Livestock and Forages News Articles
Articles published in Arkansas Cattle Business
Animal Science: Today and Tomorrow - November 2006
The Arkansas Beef Audit was supported by the
Arkansas Beef Council and conducted by the Division of Agriculture of the
University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Beef Council. The purpose of the audit
was to determine the current strengths and limitations as well as future
opportunities and threats of five segments of the Arkansas cattle industry. The
five segments were producers with large herds, producers with small herds,
purebred, stocker/feeder and support industries.
This is the last of our five-part report of the
beef industry and covers the support industry. The support industry includes
veterinarians, sale barn operators, animal health representatives, loan officers
and insurance agents.
Demographics
People in the support
industry were younger with less experience than producers. Only 44% of the
support industry respondents were older than 51 years of age with most in the 41
to 50-year-old age group. Twelve percent of the respondents had less than 5
years in the industry while 28% had 11 to 20 years and 56% had more than 20
years experience.
Current Strengths and
Limitations
The
beef cattle support industries saw themselves as a primary component of the
education system for production management practices. They believed they had the
knowledge and the duty to provide educational opportunities for cattle
producers. Through its understanding of beef production, the support industry
acted to address public health and food quality assurance concerns and defended
publicly the economic and social value of the system.
The support industries
believed the producers with small cattle herds weren’t as involved in the cattle
industry as the producers with large herds. They believed producers with small
operations weren’t as open to new animal health products, genetics and/or
management strategies as producers with large operations were. Compounding the
problem, time constraints and business efficiencies did not allow a close
working relationship between producers with small cattle herds and the support
industry. Support industry consolidation is further limiting potential
interaction with cattlemen.
Future Opportunities and
Threats
The support industries
continued to see their roles as public advocates for the beef industry as a
primary importance. Consumer confidence in the products of the industry and
communication links both within the industry and between the industry and the
consuming public were two important roles that would continue. The support
industry saw itself as essential to the introduction of improved genetics,
expanded products and markets, and more educated and progressive producers. They
also saw themselves as giving direction to research from universities and
independent industry sources. Implementation of an effective animal
identification program was another aspect of the beef industry where the support
industry deemed itself to have an important future role.
The support industry
identified an uninformed public as the greatest threat to the industry.
Increased costs of production such as increased fuel and regulatory costs,
decreased competition due to industry concentration, and increased cost and
competition for available land were concerns of the support industry. The
seeming disconnect between producers and the available production enhancing
technologies and knowledge was a continuing concern because the support
industry’s future success is dependent on understanding and acceptance of
production enhancing technologies and services. The support industries expressed
apprehension about the continuing consolidation of the support industry itself.
Whether it was in the form of company mergers, larger service areas or more
strategic approaches to targeted segments of the production system, the support
industry seemed to be feeling the pressure of the marketplace (Table 1).
Responses by Support
Industries. (All responses are listed in order of most important to least
important)
Current strengths
- Recognizes beef
industry's importance to local economies
- Encourages, supports,
and provides producer education
- Understands the beef
industry and how it works
- Addresses public
health concerns
- Support for improved
management and producer success
- Supports information
dissemination
- Provides product
research and competition
- Strong support network
across support industries
- Support industries
link producer and other resources
Current limitations
- Lack of herd health
management
- Market influence on
producer behavior
- Difficulty and expense
of introducing new animal health products
- Traditional
independence of producers
- Limitations of farm
beef genetics
- Lack of producer
interest in change
- Limited connection
between small, part-time producers and support industries
- Lag in developing new
consumer products
- Fewer support
industries reduce competition
- Small producer has
limited time and interest
Future opportunities
- Consumer confidence in
beef industry products
- Improved communication
within industry and with the public
- Improved genetics for
product uniformity and quality
- More
educated/progressive producers
- Expanded by-products
market
- International markets
- Greater demand for
in-depth research
- Coordinate marketing
alliances
- Animal ID program
Future threats
- Media influences on
public opinion
- Cost and availability
of fossil fuels
- Producers not being
replaced
- Environmental
regulations
- Loss of land to
development/recreation
- Limited public
knowledge about agriculture
- Lack of producer
knowledge for selecting right things to do
- Lack of acceptance for
new technology
For additional information, contact your local
county
Extension agent.
By: Dr. Keith Lusby and Dr. Tom Troxel
Back to
Articles published in Arkansas Cattle Business |
