Source and Age Verified Lots of Beef Calves Sold for a Premium Via Summer Video Auction from 2010 through 2017

The objective was to quantify the effect of source and age verification status on the sale price of lots of beef calves sold via summer video auctions from 2010 through 2017 while adjusting for all other factors that significantly influenced price. Data analyzed were collected from 61 summer livestock video auctions from 2010 through 2017. There were 36,570 lots of beef calves used in the analyses. All lot characteristics that could be accurately quantified or categorized were used to develop a multiple regression model that evaluated the effects of independent factors on sale price each year using a backwards selection procedure. A value of P < 0.05 was used to maintain a factor in the final model. In each year, a model was developed to quantify the effects of all factors describing lots of beef calves that significantly affected sale price. The seller of calves consigned to sell through the video sale must complete and sign an affidavit verifying that the calves were enrolled in a USDA approved Source and Age Verification program and had program compliant ear tags.

Table 1. Least squares mean of sale price ($/100 kg BW)

Source and age verified lots?	Year
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Yes	257.06a	309.31a	350.67a	355.16a	541.23a	525.80a	312.31a	344.56a
No	253.07b	305.16b	346.99b	352.92b	533.47b	516.83b	307.96b	339.97b
Premium	3.99	4.14	3.68	2.25	7.76	8.97	4.34	4.59
a,bMeans within a year without a common superscript differ (P < 0.05)

The smallest premium associated with lots enrolled in a source and age verified program was in 2014, while the greatest premium was in 2015. The average premium from 2010 through 2017 for source and age verified lots was $4.96/100 kg BW. The percent of lots of beef calves enrolled in a source and age verified program peaked at 55.6% in 2011, where as in 2016, only 21.0% of lots were enrolled. In 2017, 27.5% of beef calf lots qualified for a source and age verification program. Recently reopened beef export markets for the United States may increase the premium and percent of lots enrolled in source and age programs in the coming years.