that you guys are using when you're trying to help a customer determine,
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you know, how much value are they going to get out of their calves?
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And we all know today's market, it's hot.
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Oh, yeah. It is a hot market. I tell people all the time, it's a good time to
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be in the cattle business. Oh, it's a great time to be in the cattle business.
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It is. And so talk to us a little bit about how your customers and how producers
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can help themselves and really influence, like, the factors that you're going
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to point out to them. Like, hey, these are some good things to have in mind.
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You're going into maybe, you know, working with us on a load lot and selling your cattle?
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Yeah. You know, two of the main factors that come to mind, it's hard to say
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one or two or however many, but two of them are probably the most simple things,
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quality and health. Yeah.
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You know, and a lot of customers have both of it. Well, that's good.
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So what's another factor? Yeah. exposure.
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You know, at the end of the day, you may raise the best cattle in the Southeast
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United States, but if you don't have buyers looking at it, you've really done a lot of work
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for nothing. So you have to have the quality and the health is to a buyer is extremely important.
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Right. Number one, cattle have to perform.
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You just said it. Cattle, this market is unbelievably high. You know,
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we're about to, I feel like we're about to go test our highs again.
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It feels like it's coming, doesn't it? It's kind of felt like it's bounced and
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coming back, you know? And so a buyer has to have cattle that will perform.
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Well, in order to have cattle that to perform, you got to have genetics,
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but you also have to have health.
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And that's where our VAC programs come into play big time.
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Because if calf's not healthy, whether the calf, even if he gets sick and pulls
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through, he's still not going to perform on a daily basis.
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So you need something that'll keep coming.
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So the health is really important and building your reputation,
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you know, and that's what we're superiors founded on is to build your reputation,
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build the producer's reputation and get it out there and get it in front of
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as many buyers as you possibly can.
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And there's no better way to do it. We have 6,500 registered buyers.
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So we have the largest buyer base. There's over 6,500.
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Competition, right? Yes. A lot of competition. Just a good old friendly competition. Right.
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You know, and that's what it is. And then over the years, as you sell your cattle,
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enough people buy your cattle and they say, man, and I get it all the time.
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Hey, don't forget to tell me when so-and-so's cattle come up.
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I don't want to miss those again this year. I had them last year. Boy, they did good.
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And we get feedback from our buyers too that, hey, so-and-so.
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Man, their cattle, I like their cattle, but I liked this end of the cattle probably the best.
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I liked the charlotte end better than the black sir.
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So we bring buyers and sellers together. We're here to sell your cattle.
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We're not here to buy your cattle or, you know, I bet she'd take this for them.
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But, you know, such and such.
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No, we're here to get you the most we can get for your cattle. And.
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We're all for seller-buyer interaction, you know, and that's what it's about
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is building a relationship.
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Yeah. Because if a guy likes your cattle, he's coming back.
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Yeah, you hear that all the time. Yeah. I mean, you guys, you truly serve as
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the marketing arm of the farm for the producer.
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Right. I mean, you're helping them get as much exposure as possible.
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Exactly. And a lot of these farmers and ranchers, they're already doing this stuff. Right.
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You know, I'll talk to a new customer and say, what kind of vaccination program are you on?
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Well, I'm giving two rounds of this and two rounds of that. Well, you're on back 34.
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You're already on the VAC34 Plus. Have you been telling anybody about it?
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Well, I just tell them I got, you know, a vaccine, you know,
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I vaccinate them. Yeah. Well.
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Be specific. Yeah, let's be specific in it and let's showcase your cattle.
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Showcase what you do. Yeah, I'm using so-and-so bulls. Well,
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you're using a particular bull.
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We need to put that down there. You're paying all this money for these.
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So let's atomize this and let's get your cattle exposed.
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Yeah. You know, and it works. I mean, Superior will be celebrating 40 years in 2027.
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We've been 39 years in the business and it works. I mean, we're here and it's
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gotten as big as it has because it's working.
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Well, that definitely tracks with what you hear as you're talking.
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You know, it really doesn't matter, you know, who you're talking to in the marketing
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space. I think that most would agree that those are really, really important things.
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And I know it's something we stress with producers and try to,
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you know, just stress the importance of winning these cattle.
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Making sure they've got some type of health protocol.
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And then, like you said, making sure that people know that you're doing these
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things. It is important.
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It doesn't matter if you're carrying them to the stockyard or you're doing something
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through, you know, load lot sales or whatnot. People need to know what you're
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doing with the cattle. Right.
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And what type of cattle they're getting. You've put it in. You might as well.
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Yeah, might as well tell somebody about it. Read the benefits about it because,
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I mean, it pays in the end.
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Very good. Well, tell us a little bit, if you haven't worked for Superior as
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long as you have, what is one thing that really differentiates Superior in what
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you kind of y'all's approach or how you go about doing business and working with customers?
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What's something that you would say differentiate y'all from others that are
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in this marketing space?
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Our main thing is building relationships. We're here to work for the seller,
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all right? And we're trying to build relationships.
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And the buyers, they have to have confidence in what they're buying.
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And I mean, it doesn't matter if it's a calf or a yarland or a winged calf or whatever.
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It has to have confidence in it. So what we try to do is equip the buyers with
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the most comprehensive and relevant information detailed in our descriptions of the cattle,
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whether it be the vaccination programs or
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the genetic merits or we have superior progressive
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genetics let's know your bull battery you know and
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we try to not we try to give every small detail
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because small details lead to big details and we
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try to do it on a personal level yeah you know i
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mean it's not one size fits all type right type
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deal yeah you know everybody's everybody's cattle
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are similar nowadays everybody's cattle are still different so
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definitely you have to you know be sure you
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detail everything that's the main thing
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a lot of these sellers sell one time a year you know oh for sure we have we
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have producers that i mean we sell cattle for people that sell six or seven
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thousand a year we sell cattle for people that sell one load a year that one
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load of calves is just as important to this person as the 65 loads are to that
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person that's their payday for the year,
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So that's what sets us apart is we try to bring the two together.
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We try to bring multiple buyers to one person and cause competition pretty much.
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It's what it was. Hey, it's important. It's called true price discovery. Amen, brother.
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I've talked a lot about price discovery already. And that's what people,
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you show up to a new customer's place and they're, what you going to give me
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for your cash? I'm going to get you all I can get you for your cash.
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I'm here to make you make money. You know, I'm here to bring you the market to your farm.
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You know, I want to bring it to you. You don't have to load your cattle up until
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shipping day. Yeah, not until they headless. You know what I mean?
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And that means a lot to these people. I mean, and a lot of people don't realize it goes to shipping day.
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You know, stress. People don't understand what shrink costs them.
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And a lot of people that we go to their place, you know, they'll say,
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what can I do different? What can I do different?
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Yeah. Well, we can probably get these things out a couple hours earlier,
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you know, or not to throw off on anything, but we could probably do it a little
00:14:49.270 --> 00:14:52.650
quicker, save you some shrink. Yeah. You know, and...
00:14:53.081 --> 00:14:58.881
A lot of little details lead to big details. Right. And everything affects your bottom line. Every bit.
00:14:59.121 --> 00:15:04.241
Every piece of that does. That's it. Well, if we've got somebody that's listening
00:15:04.241 --> 00:15:09.881
and maybe they've not ever done anything with any type of company like Superior,
00:15:10.161 --> 00:15:12.941
but maybe you've piqued their interest here, Josh, already.
00:15:13.141 --> 00:15:17.581
If you've piqued their interest, what is the process if somebody has interest
00:15:17.581 --> 00:15:19.361
in potentially working with y'all?
00:15:19.581 --> 00:15:22.581
And if they've got a load of cattle that they want to get marketed?
00:15:23.081 --> 00:15:26.421
What's that look like? What's the steps of getting this done? Yeah.
00:15:26.741 --> 00:15:31.901
Usually a producer will call and say, I've got a load of cattle that I would like to sell.
00:15:32.361 --> 00:15:38.321
And what will end up eventually happening, usually quickly, is we show up.
00:15:38.721 --> 00:15:43.801
A rep shows up to you and looks at your cattle and establishes a headcount,
00:15:43.981 --> 00:15:46.921
base weight, you know, where you want to put the cattle in at.
00:15:47.141 --> 00:15:48.481
And we draw up a contract.
00:15:49.361 --> 00:15:53.221
And like we had a deadline Monday, a contract deadline.
00:15:53.741 --> 00:15:57.601
We got a new customer's cattle on this next sale, as a matter of fact.
00:15:57.721 --> 00:16:03.301
So this is how it happened this week as we speak, you know, drew up the contract,
00:16:03.701 --> 00:16:05.981
submitted it. It goes onto our website.
00:16:06.541 --> 00:16:11.521
Our sale is next Thursday. Our contracts have already been put in Monday.
00:16:12.041 --> 00:16:14.861
Our catalog is already up on our website right now.
00:16:14.861 --> 00:16:18.341
So if people are looking for cattle they can
00:16:18.341 --> 00:16:21.281
already look and see hey this these cattle here fit me
00:16:21.281 --> 00:16:25.921
so we're you're working pretty far in advance and we want to considering we
00:16:25.921 --> 00:16:30.501
want a rapid turnaround you know if if you call and you you tell me hey i want
00:16:30.501 --> 00:16:33.561
to put these cattle on the next sale we want to get the ball rolling quick for
00:16:33.561 --> 00:16:39.101
you and come out film the cattle yeah and upload the film and it's ready for sale day,
00:16:39.785 --> 00:16:44.825
Well, leading up to sale day, we usually sell on Thursdays. Is it,
00:16:44.965 --> 00:16:46.105
I was going to ask, are y'all weekly?
00:16:46.805 --> 00:16:49.345
We're bi-weekly. We have two sales a month. Okay.
00:16:50.105 --> 00:16:53.065
And some, you know, some months we have three sales a month.
00:16:53.345 --> 00:16:57.725
Yeah, depending on the inventory and all. Sure. And how the weeks fall and everything.
00:16:57.965 --> 00:17:02.525
But ahead of the sale, it's my job to say, hey, look, I need to call buyers.
00:17:02.765 --> 00:17:04.365
I have a list of them in my truck.
00:17:04.665 --> 00:17:10.825
And it's nothing for me to call 65, 70 buyers the day before the sale. Call them or text them.
00:17:11.305 --> 00:17:13.225
There's some buyers that you're not going to get them to answer,
00:17:13.385 --> 00:17:16.145
but you text them, they'll shoot your response right then.
00:17:16.465 --> 00:17:19.545
You know, so you contact your buyers and you say, hey, look,
00:17:20.025 --> 00:17:22.465
Aaron's got a load of calves on here. It's a new customer.
00:17:22.865 --> 00:17:27.105
Boy, it's a nice set of calves right here. And then you put your cattle out
00:17:27.105 --> 00:17:29.565
there and draw attention to them.
00:17:29.705 --> 00:17:32.045
You know, hey, you may want to look at this set of calves right here,
00:17:32.365 --> 00:17:35.665
this set of garlands right here. And that's kind of our job.
00:17:36.025 --> 00:17:39.465
And it goes back to what we were just saying. and I'm not trying to buy your
00:17:39.465 --> 00:17:42.045
cattle. We're here to sell it, to market your cattle.
00:17:42.285 --> 00:17:45.365
Sure. You know, to get them in front of as many eyes as we can get them in front
00:17:45.365 --> 00:17:47.245
of. So quick turnaround in the grant.
00:17:47.405 --> 00:17:50.565
If you want it to be... If you want it fast, we can do it fast.
00:17:50.765 --> 00:17:54.405
Or it can be an established relationship where maybe you're looking ahead to,
00:17:54.645 --> 00:17:57.485
you know, for us personally, you know, we market our cattle in the summer.
00:17:57.705 --> 00:18:00.665
That's right. You know, we're on that schedule. And so, you know,
00:18:00.925 --> 00:18:05.645
you could be months out even. That's right. And I met with a customer, it was last week.
00:18:06.261 --> 00:18:10.321
They're not going to be ready to sell their cattle coming off of grazing until March or April.
00:18:10.561 --> 00:18:13.821
But they want to go on and lay the groundwork now and, hey, come look at my
00:18:13.821 --> 00:18:17.841
cattle. So you go look at the cattle and then you build a game plan.
00:18:18.221 --> 00:18:21.701
You know, and then it's not, hey, when's your next sale? Next Thursday.
00:18:22.001 --> 00:18:23.701
I need your information this evening.
00:18:24.601 --> 00:18:28.021
That way you've got something established ahead of time. Do you guys,
00:18:28.241 --> 00:18:33.341
with y'all having a sale essentially every other week, how do y'all work with
00:18:33.341 --> 00:18:37.861
your customers? or do you work with them on any type of forward contracting?
00:18:38.241 --> 00:18:44.001
Do y'all do anything related to ways to try to limit their exposure to volatility in the marketplace?
00:18:44.161 --> 00:18:48.181
Considering we all know the cattle market can be volatile, one thing we try
00:18:48.181 --> 00:18:51.681
to emphasize to our members is maybe to look at livestock risk protection.
00:18:51.941 --> 00:18:55.521
Not many of our folks are gonna be playing too much in the features game,
00:18:55.701 --> 00:18:57.501
but certainly the LRP is an option.
00:18:57.681 --> 00:19:02.641
So do y'all do anything as far as those risk management programs to try to help customers with?
00:19:02.641 --> 00:19:07.021
We contract cattle, forward contract, and that's kind of something that Superior's
00:19:07.021 --> 00:19:14.121
been innovative in doing since the early days, is we sell a lot of cattle for future deliveries.
00:19:14.621 --> 00:19:19.301
And especially in the spring on calves, we'll start selling calves.
00:19:19.461 --> 00:19:23.481
And there's already some Florida calves sold for July delivery. Yeah.
00:19:24.061 --> 00:19:28.901
Already. Wow. And that gives a seller his flexibility to say,
00:19:29.061 --> 00:19:31.101
man, I like this market right here.
00:19:31.541 --> 00:19:35.141
It could get better, but it could get worse. But I like where we're at today.
00:19:35.681 --> 00:19:38.521
Put them on. Let's see where they hit.
00:19:39.011 --> 00:19:43.891
And let's give it a try, you know, and when things get high like this,
00:19:44.031 --> 00:19:49.551
a guy, you know, he wants to take the chance on riding it out for six months
00:19:49.551 --> 00:19:51.771
or. Take what you got right this second.
00:19:52.031 --> 00:19:54.371
Burn the hand to in the bush type mentality.
00:19:55.111 --> 00:19:59.051
And it's security of knowing you're getting, hey, I can get this for my calves
00:19:59.051 --> 00:20:00.971
today. I can get this for my yearlings today.
00:20:01.191 --> 00:20:05.391
And it's been very popular with calves for years.
00:20:05.611 --> 00:20:08.471
Well, the last couple of years we started doing it with yearlings.
00:20:08.471 --> 00:20:13.391
You know, and we sell a lot of yearlings months in advance.
00:20:14.511 --> 00:20:19.051
And the sellers say, hey, I kind of like where this market's at.
00:20:19.211 --> 00:20:21.831
Do you think it's going to get better? I don't have a crystal ball,
00:20:22.011 --> 00:20:25.331
you know, but it could. It could fall out.
00:20:25.471 --> 00:20:30.071
I mean, we're just rebounding from a fallout that was unforeseen.
00:20:30.911 --> 00:20:35.971
And this gives them comfort knowing, man, I've locked these cattle in for,
00:20:36.151 --> 00:20:39.811
we're shipping, The cattle we shipped this morning, we sold in September. Okay.
00:20:40.071 --> 00:20:43.771
You know, eight-weight steers. They got in right before the dip. Yes.
00:20:44.151 --> 00:20:48.131
You know, and looking back, they're saying, glad we did that today.
00:20:48.131 --> 00:20:51.191
I bet they are. They were leaving in January.
00:20:51.571 --> 00:20:56.551
So it gives them a little comfort in knowing that, hey, I'm locked in right here.
00:20:56.731 --> 00:21:01.131
The worry, the things that you can't control are already taken care of.
00:21:01.291 --> 00:21:06.631
And it works out. It goes back to, you know, the futures, hedges and stuff like
00:21:06.631 --> 00:21:08.411
that. There's no margin calls on what we're doing.
00:21:08.771 --> 00:21:12.711
There's no premiums to be paid in what we're doing. You know,
00:21:12.851 --> 00:21:15.191
if the market moves or not, you're locked in.
00:21:15.551 --> 00:21:19.591
If market moves the wrong way, well, I'm out of my premium money.
00:21:20.051 --> 00:21:23.931
You know, I got to pay my LRP. And I'm not bashing LRP because I think it's a great tool.
00:21:24.151 --> 00:21:28.351
It's another tool, right? It's another tool. And I'm all for it. Yep.
00:21:28.891 --> 00:21:32.991
And I tell my customers, look, if you're not going to hedge or LRP, Mm-hmm.
00:21:33.466 --> 00:21:37.426
Let's contract them or vice versa. You know, if you're not going to contract
00:21:37.426 --> 00:21:39.486
them, we need to, you got to get some protection.
00:21:39.786 --> 00:21:42.026
You got to have something, right? Because, man, these things are high enough
00:21:42.026 --> 00:21:45.646
now to, it'll do more than sting, you know.
00:21:45.826 --> 00:21:49.186
And you used to not have that many tools available to you. That's one thing
00:21:49.186 --> 00:21:54.086
that's really involved, especially in the cow-calf sector, is just the availability
00:21:54.086 --> 00:21:56.806
of these risk management tools. It's been a game changer.
00:21:57.386 --> 00:22:02.026
I've heard a ton of our producers say that, you know, hey, this is a game changer.
00:22:02.026 --> 00:22:03.186
You're having these available.
00:22:03.506 --> 00:22:10.526
That's right. And it provides security, you know. And a lot of our customers, they're using the LRP.
00:22:10.746 --> 00:22:13.526
They're liking it, you know. But I got a lot of customers that are like,
00:22:14.006 --> 00:22:15.146
man, I already know what I got.
00:22:15.586 --> 00:22:19.366
I know what I got in them. And I just saw what y'all had on the last sale.
00:22:19.546 --> 00:22:23.186
I've got some profit built in these yearlings right here or these calves.
00:22:23.879 --> 00:22:27.519
Let's go on and pull the trigger on them and we'll be done with it, you know.
00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:32.499
And y'all can do that for one load or 65 loads, right?
00:22:32.699 --> 00:22:35.999
We can do it for all of them. I mean, and we have buyers that are willing to
00:22:35.999 --> 00:22:39.279
step out and buy the cattle out front.
00:22:39.479 --> 00:22:43.679
I mean, and that's something that, like the calf deal, we've always had buyers
00:22:43.679 --> 00:22:46.259
because they're trying to buy their grazing cattle for the fall.
00:22:46.379 --> 00:22:48.019
Sure. Or they're trying to... They're always thinking ahead.
00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:52.059
You know, they're always thinking ahead. And for years and years,
00:22:52.199 --> 00:22:56.399
we would sell yearlings and like we had a sale last Thursday.
00:22:56.679 --> 00:22:59.959
Well, those, whatever we sold last Thursday ships next two or three weeks.
00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:05.039
Well, I don't think I sold one on the sale last Thursday that ships in the next
00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.639
two or three weeks. They're all out there.
00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:11.179
You know, March, April, May, because the seller liked where we're at in the market.
00:23:11.459 --> 00:23:15.559
Yeah. You know, it might not be where we were 60 days ago or 90 days ago now,
00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:18.319
but hey, I'm still good right here.
00:23:18.479 --> 00:23:22.219
Yeah. And this market could get better. And I think it does get better.
00:23:22.419 --> 00:23:26.819
But pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered type mentality. And they're like,
00:23:26.879 --> 00:23:29.119
hey, let's whip these right here. Yeah.
00:23:29.419 --> 00:23:31.499
You know, and it works.
00:23:32.399 --> 00:23:37.719
That's a great tool. Yeah, it brings some security. Saddle up for the SLE Rodeo
00:23:37.719 --> 00:23:41.159
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00:23:53.719 --> 00:23:57.599
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00:23:57.879 --> 00:24:02.939
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00:24:04.812 --> 00:24:09.272
So one thing that Superior does is y'all work through independent representatives
00:24:09.272 --> 00:24:14.052
like yourself rather than like a centralized desk that maybe you would call on.
00:24:14.232 --> 00:24:21.092
So why does that matter to producers and how does that impact your relationships with your customers?
00:24:21.672 --> 00:24:25.592
Producers like a personal relationship. They don't. I'd agree with that.
00:24:25.772 --> 00:24:32.432
You know, they want to if they call you, they want you to answer the phone. Yes, sir. Right now.
00:24:33.212 --> 00:24:38.112
And say a producer calls our Fort Worth office and is looking for a rep and
00:24:38.112 --> 00:24:39.392
they put you in contact with a rep.
00:24:39.512 --> 00:24:45.932
The rep calls you and sets up a time to meet you and comes out and that's when it starts. Okay.
00:24:46.532 --> 00:24:49.372
I'm going to come sell your cattle. I'm your, I'm your person.
00:24:49.712 --> 00:24:53.312
You know, you need anything you call me and it gets on a personal level.
00:24:53.992 --> 00:24:59.132
Well, that personal relationship turns into calling you at nine o'clock at night
00:24:59.132 --> 00:25:02.792
and, hey, did you see such and such on TV today?
00:25:03.032 --> 00:25:07.772
You know, and it goes more than just business. Right. And that's what producers want.
00:25:08.052 --> 00:25:10.812
Well, that's the cattle industry just summed up, isn't it?
00:25:11.632 --> 00:25:17.132
100%. You know what I mean? And like our office staff, we have four offices.
00:25:17.652 --> 00:25:22.592
We have the greatest office staff you ever want to meet. But they want to meet
00:25:22.592 --> 00:25:24.512
with the people that are in the field.
00:25:25.032 --> 00:25:30.212
They don't mind you. Coming after shipping cattle and you're covered in whatever.
00:25:30.752 --> 00:25:33.212
That's fine. Just come home. Get in your truck. Let's go look at some cattle.
00:25:33.212 --> 00:25:34.592
Let's go look at some cattle. Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:35.412 --> 00:25:39.312
Here's a Coca-Cola load up, buddy. Let's go look at my cash real quick,
00:25:39.432 --> 00:25:43.272
you know. And that's what it's all about. It's building relationships.
00:25:43.652 --> 00:25:46.452
And a bunch of our customers, they sell cattle one time a year,
00:25:46.472 --> 00:25:48.352
but we talk to them all the time. Sure.
00:25:48.681 --> 00:25:51.501
And it may have nothing to do with cattle. Yeah.
00:25:51.761 --> 00:25:57.841
You know, it may have to do with football or hunting or whatever, you know.
00:25:58.061 --> 00:26:01.601
And that's what most producers are after.
00:26:01.961 --> 00:26:04.401
You know, they want. I agree 100%. Yeah.
00:26:05.421 --> 00:26:08.901
Like I say, when they have a question, they want an answer. Yeah.
00:26:09.061 --> 00:26:11.941
You know, they don't want to, I don't know. I don't know.
00:26:12.601 --> 00:26:15.081
Mom and dad always told me, I don't know is not much of an answer,
00:26:15.201 --> 00:26:19.281
son. Yeah. You know, and that's the way it is in business, too, you know.
00:26:19.481 --> 00:26:22.841
So talk to us a little bit, Josh, about, I know we've referenced,
00:26:23.141 --> 00:26:26.921
I think you used the VAC 34 program and you referenced that a lot of producers
00:26:26.921 --> 00:26:29.581
don't even know it, but they're already doing a lot of the programs that maybe
00:26:29.581 --> 00:26:33.641
y'all emphasize when you're trying to put together a sheet to talk about a load of cattle or whatnot.
00:26:33.641 --> 00:26:38.681
So are there any specific programs or certifications or whatnot that you try
00:26:38.681 --> 00:26:44.721
to expose your customers to or entice them to maybe do this because it'll potentially
00:26:44.721 --> 00:26:46.641
do this for you when you go to sell the cattle?
00:26:46.881 --> 00:26:51.761
Right. We've got several different VAC programs and they're from really simple
00:26:51.761 --> 00:26:55.561
to more complex, you know, but most of them are extremely simple.
00:26:55.701 --> 00:26:59.001
And like we just said, a lot of them are things people already do already.
00:26:59.501 --> 00:27:03.321
And back in the day, it was, hey, this guy gives shots, you know,
00:27:03.381 --> 00:27:07.961
and he got a premium, you know, and it's like, oh, I might better start giving shots.
00:27:08.121 --> 00:27:11.381
So everybody went and started buying vaccines, started vaccinating their cattle
00:27:11.381 --> 00:27:15.581
and, y'all, my cattle are bringing this and, you know, we're worming our calves.
00:27:15.981 --> 00:27:20.601
He just gained another 20 pounds, you know, so people saw the difference,
00:27:20.601 --> 00:27:22.101
what they're getting paid for.
00:27:22.441 --> 00:27:28.721
So it has kind of evolved to like the vac. 24 was popular when it came out.
00:27:29.001 --> 00:27:33.581
And then, hey, give them this booster shot and it prevents even more.
00:27:33.761 --> 00:27:36.101
And what a lot of people don't realize is.
00:27:36.663 --> 00:27:41.863
It's simple. There's nothing really out of the line complex about what you're doing.
00:27:42.123 --> 00:27:45.823
A lot of people gather their cattle twice a year anyway before they ship them.
00:27:46.283 --> 00:27:50.923
And a lot of our customers started doing the VAC24 program, which was great
00:27:50.923 --> 00:27:52.383
whenever it first came out.
00:27:52.423 --> 00:27:56.803
But then they started seeing so-and-so's calves bring six to eight, ten cent more.
00:27:57.303 --> 00:28:00.263
And now they'll wonder why, because it's the same cattle. What are they doing?
00:28:00.363 --> 00:28:01.143
What are they doing different?
00:28:01.503 --> 00:28:06.163
Well, they're re-backing their calves, you know, two to four weeks before shipping.
00:28:06.663 --> 00:28:08.143
Or 30 days before shipping.
00:28:08.943 --> 00:28:12.803
Wow, yeah. And then they put the math together and say, man,
00:28:12.883 --> 00:28:14.203
that kind of pays off, doesn't it?
00:28:14.423 --> 00:28:17.763
Right. Well, yeah, it does. It'll pay a premium.
00:28:18.883 --> 00:28:23.163
But what a lot of our customers have seen is you're going to give the second
00:28:23.163 --> 00:28:25.243
round of shots, go on and de-warm the calf again, too.
00:28:25.623 --> 00:28:29.703
And then you'll see the difference. Man, my calves, they weighed more than they did last year.
00:28:29.863 --> 00:28:32.403
And it's been a worse year, you know, grass-wise. Grass-wise.
00:28:32.403 --> 00:28:37.223
So they're seeing their return and people are more glad to do it, you know.
00:28:37.363 --> 00:28:39.903
And a lot of our customers are preconditioning their calves.
00:28:40.023 --> 00:28:44.063
And up here, a lot more cattle are preconditioned than, say,
00:28:44.383 --> 00:28:46.303
South Florida or, you know.
00:28:46.483 --> 00:28:50.423
That's been a big shift over the last, what, 10 years? Yes. Is that safe?
00:28:50.683 --> 00:28:54.843
Yeah. And I've just pulled up the catalog for the next sale.
00:28:55.505 --> 00:29:00.385
And there's a bunch of Florida calves on it. Not a one of them is coming off the cow.
00:29:00.545 --> 00:29:03.965
There's not a balling calf on there. Every one of them is weaned. Yeah.
00:29:04.325 --> 00:29:07.845
So people are saying, oh, hey, we precondition these calves,
00:29:07.925 --> 00:29:12.225
have them bulletproof and ready for turnout in Flint Hills or wheat or sending
00:29:12.225 --> 00:29:15.085
them to Alabama or Mississippi for ryegrass. Right.
00:29:15.265 --> 00:29:18.905
There's value to be added there. For sure. So you have your VAC 60,
00:29:19.145 --> 00:29:20.665
you started off with VAC 45.
00:29:20.745 --> 00:29:24.945
That was the thing. hey, don't give two rounds of shots with the pastorella,
00:29:25.025 --> 00:29:27.605
and you're going to win them for a minimum of 45 days.
00:29:27.945 --> 00:29:30.465
Well, now we've got 60. Yeah.
00:29:31.125 --> 00:29:34.865
And people have seen the jump from 45 to 60.
00:29:35.085 --> 00:29:40.065
And it's pain to do it. So people are doing it. People will say,
00:29:40.165 --> 00:29:42.785
you know, whatever makes money, I'll try it. You know?
00:29:43.725 --> 00:29:47.325
And it's true. And it's true. People, if they're going to get paid,
00:29:47.425 --> 00:29:48.305
they're going to do it. Yeah.
00:29:49.045 --> 00:29:53.105
But we have the Beef Cares, we have Gap4, Servine Natural. I mean,
00:29:53.165 --> 00:29:54.625
there's a bunch of different programs.
00:29:54.905 --> 00:29:58.625
Yeah, all those PVP programs. Right. And they pay in, too.
00:29:58.845 --> 00:30:04.045
Yeah. I mean, but on your regular VAC programs, I mean, we're seeing $9,
00:30:04.165 --> 00:30:05.685
$10, $100 difference. Oh, wow.
00:30:06.285 --> 00:30:08.905
Okay. That's a lot of money. Yeah. That adds up quick. You know,
00:30:08.905 --> 00:30:12.505
you get to put $60 a head or, you know, that's a lot of money pretty quick.
00:30:12.645 --> 00:30:14.165
For sure. Especially on a load.
00:30:14.505 --> 00:30:19.025
Yeah. So you weigh your options and say, hey, yeah, this is worth doing.
00:30:19.325 --> 00:30:23.225
You know, heck, the price of doing it is less than $1 a hundred, you know, so.
00:30:23.365 --> 00:30:26.925
So my next question I was going to have is, and you might have just said it
00:30:26.925 --> 00:30:30.945
honestly, but is that the one thing you would point to as far as how somebody
00:30:30.945 --> 00:30:34.725
could improve their profitability if you had to pick just one thing? Gosh, it's hard.
00:30:34.805 --> 00:30:37.905
I know that's a hard question. That's a hard one to pick, really and truly.
00:30:38.205 --> 00:30:41.945
It probably really depends on the person in the operation. It does.
00:30:41.945 --> 00:30:46.025
It depends on the person in the operation to an extent, but.
00:30:46.611 --> 00:30:50.491
It also depends on exposure. Yeah. At the end of the day, you can raise the
00:30:50.491 --> 00:30:53.891
best cattle in the world, but if you're not putting it in front of 6,500 buyers,
00:30:54.051 --> 00:30:57.491
and I'm not saying that 6,500 buyers are going to come buy your cattle.
00:30:57.611 --> 00:31:01.751
You know, they're all 6,500, but 6,500 had the opportunity to look at them.
00:31:01.771 --> 00:31:03.291
Yeah, you had the potential, right? Right.
00:31:03.611 --> 00:31:09.131
So you can be the best at what you do raising cattle, and if you can't market
00:31:09.131 --> 00:31:11.731
your cattle, you've done a lot of work for nothing.
00:31:12.191 --> 00:31:14.931
And that's where we come in. we're here to market
00:31:14.931 --> 00:31:17.831
your cattle and we're here to bring the market to you
00:31:17.831 --> 00:31:20.631
you know we're not asking you to field questions from the
00:31:20.631 --> 00:31:23.351
buyers or you know it's y'all take care of all
00:31:23.351 --> 00:31:25.991
that we take care of all of it and we may call you and
00:31:25.991 --> 00:31:30.051
have a question you know hey this is a specific question or request or whatever
00:31:30.051 --> 00:31:34.151
and and we get that a lot i mean we get buyers that say hey look my wheat pasture
00:31:34.151 --> 00:31:38.131
is not going to be ready until such and such date i'm the pasture i got leased
00:31:38.131 --> 00:31:42.031
i can't get on till the 15th yeah can we ship them on the ship date yeah can
00:31:42.031 --> 00:31:43.531
we ship them on the 15th if i buy them.
00:31:43.891 --> 00:31:48.971
And that's, again, flexibility. It gives the seller and the buyer flexibility.
00:31:49.331 --> 00:31:55.411
So it is hard to really say one thing that improves profitability.
00:31:55.771 --> 00:32:00.491
Naturally, you have your genetics and your health and your VAC programs, but buyer confidence.
00:32:00.831 --> 00:32:04.211
Yeah, that makes sense. Buyer has to have confidence in what he's buying.
00:32:04.291 --> 00:32:07.071
And it doesn't matter if it's cattle or if you're buying a truck.
00:32:07.671 --> 00:32:10.511
You have to have confidence that, I know what I'm getting.
00:32:11.592 --> 00:32:15.572
And that's what, it reverts back to a relationship. People that have bought
00:32:15.572 --> 00:32:18.072
your cattle in the past, they know what your cattle are.
00:32:18.252 --> 00:32:22.972
And there's a lot of them that they can tell me as much about your cattle as I can. Yeah.
00:32:23.172 --> 00:32:25.712
As I can tell them. Oh, I'm sure. Because they've owned them from.
00:32:26.012 --> 00:32:30.592
They've had them for so many. 500 all the way to harvest. And we get feedback from our buyers.
00:32:30.792 --> 00:32:34.692
We get interaction with our buyers. Hey, tell us so-and-so, boy,
00:32:34.732 --> 00:32:38.252
his cattle did good this year. You know, death loss was a minimum.
00:32:38.632 --> 00:32:42.072
Yeah. And it's a two-edged sword sometimes.
00:32:42.532 --> 00:32:44.972
Sometimes you give good and sometimes you give bad feedback,
00:32:45.032 --> 00:32:47.952
right? Sometimes the sellers say, how did my cattle do? Yeah.
00:32:48.712 --> 00:32:51.212
Yeah, you don't want to. I don't know. We haven't heard anything,
00:32:51.312 --> 00:32:52.952
so it must have been good, you know.
00:32:53.252 --> 00:32:56.952
But they'll call it. We have buyers that will tell you the good right along
00:32:56.952 --> 00:33:00.792
with the bad. Oh, I believe it. You know, and a lot of them aren't trying to be ugly.
00:33:01.032 --> 00:33:04.052
They want to see you succeed because they want to come back and buy cattle.
00:33:04.212 --> 00:33:05.992
Well, they've got to have the cow-calf producer.
00:33:06.212 --> 00:33:09.952
They've got to have the cow-calf producer. They have to have the calf grower.
00:33:10.791 --> 00:33:14.511
The wing cattle, they have to have the feeder cattle. Yeah. You know,
00:33:14.611 --> 00:33:15.971
but they have to know what they're buying.
00:33:16.191 --> 00:33:20.531
Right. And like I say, you know as well as I do, cattle numbers are falling. Yes.
00:33:20.851 --> 00:33:25.271
Yes, they are. There's less availability of cattle. And we're paying a premium,
00:33:25.511 --> 00:33:29.351
or people are paying a premium for calves, yearlings, wing calves, everything.
00:33:30.111 --> 00:33:33.171
So they want to know what they're getting. Absolutely.
00:33:33.371 --> 00:33:36.611
And they want you to know so you can make improvements. Because if they don't
00:33:36.611 --> 00:33:38.251
tell you, how do you make the improvements?
00:33:38.531 --> 00:33:41.791
Yeah. I mean, we, you know, I like getting feedback because,
00:33:42.171 --> 00:33:45.751
you know, whether it's a genetic or nutrition or a health, you know,
00:33:45.871 --> 00:33:47.631
you can you can pivot off of that.
00:33:47.771 --> 00:33:51.451
But you've got to have that feedback in order to make that change and maybe
00:33:51.451 --> 00:33:56.111
try something a little different or because sometimes it can be kind of just a small tweak. Right.
00:33:56.691 --> 00:34:00.611
That's it. You know, and or sometimes it's just as a bad year. Right.
00:34:00.971 --> 00:34:04.471
Yeah. Sometimes it's just sometimes it's weather. Weather's awful.
00:34:04.471 --> 00:34:08.971
And we will get feedback from, we've got several that, and it's people that
00:34:08.971 --> 00:34:12.811
we talk to and we don't even, we may not even be trading cattle that week. Yeah.
00:34:12.951 --> 00:34:16.411
It's just, hey, how's things in Florida? Fine. How are things in Colorado?
00:34:16.651 --> 00:34:19.011
Great. You know, just shooting the crap.
00:34:19.271 --> 00:34:23.891
And they'll tell you, hey, look, I liked this, but I didn't like this. Yeah.
00:34:24.151 --> 00:34:27.751
So if you could pass that along to them, I'll be on their cattle again.
00:34:27.951 --> 00:34:30.371
Yeah. You know, and a lot of it is vaccinations.
00:34:30.691 --> 00:34:34.291
Yeah. Yeah, I think that's the thing I hear the most from people right now that
00:34:34.291 --> 00:34:39.351
are buying cattle and trying to keep cattle alive and be able to move cattle to the next step.
00:34:39.931 --> 00:34:42.951
Health continues to be just the number one.
00:34:43.111 --> 00:34:47.731
And just it feels like there's a little lack of resiliency in these cattle these days. Yeah.
00:34:47.871 --> 00:34:52.311
You know, and you can point to a few different things, but you always hear about the health.
00:34:52.491 --> 00:34:54.491
And it is getting trickier and trickier.
00:34:54.791 --> 00:35:00.411
That's it. You know, and you want to set the buyer up for as much success as he can have.
00:35:00.551 --> 00:35:04.771
Sure. You want to have as much success as you can have, but let's,
00:35:04.771 --> 00:35:06.491
let's try to help that buyer out a little bit.
00:35:06.651 --> 00:35:09.551
And a lot of the things that we do that we're getting paid for.
00:35:10.233 --> 00:35:13.993
Like the second round of shots, they're not necessarily for the producer down
00:35:13.993 --> 00:35:17.293
here to benefit him health-wise.
00:35:17.473 --> 00:35:20.753
No, it's so that calf can get to point B and live.
00:35:21.433 --> 00:35:25.253
Yes. And it goes back to other different things affect that.
00:35:25.433 --> 00:35:28.233
Stress. Yeah. And it goes back to shipping day.
00:35:28.513 --> 00:35:32.613
You know, stress equals shrink equals money out of your pocket.
00:35:32.833 --> 00:35:35.573
Profitability, right. You know, cattle are bringing $4 a pound,
00:35:35.833 --> 00:35:38.713
500-pound steer shrinks 3%. It's a pretty big chunk.
00:35:38.913 --> 00:35:43.413
Yeah, it adds up quick. Yeah, so there's a lot of different factors.
00:35:43.713 --> 00:35:46.733
Well, if we've got somebody that you've just really piqued their interest here,
00:35:47.113 --> 00:35:51.253
what should somebody do if they want to work with a superior? What's step one?
00:35:51.913 --> 00:35:55.413
Call Fort Worth? Contact us. Or call you? Yeah, contact us, yeah.
00:35:55.633 --> 00:36:01.793
Yeah, they can contact me or they can go to our website on superiorlivestock.com.
00:36:01.933 --> 00:36:04.273
Like I said earlier, it's super helpful.
00:36:04.533 --> 00:36:08.533
It's informative, a lot of information on it, and it's simple to use,
00:36:08.533 --> 00:36:11.473
which is great for people like me because if you're saying it
00:36:11.473 --> 00:36:14.173
i believe hey trust me i mean you know
00:36:14.173 --> 00:36:17.033
i'm from clay county i can get too complex for
00:36:17.033 --> 00:36:20.193
me but you can call our fort worth office at
00:36:20.193 --> 00:36:26.353
800-422-2117 we'd love the opportunity to work for you give us a shout we'll
00:36:26.353 --> 00:36:30.253
we'll head that way well josh is there anything that you want to wrap up with
00:36:30.253 --> 00:36:33.573
at all or anything that you wish we would have covered as this is your shot
00:36:33.573 --> 00:36:37.973
i think we i think we covered a lot on it superior like I say,
00:36:38.033 --> 00:36:41.873
we're about to wrap up our, well, 39th year.
00:36:42.093 --> 00:36:45.313
Yeah. Y'all been in it a while. Been in it a while. Sell a lot of cattle.
00:36:45.793 --> 00:36:49.993
Sell a lot of cattle and just some fun facts. Our last sale that we just came
00:36:49.993 --> 00:36:54.733
off of, the bell ringer had 83,000 head on it, was in January.
00:36:54.953 --> 00:36:59.653
We had 207 different buyers from 28 states buy cattle on that sale.
00:36:59.813 --> 00:37:01.953
There you go. We have over 6,500 buyers.
00:37:02.153 --> 00:37:04.173
Yeah. And the thing about Superior is.
00:37:04.805 --> 00:37:08.185
You're going to have payment security. Before the cattle leave,
00:37:08.405 --> 00:37:11.145
the day the cattle leave, before that truck pulls down the driveway,
00:37:11.285 --> 00:37:12.225
I'm writing you your check.
00:37:12.645 --> 00:37:16.865
And every producer that sold cattle on Superior last year got paid.
00:37:16.865 --> 00:37:20.745
And it's been that way for 39 years. And it's going to be like that from here on.
00:37:21.025 --> 00:37:25.225
So Superior is not something that has just been formed. It's built off integrity.
00:37:25.305 --> 00:37:28.365
It's built off really good relationships with buyers and sellers.
00:37:28.665 --> 00:37:34.185
And I can't think, I mean, I can't think of a place to get your exposure to
00:37:34.185 --> 00:37:40.065
your cattle like we can on Superior in any format or we buy and sell a lot of
00:37:40.065 --> 00:37:46.325
cattle and there's nowhere else that I can think of to bring you the exposure, true price discovery.
00:37:46.565 --> 00:37:49.125
There you go. That's what we're all looking for, right? That's it.
00:37:49.405 --> 00:37:54.385
Well, I've enjoyed our conversation. Thank you for coming up and visiting us
00:37:54.385 --> 00:37:57.985
here in Montgomery and taking some time to talk to us a little bit about what
00:37:57.985 --> 00:38:00.925
all you guys do and help us learn a little bit, honestly. I mean,
00:38:00.925 --> 00:38:02.585
this has been very, Very informative.
00:38:02.845 --> 00:38:06.445
Well, we appreciate the opportunity and look forward to coming up here more often.
00:38:06.605 --> 00:38:10.265
Yeah, I think we're trying to get them to the ACA Convention and Trade Show
00:38:10.265 --> 00:38:12.485
here coming up in March for all of our listeners out there.
00:38:12.605 --> 00:38:15.165
If you haven't gotten registered yet, make sure you do that.
00:38:15.325 --> 00:38:17.085
It is March 6th and 7th in Mobile.
00:38:17.405 --> 00:38:21.845
But we appreciate everybody joining us today to learn a little bit more about
00:38:21.845 --> 00:38:25.585
maybe some opportunities out there to market your cattle as you're starting to.
00:38:25.585 --> 00:38:28.845
I know everybody's probably got calves on the ground and starting to think ahead
00:38:28.845 --> 00:38:33.005
to what they're going to do with their calves as they get into the spring months,
00:38:33.145 --> 00:38:33.945
maybe the summer months.
00:38:34.085 --> 00:38:38.805
So hope you've enjoyed the talk today. And we invite you to come back and listen
00:38:38.805 --> 00:38:42.125
next week as we have another episode of the Cattle Connect podcast.