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Angus Productions Inc.

June 20, 2012


MANAGEMENT...

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Improvements in the Welfare
of Feedlot Cattle

Conditions for feedlot cattle have improved with changes
implemented in the last 30 years.

Canadian veterinarian Kee Jim foresees a bright future for North American beef producers. A professional consultant with Alberta-based Feedlot Health Management Services, Jim addressed the 2012 International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare in Saskatoon, SK, June 5-7, saying current cow numbers may be the lowest that audience members will see during their lifetimes. He expects cattle production to grow in response to increased global demand for high-quality beef.

Jim also said he believes the beef industry can stand up to scrutiny related to animal welfare. Based on his work with Canada's cattle feeders, he said animal welfare among feedlot cattle has improved dramatically during the last three decades.

"I'm convinced that I'd rather be a feedlot steer today than 30 years ago," stated Jim, citing improvements for five major categories: physical infrastructure, health management, nutrition, management's consideration for reducing animal suffering and feedlot personnel training. Read more.


Ron Torell with his wife, Jackie
Ron Torell with his wife, Jackie

Cow Camp Chatter

Strategic Weaning: Managing cow body condition during drought.

Many regions of the country are experiencing one of the driest precipitation cycles in recent history. These extreme drought conditions require management intervention on behalf of the bovine. Some ranchers are turning their cows out on irrigated pasture with no plans of haying their meadows. Others are reducing the size of their herds through stringent culling and marketing.

Cattlemen are faced with making critical management decisions. They need to either increase nutrient supply, which is costly, or decrease nutrient demand. During periods of drought, strategic weaning is one management option ranchers can use to reduce nutrient demand in an effort to manage cow body condition relative to the available nutrient supply. Read more.


Selecting Replacements

Exercise on tour shows there's more to it than what meets the eye.

handoutsWhen it comes to choosing replacement heifers, there is more to it than what meets the eye. That is what cattlemen and women of the Show-Me Select Replacement Heifer Program learned on their annual regional beef industry tour.

More than 50 top commercial beef producers from Missouri began their Kansas tour at Fink Beef Genetics, a family-owned Angus business north of Manhattan, to gain a better understanding of genomic technology.

Armed with a little information on their EPDs (expected progeny differences) and observations of phenotype, participants were challenged to evaluate six heifers and assign their best guess of each one's GeneMax™ score. Read more.


Net Return on Creep Feed

The decision whether to utilize creep feed is one livestock producers should reevaluate each year, says Heather Larson, South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension cow-calf field specialist.

"There is not a set of guidelines that says to use or not to use creep feed; in fact, most of the time it is a decision that should be left up to a producers' preference," Larson said. "When producers ask for advice, I suggest they ask themselves a few questions."

The first question she says a producer needs to ask is, will it actually pay to creep feed?
"Sometimes the markets just do not pay for added weight. Projecting the markets is always a guess," Larson said. To determine if creep-feeding pays, a producer needs to determine the cost on return.

She shares an example: Let's say you are getting a feed conversion of 5:1 (it could be 7:1), creep is costing you 14¢ per pound (lb.) ($279 per ton) and calves are consuming 5 lb. a day. For that 1 lb. of gain a day, it will cost you 70¢ (98¢ on a 7:1). After 90 days and 90 additional pounds, you have a cost of $63 for that gain ($88.20 for 7:1). Now let's say that gain put your calves in the six-weight bracket rather than the five-weight bracket. This could be a 6¢-8¢ difference in the market, or it could be about the same.

We are going to say it was a 7¢ hit, and the market for the 530-lb. calf is $178 per hundredweight (cwt.) and for the six-weight calves is $171 per cwt. The 530-lb. calf would bring $943.40, and the 620-lb. calf would bring $1,060.20. This is a difference of $116.80. Once you take the cost of the creep feed and subtract it from the value of the added gain, you would have a net gain of $53.80 per calf (and a gain of $28.60 on the 7:1 conversion.)

"Note the difference in a 2-pound conversion. It is important that the creep feed is kept in check. Sometimes you may have to switch formulas to control intake later in the season," she said.

These are potential numbers used and may change at any time.


Grazing Management Critical During Drought

University of Kentucky extension specialists offer advice to cattlemen as the state prepares for its historically driest months of the year.

Much of the state has been behind on rainfall since spring began, but the drought has been exceptional in Western Kentucky, with some areas 8 and 9 inches (in.) below normal rainfall totals. With some of the state's historically driest months ahead, good pasture management is critical for livestock producers, said forage extension specialists from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

One of the easiest things producers can do to ensure their animals get the most use of their forages is to practice rotational grazing. In a rotational grazing system, livestock graze in one area for a limited time before being moved to another area. This gives forages time to recover from grazing and ensures that the animals are utilizing a greater percentage of the available forage. Read more.


Kris Ringwall
Kris Ringwall

Beef Talk

At what level of death loss does an individual producer become concerned?

The death of a calf never is uneventful. Calves are tough, so most survive in good or bad weather. However, some don't survive.
When it's cold, the weather is blamed for the death of a calf. In reality, each year producers arrive at the calving pen and are discouraged after finding an occasional dead calf.

The North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association (NDBCIA) benchmark for calf death loss is 3.14% based on the number of cows calving. Simply put, 3.14% of the cows do not get the opportunity to nurse the calves they bore. The frustration is real, but sometimes there is very little a producer can do. Read more.


New Products

Industry affiliates provide a wide array of products and services to assist you on the farm and ranch. Here's an assortment of new products to hit the market recently.


Angus Advisor

Click here for June herd management tips from cattle experts across the nation. Advice separated by region.

 

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