Veterinarian Mark Hilton shared his experiences working with an Indiana producer who co-operated with Purdue University on a preconditioning project from 1999 through 2009. When they boiled it down, four points came to the forefront as keys to success that could be transferred to other farms.
Four keys to successful calf preconditioning
The economics of pregnancy testing
Webinar starts on Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Beef Cattle Research Council is hosting a webinar on the economics of preg checking on Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. The webinar will also look at whether it is more profitable for your operation to cull cows in the fall or spring. The speakers will be Brenna Grant (manager at Canfax Research Services), Dr. Jessica[...]
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Get rid of your cattle if they’re getting too big
Heavier cattle — particularly ones with small frames — can develop feet problems, especially if they suffer heat stress
Reading Time: 3 minutes Don’t keep big, fat cattle around because it could increase animal welfare problems. Animal welfare icon Temple Grandin has recently been sounding alarms about more lameness in beef cattle and part of that is related to heavier weights and genetics. “There are certain genetic lines of beef cattle that are repeating a mistake the pig[...]
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Creep feeding an option if your pastures are hurting
A good creep ration could increase the value of a calf by $50 to $200 if prices stay around $2 a pound
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s another tough year for pastures, and producers wanting to stretch limited forage supplies should consider creep feeding calves throughout the summer, says a provincial beef and forage specialist. “It’s possible that pastures will run out much earlier than normal,” said Barry Yaremcio. “In general, 70 per cent of total forage growth occurs before the[...]
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Researchers join forces to dig deep into state of Prairie cow herd
The five-year project has researchers collecting hard data on topics such as antibiotic use, trace minerals, and Johne’s disease
Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle in Western Canada tend to be deficient in copper, have a low incidence of Johne’s disease, and cow-calf producers don’t use antibiotics excessively. Those are three of the findings from the cattle health network, a five-year project begun in 2012, and based on the National Animal Health Monitoring System in the U.S. “This year[...]
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When does it pay to preg check your cattle?
At current prices, feeding open cows a high-energy ration for 90 days is the smart financial move
Reading Time: 3 minutes According to the 2015 Western Canadian Cow-Calf Survey, 60 per cent of producers include pregnancy detection as part of their management strategy. That’s up from 49 per cent nearly two decades ago. But the question remains as to why 40 per cent of producers in Western Canada choose not to preg check their cows. Assuming[...]
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Missing in action: Study finds ear tag retention a major problem
Calves have almost 100 per cent ear tag retention, but one in nine mature cows loses their tag — and it can be as high as one-third
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cow-calf producers were right all along — ear tag retention in mature cows sucks. “There is a lot of back and forth within the industry as to the effectiveness of these tags, and a lot of the cow-calf producers were identifying concerns about the longevity of the tags,” said Ross MacDonald, project manager for the[...]
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Upping your game through pain control
New video makes the case that pain control makes sense in a host of ways
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Beef Cattle Research Council has a new video to help producers better understand new pain control requirements. As of Jan. 1, the national beef code requires pain control after horn bud attachment and for castration of bulls older than nine months. (The latter changes to six months as of Jan. 1, 2018.) The benefits[...]
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Feed was ‘most plausible’ source of BSE in Case 19
Canada’s food safety agency is still tracking down the last herdmates of the country’s 19th domestic case of BSE, but will otherwise assume the Alberta cow most likely caught the disease from traces of proteins in its early feed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Nov. 30 submitted its final report on Case 19 —[...]
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Backgrounding margins can disappear in a hurry
What looks like a healthy profit might actually be razor thin
Reading Time: 2 minutes Add up all the costs when backgrounding, says a farm business management specialist. “At this time of year the profitability of backgrounding calves also comes into question,” said Ted Nibourg. “Focusing on just the feed costs can give the impression that backgrounding will be economically feasible this fall. While feed costs are a major part[...]
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