In this episode of The Angus Table, host Scott Wright sits down with Mark McCully, CEO of the American Angus Association, for a comprehensive conversation about leading one of the world's largest breed organisations.

Mark shares insights from managing 22,000 members across five wholly-owned subsidiaries (Association, Certified Angus Beef, Angus Media, Angus Genetics Inc, Foundation), the remarkable success of CAB brand with 27% of US fed cattle qualifying and $50+ premiums per head, the historic shift from 50% select grading to more prime than select today, developing functional longevity and udder EPDs, navigating methane research controversy with transparency, and the power of servant leadership.

They discuss some of the similarities and differences between US and Australian industries, the evolution from "where's my premium" to value-based marketing dominance, beef-on-dairy integration, and why keeping independent breeders independent through strong associations matters globally.

So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for insights from one of the breed's most accomplished international leaders.

Key topics covered:

1. How the American Angus Association evolved from 1883 herd registry to five wholly-owned subsidiaries with 300 staff
2. The scale of CAB brand: 27% of US fed cattle qualify today, creating $50+ premium per head at packing plant
3. Why CAB gave producers a target aligned with consumer value rather than producer value perspectives
4. The historic shift from 50% select grading (when Mark started) to more prime than select produced today
5. How value-based marketing evolution transformed premium signal flow to producers
6. The development of functional longevity EBV and teat/udder suspension EBVs incorporated into maternal weaning value
7. The importance of phenotypic data as genomics foundation "only as good as phenotypic data breeders turn in"
8. How non-traditional data (health traits, BRD, congestive heart failure, fatty acids) requires downstream collaboration
9. Why beef-on-dairy integration (60% of 9.4M dairy cows bred to Angus) accelerates data capture in integrated systems
10. The challenge of staying innovative as breed associations when private companies characterise economically important traits
11. How World Angus Evaluation provides a common currency for breeders globally and helps prevent gene pool narrowing
12. Why strong member-owned associations hedge against integrated systems taking genetic decisions from independent breeders
13. The methane research controversy: objectives around efficiency in cows on grass, navigating funding source concerns, factual information challenges in social media era
14. The importance of servant leadership principles shaped by "The Servant" by James Hunter
15. Why focusing on consumer eating satisfaction rather than cattle producer value perspectives drives sustainable demand

Pull quotes:

"We're comprised of about 22,000 members, register over 300,000 animals annually. We operate with four wholly-owned subsidiaries: Certified Angus Beef, Angus Media, Angus Genetics Inc, and our Foundation. About 300 staff combined, over half work on CAB. That program has been a growth vehicle for the breed."

"Today a certified Angus beef carcass is worth $50 more at the packing plant than event its Angus counterpart that doesn't meet specifications. When it gets into Prime, premiums around $200. About 80% of fed cattle are sold on formula or grid-based systems now. Value-based marketing dollars are getting passed along."

"When I started at CAB, the question was always 'where's my premium?'... Today 27% of US fed cattle qualify for certified Angus beef—up from zero. We have a higher percentage of cattle grading Prime than we have grading USDA Select. When I entered the business, close to 50% of cattle fed in the States graded Select. Today we produce more Prime than Select. It's almost become a thing of the past. That focus on quality is why we've got all-time record beef demand."

"What CAB has done is give producers a target aligned with how consumers assign value to our product, not how cattle producers assign value. Year after year as we grow sales and more cattle hit specifications, we grow demand. As we grow supply, the spread gets bigger."

"There's very strong desire of our breeders to not be part of integrated system where breeding and genetic decisions are taken out of their hands or where they don't have access to tools. Strong associations are a hedge to keep that from happening. Anything we can do to strengthen our collaborative work together is very positive."

"We weren't entering debate around cows and climate change. We saw it as path to advance research on discovering differences in efficiency of cows on grass. We just don't have much data [on that]. The ability to measure methane as a measure of efficiency had appeal…If we can find cows that produce more with less, that's good for beef industry."

Relevant links mentioned in the episode:

1. American Angus Association: www.angus.org
2. Certified Angus Beef brand: https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/en
3. Book: "The Servant" by James Hunter

Contact details:

This podcast is proudly brought to you by Angus Australia https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/

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CREDITS:

Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email ceo@angusaustralia.com.au

Producer: Mel Strasburg mel.strasburg@angusaustralia.com.au

Audio editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au