Leachman and Verified Beef Lawsuit article

Read this today......


Leachman and Verified Beef File Suit Against American Simmental Association
on May 12th, 2014 at 11:30 am
Posted In: A, Associations, American Simmental Association, Associations, Cattle, Cattle Breeding, Cattle Feeding, Company News, Cattle, Feeder Cattle



Leachman Cattle of Colorado, LLC and Verified Beef, LLC filed suit against the ASA, On April 11, 2014,  claiming that the ASA’s Feeder Profit Calculator infringes a patent obtained by Leachman and licensed to Verified Beef for their Reputation Feeder Cattle® and Genetic Merit Scorecard® programs. The Genetic Merit Scorecard® program “takes EPDs of all the bulls used in [a] herd for the past 10 years, converts the data into simple-to-understand values, and shows [the] herd’s rank (relative to the national average) for the traits that are most important to cattle feeders when predicting profit potential.” The Genetic Merit Scorecard® provides star rankings for various traits as well as a relative dollar value ranking for a group of animals.

In the lawsuit, Leachman and Verified beef allege that they, not the ASA, “pioneered the concept of determining the relative economic value of a group of existing commercial calves and reporting that value to the owners and potential buyers of that group.” Leachman and Verified Beef assert that they are exclusively entitled to market “systems and methods of determining the relative market value of a sale group of livestock based on genetic merit estimates” and that the ASA’s Feeder Profit Calculator, which determines the relative value of feeder calves, violates the Reputation Feeder Cattle® and Genetic Merit Scorecard® patent. Leachman and Verified Beef stress that they have “several [other] pending patent applications covering aspects of this technology.”

The ASA published the cattle industry’s first sire summary in 1971, and developed the industry’s first multi-breed genetic evaluation in 1997. In the early 2000′s, the ASA teamed with USDA geneticist Mike MacNeil to develop dollar value indexes. Dollar value indexes blend EPDs and economics to estimate the overall impact on profitability of sires’ progeny. Used extensively in the swine, poultry and dairy industry for many decades, dollar value indexes allow breeders and commercial cattle producers to make accurate decisions when determining the economic value of a group of livestock.

Though Leachman and Verified Beef did not file their first patent application until April 13, 2013, they claim that prior to the ASA’s meeting with them in early 2013, the ASA did not have a “product that determined the relative market value of a sale group of livestock.” Leachman and Verified Beef also complain that because the ASA offers its Feeder Profit Calculator to beef producers at no cost, the ASA is “placing unfair economic pressure” on Leachman and Verified Beef which prevents them from “acquiring prospective customers.” As a result, Leachman and Verified Beef request an unstated amount of punitive damages against the ASA and that the ASA “immediately cease offering [its] products . . . [to] the cattle industry.”

In response to the suit, ASA Executive Vice President Wade Shafer stated that Leachman and Verified Beef “seek a monopoly on genetic prediction through a questionable patent and we will not sit idly by and let them take control of something we and others in our industry have been doing for a long time. The ASA will not be deterred from protecting the rights of the beef industry and ASA members against monopolistic claims from Leachman, Verified Beef or others. We believe that the cattle industry has advanced through science to the benefit of everyone. We are committed to making sure that scientific advancement for the good of all, and not just for the profit of a few, remains our goal.”

Source: American Simmental Association

perhaps the spelling is wrong.

When you have trouble selling a critter, It has to be because some one screwed you?  Waaa, waaaa, waaa.

lawsuit deal

He's a punk and a fraudulent, deceitful marketeer. I hope the judge dismisses any and all claims he brings forth.  Karmas a bitch.

It was dismissed:

http://www.progressivecattle.com/news/industry-news/6443-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-against-simmental-association

Lol Xbar Lee is one of the most knowledgeable cattlemen around today ,  if you werent so  ignorant maybe you could learn about the future of the cattle business

I always liked Leachman Right Time
http://www.universalsemensales.com/node/9854

bedrock said:

Lol Xbar Lee is one of the most knowledgeable cattlemen around today ,  if you werent so  ignorant maybe you could learn about the future of the cattle business

Click to expand...

Like you have the capacity to assess that...    That guys made a fortune misrepresenting data and taking advantage of people like you and your daddy

Misrepresentation of data? Because hes pushing feed efficiency ? And mature cow size? How do you plan on getting on the shorthorn association board with an attitude like yours?

-XBAR- said:

He's a punk and a fraudulent, deceitful marketeer. I hope the judge dismisses any and all claims he brings forth.  Karmas a *****.

Click to expand...

-XBAR- said:

bedrock said:

Lol Xbar Lee is one of the most knowledgeable cattlemen around today ,  if you werent so  ignorant maybe you could learn about the future of the cattle business

Click to expand...

Like you have the capacity to assess that...    That guys made a fortune misrepresenting data and taking advantage of people like you and your daddy

Click to expand...

Jealousy of those who you fear may know more than you. Maybe they have been successful with something you don't understand. Like crossbreeding cattle. You go straight to personally attacking a man you don't know because you can't fathom how they have had success? You say he is fraudulent and deceitful? I don't even know why I"m taking the time to respond. Maybe it's because so many people listen to you on here and you do make some intelligent comments from time to time. But, in this case you are way over the top once again.
The fact is that Leachman's went to the ASA and brought them this idea and wanted to work with them on it. They said no and came out with their own a few months later. Now I think that would piss off any business man. Did the judge make the right decision by dismissing the case? Possibly but I'm not a lawyer. The fact is that Leachman's have pioneered many things in the beef industry and sell more quality bulls than almost anyone in the nation. They take all performance data, convenience traits, ultrasound data, and kill data, and they put that into their system and track it better than pretty much anyone. To say a man who is pretty much a genius from what I've witnessed, is a fraud, is about the most ignorant statement I've ever heard you say.
Then you go to personally attacking me once again and my co-worker by referring to me as his "daddy"? I hope people read this and come to the conclusion I came to a long time ago.

See you have it backwards- it is because of my understanding of systemic cross breeding (the irony in your personal opinion vs the opinion expressed in your signature is baffling) that I am able to see through the bs you so naively take for face value.  Leachman propaganda literature is littered with misrepresentations: from literally fabricating his own definition of what a composite is, to deliberately misconstruing MARC data to fit his agenda.  It is your relatively new exposure to cattle breeding philosophy in general (unlike many, I've read your story in the Ohio cattleman w/e magazine) that is responsible for your inability to discern these misrepresentations.

I agree that Lee Leachman is a VERY intelligent man. He has an immense conceptual understanding of functional beef cattle selection protocol- I also believe that it is this understanding that has enabled him to so cleverly distort sound truths into these aesthetically pleasing sales pitches that the unsuspecting continue to buy into.  It really is unfortunate: Unfortunate not only that he's got to revel in the lucrative rewards of these tactics, but more so, unfortunate that true master breeders such as Larry Leonhardt have been overshadowed by the glimmer and glamor of these commotion and promotion types.

Leonhardt said it best, "The registered cattle business is a con-artists paradise."

You're free to align yourself with those who engage in deceitful marketing practices, but as for me, I will continue to subscribe to a more virtuous pursuit: a pursuit where sound breeding principles are never compromised in favor of short term monetary reward.

-XBAR- said:

See you have it backwards- it is because of my understanding of systemic cross breeding (the irony in your personal opinion vs the opinion expressed in your signature is baffling) that I am able to see through the bs you so naively take for face value.  Leachman propaganda literature is littered with misrepresentations: from literally fabricating his own definition of what a composite is, to deliberately misconstruing MARC data to fit his agenda.  It is your relatively new exposure to cattle breeding philosophy in general (unlike many, I've read your story in the Ohio cattleman w/e magazine) that is responsible for your inability to discern these misrepresentations.

I agree that Lee Leachman is a VERY intelligent man. He has an immense conceptual understanding of functional beef cattle selection protocol- I also believe that it is this understanding that has enabled him to so cleverly distort sound truths into these aesthetically pleasing sales pitches that the unsuspecting continue to buy into.  It really is unfortunate: Unfortunate not only that he's got to revel in the lucrative rewards of these tactics, but more so, unfortunate that true master breeders such as Larry Leonhardt have been overshadowed by the glimmer and glamor of these commotion and promotion types.

Leonhardt said it best, "The registered cattle business is a con-artists paradise."

You're free to align yourself with those who engage in deceitful marketing practices, but as for me, I will continue to subscribe to a more virtuous pursuit: a pursuit where sound breeding principles are never compromised in favor of short term monetary reward.

Click to expand...

Your pursuit and approach are far from virtuous. Calling someone a "punk", "deceitful", and "fraudulent" is not what I call a virtuous pursuit. I've met Lee Leachman personally and talked with him several times on the phone and believe him to be a very good christian man who really cares about people. You keep on attacking me and I'll keep on calling you out on it. Funny thing is you get some kind of sick pleasure by treating people this way. I don't.

Call me out?  (lol) Geeeeeez, it's almost as if you suffer from a Stockholm type syndrome- As opposed to being rationally alarmed by those that have taken advantage of your gullibility, you continue to defend them. 

personally, i would buy something from x-bar that he has brought down from canada than leachman's.


the only stuff i would buy from leachmans (the feed efficiency one) are bulls of his multi-generational feed efficiency program fed in independent trials compared with other cattle.


if i had shorthorns, i would be doing exactly what x-bar is doing.


nothing against you at all jtm. and yes, x-bar seems to get pleasure from responses to his rhetorical comments.

Pretty successful operation to be throwing such harsh descriptive terms toward.

Businesses with this level of success are built on customers that believe in the business philosophy......enough so that these customers return year after year.  What would you guess their customer retention rate to be? 

Customers don't come back unless it works for them.

X-Bar, you and I see eye to eye on a lot of things, but not this.  I would challenge you to pick up the phone and tell Leachman that he is a fraudulent and deceitful marketer.  Better yet, tell him in person.

Knabe, I seriously doubt the Leachman operation cares one way or another who you'd rather buy bulls from.

It's a strange paradigm where the whistleblower is made out to be the villain.  I'm not here to be some pandering pc pushover-- I'm not here to win your votes or to sell you anything.  I speak up as a consumer advocate. I speak up, because I do have the understanding to discern factual information from the semantics game these marketeers attempt to play. Do not be fooled by those that attempt to use these terms interchangeably-

A crossbred is an animal with purebred parents of two different breeds.  In cattle breeding, this animal is more commonly known as an F1.

A composite is a BREED made up of at least two component BREEDS, designed to retain heterosis in future generations WITHOUT crossbreeding and MAINTAINED AS PUREBRED.

A mongrel is an mixed-breed animal resulting from VARIOUS cross/interbreedings.

A Stabilizer is not a crossbred.

A Stabilizer is not a composite.

A Stabilizer IS a mongrel.

Now that you should have a better understanding of the terminology at hand, read through the 'Leachman profit strategy' PDF and see for yourself the crafty tactics relied upon. Skim through and ask yourself, "what would be the motive for someone to use the documented performance data of crossbred and composite cattle to promote the usefulness of Mongrels?" 

http://www.leachman.com/Philosophies/ProfitStrategies.pdf

-XBAR- said:

It's a strange paradigm where the whistleblower is made out to be the villain.  I'm not here to be some pandering pc pushover-- I'm not here to win your votes or to sell you anything.  I speak up as a consumer advocate. I speak up, because I do have the understanding to discern factual information from the semantics game these marketeers attempt to play. Do not be fooled by those that attempt to use these terms interchangeably-

A crossbred is an animal with purebred parents of two different breeds.  In cattle breeding, this animal is more commonly known as an F1.

A composite is a BREED made up of at least two component BREEDS, designed to retain heterosis in future generations WITHOUT crossbreeding and MAINTAINED AS PUREBRED.

A mongrel is an mixed-breed animal resulting from VARIOUS cross/interbreedings.

A Stabilizer is not a crossbred.

A Stabilizer is not a composite.

A Stabilizer IS a mongrel.

Now that you should have a better understanding of the terminology at hand, read through the 'Leachman profit strategy' PDF and see for yourself the crafty tactics relied upon. Skim through and ask yourself, "what would be the motive for someone to use the documented performance data of crossbred and composite cattle to promote the usefulness of Mongrels?" 

http://www.leachman.com/Philosophies/ProfitStrategies.pdf

Click to expand...

X BAR, wouldn't Stabilizer be considered a synthetic breed? 

I have to say that most of the LCoC cattle I just can't get on board with from a phenotype standpoint. It's not that they are bad, it's just I have a different preference. There is not doubt Lee is a good marketer, he learned from the best. Just because I don't have the same preference doesn't mean I should run the guy down. I don't know the specifics on the lawsuit, whether Simmental assoc did what was eluded to or not doesn't matter. The concept behind it was flawed and I think it was bad press whether he was in the right or not.

Having said all that, I cannot figure out how XBAR has risen to elite "whistle blower" status by calling out the Leachman program as "garbage" because the market "mongrels" which do not align with XBARS values. Hmm, that seems pretty presumptuous and almost like forcing your own values on everyone else....

Regardless of your belief in his system or not, having testimonials that claim over 50% prime at 15 months on muscular looking steers I would say is very commercially relevant. If your idea of being a whistle blower  is because he is screwing people over I think you should call his commercial customers that retain ownership and garner over $400 per head premiums and tell them they are getting screwed. Just a thought.

-XBAR- said:

It's a strange paradigm where the whistleblower is made out to be the villain.  I'm not here to be some pandering pc pushover-- I'm not here to win your votes or to sell you anything.  I speak up as a consumer advocate. I speak up, because I do have the understanding to discern factual information from the semantics game these marketeers attempt to play. Do not be fooled by those that attempt to use these terms interchangeably-

A crossbred is an animal with purebred parents of two different breeds.  In cattle breeding, this animal is more commonly known as an F1.

A composite is a BREED made up of at least two component BREEDS, designed to retain heterosis in future generations WITHOUT crossbreeding and MAINTAINED AS PUREBRED.

A mongrel is an mixed-breed animal resulting from VARIOUS cross/interbreedings.

A Stabilizer is not a crossbred.

A Stabilizer is not a composite.

A Stabilizer IS a mongrel.

Now that you should have a better understanding of the terminology at hand, read through the 'Leachman profit strategy' PDF and see for yourself the crafty tactics relied upon. Skim through and ask yourself, "what would be the motive for someone to use the documented performance data of crossbred and composite cattle to promote the usefulness of Mongrels?" 

http://www.leachman.com/Philosophies/ProfitStrategies.pdf

Click to expand...

Well I am what you would call a "layman" in that I really don't have any specialized or professional knowledge on this terminology that has rendered one of the most successful cattle operations in the history of our great country to the status of "punk, deceitful, and fraudulent". 

As a layman, there are purebred cattle.  Two parents of the same breed, both purebred.  EVERYTHING that isn't a purebred is what I call a Crossbred.  Stabilizer, composite, Chi, Maintainer, etc.....Crossbreds.  That is how this "layman" sees it.  Perhaps I see it wrong, but I have already admitted no particular expertise so being wrong really isn't something that I will lose much sleep over.

You on the other hand X-Bar are NOT a layman.  You have superior knowledge on this topic, and understand how important it is that this hair be split perfectly in order for one to not be a punk, or a deceitful and fraudulent marketer.

So, with that said...BY DEFINITION, a punk is a "worthless person".

As I said, pretty harsh comment.  This type of comment raises question as to your motive for making such a comment.
Had you said that the way that Leachman defines and presents their particular product lines can be cause for great confusion among those of us that understand the difference between these different blood lines.......completely different conversation.