Understanding the Cattle Market: Navigating Challenges with Cattle Business Systems

May 13

Episode Notes

Listen in as Tanner and David sit down with Balance 4 Ward. Their goal with this episode today is to help empower mid-market cattlemen with tools and support for success. Our guests from Balnce4Ward are based in SW Iowa and tackle industry challenges with services like Cattle Business Systems. Join us to level the playing field and maximize profitability.

Cattle feeding company based out of SW Iowa, focused on helping and creating more opportunities for the mid-market cattlemen
Level the playing field for them so they can compete in the industry
We primarily do two things as a company – We Feed Cattle. Provide Additional Services to Cattle Feeders to help them make more money
One of those services being our Cattle Business Systems
Addressing Challenges in Cattle Ranching:
Could you elaborate on the various challenges cattlemen face on a daily basis?
In what ways were these challenges impacting your profitability and competitiveness in the industry?
As we record in Spring of 2024 what type of a market are we coming out of and what type of market are we currently sitting in?
Cattle Business Systems
What is it?
Well, we recognize that cattlemen wear multiple hats every day and deal with lots of different people : Examples (scrap the pens, processing cattle, oh and your order buyer is calling you saying he’s got a good deal on cattle, while your broker is wanting you to trade the crush and hedge cattle…etc..)
We faced the same thing in our operation, and therefore we weren’t competing in the industry.
So we spent time and focused on who was winning in the industry and concluded that we needed to develop a team of people to help us align all of our decisions in our operation and keep us accountable
Why does CBS work?
The Concept Behind Cattle Business Systems:
What inspired you to develop a team-based approach to tackling these challenges?
How does Cattle Business Systems aim to align decisions within a cattle operation and ensure accountability?
Empowering Cattlemen:
What are ways we can empower cattlemen to make informed decisions?
What advantages do some producers have over others?
What is the vision of Balance4Ward for the future of the cattle market?
What indicators have your crew/team been paying attention to?
The Sale
So, Cattle Business Systems, is a monthly membership, that includes a monthly meeting and gives them full access to our team along with full transparency of what we are doing in our own operation to help give them confidence to make decisions and get more of an equal advantage in the industry
Our job is to meet with our clients every month, identify opportunities, help them prioritize those, and execute if needed.
And if guys need help executing on those decisions, we have additional services through our platform that we can help them do that – B4W Advantage, B4W Feeders, New Balance Commodities, B4W Operations

Why Balance4Ward?
We do it, we have skin in the game
Totally transparent on what we are doing in our own operation at B4W
Everything from risk management, feed, operations, buying/selling of cattle, corn
There is no conflict of interest – not trying to margin you into something else
Example: How does this decision affect all the other ones I have to make in my operation
Proactive in everything we do (18 months) – we try to maximize/ be the best at profit per head – not about to volume to us
Separate the farmer vs. The feeder
Contact us for more information. What are the next steps in learning more about us and what we have to offer?
What is the best food you have ever eaten and where did you get it from?