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CapitalPress.com
Friday, February 11, 2022
Cattle numbers tighter than expected
Chobani adds products
Capital Press
Chobani is expanding its
footprint in the refrigerated
aisle with a lactose-free,
protein-packed ultrafi ltered
milk and half & half.
The company turned
its sights to upgrading the
refrigerated aisle in 2019
with the launch of non-dairy
oatmilk, which was its fi rst
foray outside yogurt. The
company has also launched
coff ee creamers, ready-to-
drink coff ee and probiotic
drinks.
The company said its new
lactose-free
ultra-fi ltered
milk has more protein than
the market leader. It also has
half the sugar and 2.5 times
more protein than traditional
milk, off ering more func-
tional benefi ts to dairy milk
consumers.
“With our lactose-free,
reduced sugar and pro-
tein-packed Chobani ultra-
fi ltered milk, we’re mak-
ing dairy accessible to more
people and giving consum-
ers a great option to trade up
to a more advanced, func-
tional and delicious prod-
uct,” said Peter McGuin-
ness, Chobani president and
COO.
Available in whole,
reduced fat 2%, fat free
and chocolate, the ultrafi l-
tered milk is on shelves this
month.
The ultrafi ltered milk
segment, up 17.5% in total
Nielsen reported sales, is
driving growth in the $1.7
billion easy-to-digest milk
segment, which consists of
both ultrafi ltered and lac-
tose-free dairy milk.
Chobani’s new half
& half product is also on
shelves this month, avail-
able in plain and lactose-free
options. Currently, dairy-
based half & half is a $1 bil-
lion segment.
“We’ve seen incredible
consumer love for our coff ee
creamers, and they asked us
to bring the same craft and
quality to dairy-based half
& half while off ering a lac-
tose-free option as well,”
McGuinness said.
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The number of beef and
dairy cattle and calves in
the U.S. on Jan. 1 declined
about 1.9 million head year
over year to 91.9 million.
“As expected, cattle
numbers are down pretty
much in every category,”
said Derrell Peel, extension
livestock marketing spe-
cialist with Oklahoma State
University.
“We expected tighter
numbers, and they were
every bit of that and more,”
he said.
Some categories are
down even more than
expected. The beef cow
herd is down 2.3%, and
beef replacement heifers
are down 3.3%, he said.
That leaves limited pros-
pects for herd rebuilding, he
said.
“I think producers would
like to keep heifers, they
just can’t,” he said.
Drought impacted heifer
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File
Steers run on Bureau of Land Management land in
southern Twin Falls County, Idaho. The total number
of cattle is down this year, according to USDA.
retention last year, and “we
don’t know what this year
is going to hold for us,” he
said.
Impacts were expected
in drought-stricken states,
and the biggest decrease in
beef cows — in percent-
age decline and absolute
numbers — was in South
Dakota, he said.
Cow numbers there
declined 11% and 189,000
head. Montana’s beef cow
numbers were down signifi -
cantly, as expected, about
6% and 90,000 head, he
said.
Texas also had a pretty
big decline — down 3% and
160,000 head — but not all
of it was due to drought, he
said.
Colorado’s beef cows
were down another 3%
after having liquidated a
lot last year, and Nebras-
ka’s cow herd declined 3%.
Declines were also seen in
the Southwest.
Beef cow slaughter was
up 9% year over year in
2021 largely because of the
drought, he said.
“That clearly indicates
liquidation,” he said.
That level of cow slaugh-
ter represents 11.5% of the
beef cow herd, he said.
“I would expect that to
be under 11% if we weren’t
liquidating,” he said.
Drought is going to play
a critical role, and cows will
have to be liquidated at an
even bigger number than
last year, he said.
The Jan. 1 cattle on feed
inventory was up just 0.2%,
the 2021 calf crop was
down 1.2% and the esti-
mated feeder cattle supply
is down 2.6%.
“We’ve reached a point
now where there’s just not
enough feeders in the pipe-
line” to keep feedlots full,
he said.
Feedlot numbers should
go down noticeably in the
next two to four months, he
said.
Minnesota
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at NCBA
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S266472-1
Don Schiefelbein, a cen-
tral Minnesota seedstock
breeder and cattle feeder,
became the new NCBA
president during the 2022
Cattle Industry Convention,
held last week in Houston.
Schiefelbein and his fam-
ily operate Schiefelbein
Farms, a diversifi ed farming
operation in Kimball, Minn.
“I’m very
fortunate to
have been
involved
in the cat-
tle industry
through sev-
eral diff er-
Donald
ent avenues
Schiefelbein and
have
seen
the
positive results when people
come together,” Schiefel-
bein said in a press release.
“As NCBA’s incoming
president, I will continue
bringing people together for
the benefi t of the industry,”
he said.
Before returning to the
family farm, Schiefel-
bein served as the execu-
tive director of the Ameri-
can Gelbvieh Association
and previously worked for
the North American Limou-
sin Association after grad-
uating from Texas A&M
University.
He has a long history
of industry service, most
recently in the role as chair-
man of NCBA’s beef indus-
try long-range planning
committee. He has also held
several positions on commit-
tees and the board of direc-
tors of the American Angus
Association. He is a past
president of the Minnesota
Cattlemen’s Association.
As he looks to his year as
NCBA president, Schiefel-
bein is serious about helping
lead NCBA’s fi ght for poli-
cies and a business climate
that supports cattle produc-
ing families.
“To me, I just sit in awe
of how many people have
the opportunity to do some-
thing they love to do and
would love to do every day
with their family by their
side. There’s just not many
places in this world that
gives you that opportunity,”
he said.
Schiefelbein plans to
focus on several priorities,
including ensuring NCBA
members’ voices are heard
as the organization con-
tinues to grow, uniting its
membership and making
sure NCBA is at the fore-
front of issues that impact
the cattle industry to protect
producer interests.
He also plans to continue
the organization’s focus on
producer profi tability and
build upon the work in the
sustainability space to create
opportunities for members
and their ability to pass on
their operations to the next
generation.