The LeBron of beef? How a record-setting bull could shape America’s beef and the Angus industry

Like any superstar, Elation has an agent.

Or, at least, Missouri seedstock producer Brian Bell might feel like he is managing a top NBA prospect. He fields calls from a growing list of cattle producers, all interested in the prize bull that he teamed up to buy for a record-setting $800,000 in February.

A genetic masterpiece, some might call him. He is the grandson of a bull considered to be one of the most influential of modern times.

However, from his Square B Ranch near Warsaw, situated among a rolling section of Ozark fescue, Bell looks past the headlines and hype. If there is a point he wants to get across, it’s the reason he bought a high-dollar bull and how it fits into his ranch’s philosophy.

“Great bulls are built from great mamas,” he said as he sat in the Square B headquarters on a recent summer morning.

Elation has one job, the same as Square B’s other bulls: to produce phenomenal females and, in the end, high-quality calves.

For consumers, it is about the ideal ribeye. But Bell knows those high-marbled and flavorful steaks start in the pastures of his producer-customers where cows with the best genetics and proven performance graze.

As a seedstock producer, he wants to enhance the profitability and growth of his customers.

“It’s about building the best cowherd,” Bell said. “We say we are building a cowherd that our grandkids will be proud of with good quality cow-maker bulls.”

The cow-maker philosophy

A great sire will only get a producer halfway there. A great female takes them the rest of the way.

“You can increase the quality of a herd through genetics through the bulls, but he is only half of the model,” Bell said. “You have to have good females.”

Bell has a cow-maker philosophy.

“The good, quality cow-maker bulls are the ones that stuck around in the Angus world for years and years and are used consistently,” he said, adding, “If you look at all the bulls they call iconic bulls in the industry, it isn’t because they make good steers, it is they make good cows. Cow-maker bulls. Our focus is to make good cattle and the rest of it will work out fine.”

Bell has been building his registered Angus herd since 2014.

“Over the last couple years, we bought some substantial herd sires that will make an impact on the Angus breed,” he said. “And then, trying to tie it all together, that is where the Quality Beef program comes in.”

The University of Missouri created the Quality Beef program before it was acquired by Square B Ranch. Bell said the program passes genetics and performance data to commercial producers focused on improving the quality and value of their cattle.

Customers receive real data—from performance traits to how an animal grades at the packing plant, Bell said.

“But we are not only evaluating how the beef hangs in a packing plant but also the females,” he said. “The females are just as important if not more important.”

Analyzing the proven data helps Bell make breeding decisions to increase longevity and productivity, along with balancing performance traits like gain and grade.

“The only way to get good females and maintain good females in your herd is to cull the bottom 10 to 20 percent and the only way to do that is with real information,” he said. “You can’t do that with just genomics, and you can’t do that by walking out to your pasture and just looking at them.”

To stay in the herd, the cow has to have a calf every 365 days. She has to breed in the first cycle. She has to have good feet, udders and milk production. Her calves should wean in relation to the rest of the herd. She has to have longevity—a cow that could be in the herd for a decade or more.

She also must be able to perform in her environment—whether it is the Flint Hills prairie of Kansas or the Ozark fescue where Bell’s cattle reside.

“We look at all those things combined to help make decisions on whether that cow is going to stay in the herd,” he said. “And, if she has a calf that grows or grades well at the packing plant, she has the total package put together.”

Building the best steak

Consumers are clamoring for high-quality beef, Bell said. Retailers and restaurants are willing to pay for quality as consumers demand a tasty eating experience.

Glynn Tonsor, a Kansas State University professor of agricultural economics, said in March that domestic meat consumption is growing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts estimate in 2019 the average American will consume 61 pounds of beef.

If realized, it would be the largest increase in a decade, Tonsor said.

Today’s producers are working to create top-end cattle through DNA testing or, as Bell did, through their superior pedigree.

“The opportunity for commercial producers to be rewarded for better genetics is better than it has ever been and it is improving,” said Dan Moser, president of Angus Genetics, a subsidiary of the American Angus Association. His branch of the association provides services to the beef industry through genetic evaluation of economically important traits.

DNA testing is growing rapidly in the Angus breed. Moser noted about a half-million Angus cattle with a DNA profile are part of the weekly update of industry expected progeny differences.

Bell added that besides quality, consumers also want to know where their food comes from. He knows of at least one large retailer who is working to vertically integrate the beef market. Other proteins have done this, he added. A neighbor produces turkeys for Walmart. Customers can scan a barcode and trace their meat back to his operation.

The hard work is paying off. Bell said these days there is a widening gap between good cattle and great cattle. The last set of calves he sold had an average premium of $173 per head.

“That was after all costs,” he said.

Elation, who already has supplied countless semen to customers, will be an instrumental part of Square B’s effort to reshape the beef industry.

“One of our mottos is the race to the bottom is over,” Bell said, adding when it comes to prime and choice, “People are willing to pay for it. You have to be able to produce prime and choice beef that gives the consumer the best eating experience possible.”

Superior pedigree

Bell knew Elation would fit well with Square B’s foundation of elite sires.

The bull, born in 2016 on the Schaff Angus Valley ranch in North Dakota, descends from a line of great cow families and is the grandson of N Bar Emulation EXT, which Bell calls one of the greatest Angus bulls in the past 25 years.

Elation has a rare balance of traits that are highly desirable for ranchers. Among them: low birth weight, high growth and excellent beef quality.

Moreover, Bell said, Kelly Schaff and his family, who designed Elation’s genetic makeup on their Schaff Angus Valley ranch, are among the most prestigious in the business, touting that the fourth-generation rancher has produced more stud bulls than anyone else in the industry.

Bell said Schaff has a strong maternal herd. He selected an elite core group of Schaff’s females to help him in his quest to build the best cowherd in the country.

“That’s the reason we bought the bull,” Bell said. “We thought it would make a good impact on the entire Angus herd over the years to come.”

Bell partnered with David and Tina Bogle, ranchers from Bentonville, Arkansas, to make the purchase. Each own 40 percent of Elation. Schaff retains 20 percent.

Bell and Schaff also have similar philosophies, Schaff said. His ranch’s superior cowherd is what differentiates his operation from the competitors.

“We breed for a great cowherd and great bulls are a byproduct of a great cowherd,” he said. “The cowherd is the foundation of the program. We consider the cowherd as our factory and great cows will always reproduce themselves.”

Elation combines two great bloodlines, Schaff said.

“Although Elation is a young bull, his genetics are highly proven and documented over time,” he said. “He brings back that old-school genetics from the Emulation line and combines it with the maternal cow line.”

Bell said Elation will help customers capture value in the marketplace.

“We feel like he can help us build phenomenal females,” he said. “Building steers and bulls is easier if you have great females, but you have to have great females.”

Bell and Bogle are selling Elation’s semen for $50 a straw. Elation’s offspring should hit the ground in February.

“We have lots of orders—lots of orders,” Bell said. “Once we get the real data back on the calves, we feel like the bull will be such a huge impact on the herd we should sell a lot more semen.”

Elation is well taken care of. He is at Shnurman Sire Services in Prole, Iowa, where he his semen is being collected.

Just how his offspring will taste won’t be known for a few years. But Bell said his work continues. There is always room to improve in the creation of phenomenal cattle, he said.

“If you focus on creating good, quality cattle—mama cows—the rest of it will take care of itself,” Bell said. “If your carcass weights are good, your yield grades are good and your quality grade of cattle are good, then you are playing in that top 2 or 3 percent.

“Our ultimate goal is to gather real information and create the best herds, not only for ourselves but for our producers in business to be profitable for the long term.”

Amy Bickel can be reached at 620-860-9433 or [email protected].