Join us each week for a comprehensive dive into the Certified Hereford Beef brand.

One of the most common questions the Certified Hereford Beef team hears from our farm and ranch families is: “How do I get my cattle to go into the Certified Hereford Beef program?”

For cattle to participate in the program, they must simply meet the program requirements (find them here) and be harvested in one of our packer partner facilities. Our current packer partners are Greater Omaha Packing in Omaha, Neb., and National Beef in Dodge City and Liberal, Kan. The Certified Hereford Beef brand does not have ownership of the cattle that go into the program. Pricing/premiums available are determined by the packer based on supply and demand factors. Producers interested in retained ownership or marketing cattle to a feed yard that supplies one of the CHB packer partners should contact Trey Befort, director of commercial programs, at tbefort@herefordbeef.org for more information.

For those producers wanting to increase the value and quality of their CHB candidate cattle, a marketing tool to consider is the Hereford Advantage program. This program was developed to help producers be ensured their cattle are of the highest quality and have an improved chance to meet all of the specifications required to be admitted into the Certified Hereford Beef brand.

The Hereford Advantage Program is designed to increase your added marketing power and brand recognition with feeder cattle sired by a Hereford bull battery ranking in the top 50% for the Certified Hereford Beef index. In order to qualify for the program, all bulls used must be registered with the American Hereford Association with transferred ownership. The Hereford bull battery average $CHB index value ranking must be in the top 50% of the breed. The $CHB index is a terminal sire index built on a production system where Hereford bulls are used on British-cross cows with a focus on gain and end product merit. For more information on The Hereford Advantage program, click here or contact Trey Befort, director of commercial programs, at tbefort@herefordbeef.org.

Join us next week as we dive into the role of the Certified Hereford Beef program in the foodservice and retail industries.