TAGsTri-Merit Provides More Competitive Bidding and a Bigger Market
Matt Chisum's predominantly Hereford calves would typically take a hit in the local market at sale time. "People were looking for F1 crosses or calves with black genetics," Matt explained. My calves were taking a $10 to $15 per hundredweight cut in value compared with the F1 crosses and the blacks."
That was four years ago before Matt incorporated Tri-Merit into his commercial Hereford cow/calf operation in Stinnett, Texas. "Once I started Tri-Merit, I was at least hitting the very top of the Hereford market and even approaching the top 10 percent range of the F1 cross market for those that were not age- and source-verified."
Tri-Merit, an online program from Global Animal Management (GAM), allows cattle producers to electronically capture and manage data about their animals. Buyers are willing to pay more for cattle that come with information such as age, source and health history. In addition, because Tri-Merit animals can be traced back to their point of origin and are age-verified, they meet Country of Origin Labeling and animal disease traceability requirements.
"When I enrolled in Tri-Merit, the industry was facing government compliance. NAIS was becoming a part of our everyday language. At the time, it seemed that the government would force us into a compliance mode. I didn't want to get caught short, so I signed on with Tri-Merit. The nice thing was, it provided me with a financial benefit at the same time that it made me compliance ready.
"What I did is I enrolled in Tri-Merit and went into a VAC 45 program. This provided me typically a $10 to $12 per hundredweight bump in the value of my calves. Tri-Merit has opened up doors to buyers that would not have been interested in my calves. It provides more competitive bidding and a bigger market."
