“This site was developed with extensive input from cattle producers and designed to help address their critical real-time needs in this digital age,” says Jim Miles, Merck Animal Health senior marketing director. “We've had 275 producers test the site to ensure that it provides what cattlemen want, and we've gotten excellent feedback about its ease of use and value.”

Among the innovations, it offers a real-time index (RTI) that emulates the CME feeder cattle index. “As cattle sell across the country, the RTI lets you compare against similar cattle sold the previous day,” says Corbitt Wall, cattle analyst for DVAuction. “Based on 650- to 850-pound steers from regions one and two, the RTI is a moving, seven-day price and weight average that’s updated instantly.” In comparison, the CME feeder calf index comes out every 24 hours and doesn't adjust during the day.

The website’s dashboard features the RTI, as well as a list of auction markets participating that day. “Producers can access and participate in live auctions with one click, including viewing video of the actual cattle on-site,” adds Dusty Markham, sales director for DVAuction.

Among its many highlights, the product lets subscribers create and save custom sales reports – selecting for region, auction market, cattle class, weight range and more. An alert option lets producers key in specific parameters, and it will send them a text or email message when such cattle are available.

The quick report option gives instant, real-time access to basic market information in just a few clicks. “For example, you can get a report on 700- to 800-pound steers sold in the past 72 hours in region two,” Markham notes. The market report option provides detailed reports on cattle sales from the past 30 days for specific markets. CMC also provides industry headlines and news summaries to keep producers well-informed.

For more information, go to the CMC website.  

—From Merck Animal Health news release