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New ag lender? No problem for this growing cattle feeder

For Paul Dunneback, feeding cattle looks a bit different from most. He and his brother Max take Holstein calves in at two days old and keep them through finishing when they sell to a nearby processing plant that specializes in dairy cattle.

The Dunnebacks began the cattle side of D&D Grain in the early 2010s outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They started with 18 bottle calves and grew the operation to 700 head today. They lean on their ag lender to keep up with continuous growth.

“Each year we try to add 70 to a hundred head, depending on the situation. This past summer, we put up a fairly good-sized barn, added some animals, and it was right at the time that our current banker left. We were told we got a new loan officer, good luck,” Paul says.

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That news was unnerving. At that time, the brothers still had to secure an increased line of credit to fill the barn and ultimately justify the investment. But when they sat down with their new lender, it went seamlessly.

Paul and Max see Performance Beef as a key part in the successful conversation. They have been using the management software to track data and analytics pertinent to growth for the past few years. 

“We had a bunch of previous closeouts from Performance Beef and it was the first thing he kind of jumped to, he'd never heard of the software,” he recalls. 

Though their lender was familiar with some on-farm technologies, he pushed back on Paul, saying the information was only as good as the person who entered it. 

Paul happily explained how Performance Beef takes human error like data entry out of the equation. The technology uses bluetooth scales on the loader and in the mixer to sync with what the brothers see on the iPad. Every pound of feed is accounted for without manual data entry or guesswork.

“I honestly feel fairly confident walking into my bank when I have the closeout reports in my hand because they don't lie. And so when you sit down with a banker, they really can't shoot holes in the reports that you guys have created,” says Paul. “I give a ton of credit to Performance Beef for pretty much everything.” 

Aside from confidence at the bank, Performance Beef has also helps them to keep a closer pulse on cost of gain and breakevens. And the customer service Paul receives is a big plus.

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“I take the time to tell everybody about Performance Beef because it's a big part of our operation,” Paul concludes. “Everybody that works for PLA is just top notch and they're pleasant when you ask them a question.”

D&D Grain

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