Cattle producers looking to improve their return on investment
(ROI) should consider preconditioning calves before taking them to market,
extension specialists told attendees at a recent University of Arkansas
Livestock & Forestry Station field day.
The field day,
“Improve Your Odds for ROI,” featured a look at Arkansas’ new preconditioning
program, GoGREEN, and examined how preconditioning adds to producers’ bottom
lines. Additionally, cattle genetics expert offered specifics on pregnancy
detection and the benefits of a defined breeding season, the University of
Arkansas said in an announcement.
Preconditioning
Preconditioning
is a collection of best management practices meant to make calves healthier and
heavier by the time they go to market, the specialists said, explaining that
preconditioning includes vaccination, ridding calves of internal and external
parasites and making sure they are fully healed from dehorning and castration.
This also include ensuring that calves understand how to eat from a bunker
and drink from water tanks.
Shane Gadberry,
professor and extension ruminant nutrition specialist for the University of
Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said preconditioning also means
handling calves so they aren’t afraid of people and can be approached to
receive medical care, if needed.
“The one thing
that makes preconditioning easy is having a controlled breeding and calving
season,” Gadberry said. “It’s a lot easier to implement a preconditioning
program when most calves are born and weaned around the same time -- either
once or twice a year.”
“I believe preconditioning is the apex, the pinnacle of cow/calf management,”
University of Missouri Extension state beef nutritionist Eric Bailey said.
“The majority of
the value of a preconditioning program is not in the premium at sale,” he said.
“The bottom line to an individual cow/calf producer is that you sell more
pounds of beef.”
Bailey pointed
to research showing that preconditioning can help lower the chances of a calf
contracting bovine respiratory disease, which typically results in a 75%
feedlot mortality rate. Those losses amount to $2 billion a year.
A study of 11
years of preconditioning on a single farm found that the average profit per
head was $68.95, with 63% of that profit due to additional pounds sold, he
said.
In answer to an
audience question, Bailey emphasized that preconditioning isn’t a matter of
using just one tool from a toolbox. “You can’t outrun bad management with a
bottle,” Bailey said. “Vaccines aren’t the guarantee you’re going to have
performance from these animals. Consider the whole system; vaccines are just a
component of a preconditioning system.”
Bailey also
cautioned that preconditioning is a commitment. “Get your cow/calf management
right before you attempt to dive blindly into preconditioning,” he said. “If
you’re not there yet, get with your county agent.”
Arkansas program
The Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service rolled out its GoGREEN preconditioning program in
2018. Gadberry discussed how timing for calving can affect prices producers
receive at market if they immediately sell calves as six-month-old weanlings.
Pointing to a
graph showing steer price fluctuations throughout the year, Gadberry noted that
prices were the “lowest in fall, because we produce a lot of calves in the
spring. It’s sheer supply relative to the demand.”
Gadberry
recommended retaining calves for an additional 60 days after weaning in order
to add weight to them.
“As we add
weight, we’re adding dollars,” he said. “In recent years, we’ve seen market
prices increase from May to July. Producers with fall-born calves often wean in
May. Holding those calves a couple of months, when grass is usually abundant,
can add dollars to the bottom line.”
Feeding for gain
Oklahoma State
University beef cattle extension specialist Paul Beck presented research that
pointed to the use of cool annual forages to promote calf weight gain in the
fall and spring.
Compared to
fescue or hay and supplements of mixed feeds, “wheat pastures offer us a unique
resource with some great potential for weight gains,” he said. “It’s a cheaper
and more profitable option for growing purchased or retained stocker calves.”
Breeding, calving
Charles Looney,
extension cattle genetic specialist for the University of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture, emphasized the bottom-line benefits of moving to a defined
breeding and calving season.
“I grew up on a
farm that had calves all year,” he said. “Calving all year is not what is best.
What is most cost effective is for vaccinating and deworming to be done on all
calves at the same time instead of individually.”
Looney said
ranchers needed to look at testing the reproductive tract soundness of both
heifers and bulls, especially with research showing a $22 return on every
dollar spent on breeding soundness testing.
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