There were criteria for procedures and shots, while veterinarians certified that procedures such as dehorning and castrating were done properly and correct pre-immunization shots were given properly. Two categories of calves (either pre-immunized or pre-immunized and weaned a specific time period) were certified preconditioned. Calves were identified with different coloured tags to distinguish pre-immunized versus preconditioned ones, and paperwork accompanied the calves so to establish credibility to the program.

The science made complete sense — but the program didn’t take off past a few years.

Why was this?

Well for starters, producers needed a premium for the extra work and risk that comes with weaning calves at home. However, feedlots didn’t necessarily pay a premium for various reasons, including that the critical number to reaching a full pen of cattle purchased at once could not be maintained.

Then everyone started having ‘preconditioned sales.’ Everybody claimed their calves were preconditioned because it was the buzzword of the day. At the time, I questioned farmers when they wrote on the manifest that their calves were “preconditioned” — only to find out they had only been given a blackleg vaccine.

It’s time for the cow-calf producer to start preconditioning calves again for the betterment of the entire industry. But they should share in the huge value added this creates.

Most of you purebred breeders do this and realize the great benefits. Please pass this information off to your bull customers. Among the multitude of benefits are reduced morbidity and mortality; decreased treatment costs; and improved weight gains and efficiencies.

It is good for sustainability as there is a reduced chance of antimicrobial resistance when less antimicrobials are used. It simply is good for a calf’s health and welfare to maximize protection for respiratory disease, minimize stress, and make an easy transition to a different feed. (This also supports responsible use of antibiotics.)

More preconditioning should result in fewer calves needing treatment and/or fewer groups of calves considered high risk (so fewer metaphylactic antimicrobials will be required). Reduced stress should help maintain a healthy immune system.

Preconditioning at home gives producers the option of using low-stress weaning — either fenceline weaning or nose flaps (so the only thing removed initially is the calves’ ability to suck). This helps motivate them to find feed and watering areas while being free of other stressors such as commingling, transportation, and bad weather. (If the forecast calls for bad winter storms, weaning can be delayed a few days.)

Castration is more and more commonly being done when calves are younger, and a good percentage of calves with horns are pasted or are dehorned with other methods long before weaning is contemplated.

If a higher premium is paid when these procedures are done in advance, cow-calf producers generally will oblige. I was not too surprised during a recent feedlot tour in the U.S. when a large feedlot sent all bulls back. The risk to castrate and losses associated with this are too great to justify performing it at the feedlot level. As an industry, we cannot afford to have all these stagy animals ending up in the feedlot.

A great number of producers’ calves are already pre-immunized, but the weaning on farm has been avoided as producers have received top dollar for fresh calves right off the cow. Feedlots have been able to counteract the potential ill effects with long-acting macrolide antibiotics.

The proper principle, though, is maximum protection from vaccines and minimal stress at weaning. If weaned early enough (45 days plus), all of a sudden compensatory gains occur and producers will be selling heavier calves. There will be much less morbidity and mortality on the farm as the result of soft weaning as well as less antimicrobials being used. And cattle will generally be healthier and gain more weight.

We need consistency in both preventing diseases with vaccinations and the length of time of weaning. Pharmaceutical companies have been one of the drivers of this. The only thing here is the companies that have promoted this have trade names for programs or tie them to specific products. Melding of different vaccines from different companies is OK as long as efficacy is comparable. In Western Canada at least, vaccines against the common viral pathogens for pneumonia (IBR, Types 1 and 2 BVD, BRSV, PI3); as well as the common bacterial pathogens (histophilus, pasteurella, mannheimia); and, of course, a seven- to nine-way blackleg vaccine are commonly used.

If the right combinations are selected, these preventive measures can be combined in no more than two shots. More and more top producers are already giving the priming shots at turnout to pasture so only the booster is required at weaning. Therefore a very high percentage of calves are already partially pre-immunized at weaning.

There are other important preconditioning procedures (besides the obvious — deworming and treating for lice). More and higher worm counts are being detected (especially at pasture or on entry to the feedlot) and we are seeing resistance to the macrocytic lactone-type products. In the future then, both deworming with an oral product like fenbendazole (Safe-Guard) while still using the macrocytic lactone products (such as Ivermectin) for lice, flies, and warbles should be included in any good preconditioning program.

Most producers almost always precondition their replacement heifers, so this simply means applying the same principles to all their calves.

As well, heifers could be sold certified open whether they were pregnancy checked or the bulls pulled early. Bred heifers cause a great economic hardship in the feedlot and calving heifers in the feedlot greatly increases death loss, sickness, and dressing percentage loss.

With retained ownership, all these procedures are a no-brainer.

The key is to what degree is the cow-calf producer compensated when selling these certified calves. Direct shipping will maximize the gain both parties receive and a fair price can be set — plus home-raised cattle could implement the feedlot’s implant program (or implanting and identification may be the only thing left to do as the cattle enter the feedlot).

It has been found in slaughter animals, that many more calves have lung adhesions at slaughter than were actually treated. This indicates many calves deal with a low-grade pneumonia and adhesions lead to poorer performance. Since adhesions are caused by respiratory disease, anything that prevents them is a good thing as far as cattle production is concerned.

Fewer sick cattle means less death loss and chronic cases of illness. Production will be increased and there will be less reliance on the metaphylactic administration of antibiotics if preconditioning can again gain momentum and producers compensated for the extra cost of vaccines. We can then produce more beef more efficiently for the world’s growing population.

Happy preconditioning this fall. If you do it, make sure to tell everyone — including marketers and auction markets. Direct auctions and some auction market specialty sales describe the cattle very well, including their health parameters, so utilize them.

The post Preconditioning is good for the entire cattle industry appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The answer depends on whom you talk to.

Attendees at a University of Calgary conference last month were told about an Indiana producer who pocketed an extra $80 per calf by preconditioning his animals.

“The producer realized that the more days he preconditioned those calves, the more money he made,” Dr. Mark Hilton, a veterinarian with Elanco Animal Health, said at the U of C Veterinary Medicine Beef Cattle Conference.

But most Alberta producers aren’t fully preconditioning — a practice where a feeder calf is vaccinated, castrated, weaned, and fed from a feed bunk — because there’s not a strong economic incentive, said Dr. Cody Creelman of Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Airdrie.

“Guys are very, very hesitant to keep their cattle around if they’re doing a preconditioning program where those cows are backgrounded for a little bit post-weaning before they’re shipped off — introduced to a bunk, introduced to stored feed and water troughs,” said Creelman.

“They say, ‘If one animal dies, that’s basically my entire profit margin for doing this preconditioning.’ They like to defer their risk in terms of mortality to the feedlot.”

However, these two views aren’t irreconcilable — rather it’s all about the specifics, and the economics, of individual operations.

Indiana study

In the case of the Indiana producer, who was the subject of an 11-year research project, “the profit was directly tied to average daily gain,” said Hilton.

“The big deal in dollars with preconditioning calves is putting weight on those calves efficiently,” he said.

Newly weaned cattle are “pretty darn efficient at putting a pound of gain on,” but as their weights go up, so too do the costs per pound of gain. As a result, producers are generally better off taking advantage of those ‘cheap’ gains, he said.

“Our cost of gain was very reasonable on these calves.”

At the beginning of the project, the average daily gain was 1.2 pounds, but as the producer tweaked the feed ration and gained more experience with preconditioning, he “pushed three pounds a day of gain once we got those calves on a ration that was really good,” said Hilton.

“Weight gain the first year was 58 pounds, and by the end (of the study), we were putting 200 pounds on these calves. That’s what really paid for him.”

And as he added more days of feeding for those calves, his profit “tended to go up.”

“We started out feeding these calves for 48 days, and then he decided that feeding for 70 days made him a lot more money.”

But even with the increased gain and preconditioning bonus, his profitability “really changed a lot over the years,” said Hilton, adding that feed costs were the No. 1 reason for that.

“We don’t have much control over that, but I can control gain on those calves by putting them on a ration where they do really, really well,” said Hilton.

“We’re in charge of the weight, and when we put weight on these calves, the owner made money.”

By the end of the project, the producer “got $174.30 more for these calves than he would have.”

“It cost him $93.60 to put that on, which gave him a net profit of $80.70 per calf. Over the years, that was about $90,000 extra,” said Hilton.

By comparison, the producer made $20 per cow per year in his cow herd.

“He made $80 by owning a calf for 63 (extra) days. That’s four times as much money for owning a calf for two months versus owning a cow for a year.”

The situation in Alberta

The biggest barrier for most Alberta producers is that auction marts don’t pay extra for preconditioned calves.

“Cow-calf producers are right in saying, ‘I’m not sure if I’m getting an appropriate premium for all the work I’m putting in to do the preconditioning.’ That’s a very fair statement,” said Creelman.

“What you would need to do is figure out for yourself what that cost actually is.”

Producers are often guilty of not knowing their breakeven costs, but it’s critical in a preconditioning program.

“Most importantly as a cow-calf producer, you have to know your true input costs and figure out what works best for your system,” said Creelman. “Preconditioning might be really good for one person and they can make money at it, but they may not be able to do it in another system.

“Before you implement a program, know what the cost is to do preconditioning.”

In general, a 30-day preconditioning program costs about $50 a head in production costs, including feed, veterinary care, yardage and interest, he said.

“Each producer is going to have to figure out a number for themselves, and that’s the number you’re going to need to work with carrying forward when you’re talking to a feedlot.”

But the “real work” is in marketing those preconditioned calves.

“It’s hard to get that premium back on your calves in a typical open auction mart system,” said Creelman, who advocates selling direct to feedlots using tools like e-sales and satellite auctions. That way, producers can track the performance of their calves through the system to command higher prices with that buyer in subsequent years.

“I do think that’s the best system to be able to see the benefit from preconditioning,” said Creelman. “You can say, ‘My breakeven is $50. We followed these calves through last year and saw that they had pretty good carcass data and half the bovine respiratory disease and half the death loss that was average for your feedlot. If we calculate that all out, we get $100, so let’s meet in the middle at $75.’

“But that takes a lot of work and takes a lot of time to develop the relationships.”

Producers need to remember that preconditioned does not always equal more money, he added.

“We’re very market dependent in our industry. Sometimes, doing all of these nice things on the cow-calf side can negatively impact your overall revenue,” said Creelman.

“You do need to find the balance and recognize that you’re in a free-market system where things can change from year to year.”

The bottom line

Hilton was at pains to emphasize the Indiana producer didn’t see an immediate benefit.

“We didn’t do all this at once. This took a while to happen, and he could have easily thrown in the towel the first year,” he said.

“I get really tired of reading that someone tried something once and it didn’t work, so they’re not going to try it again. If it didn’t work the first time, maybe you didn’t do it right.”

Creelman also said there’s a steep learning curve in getting a handle on “all the tools and options out there.”

“It does take more work. It takes more planning. From that regard, it is a little trickier,” he said.

And with recent high prices, most producers have just been enjoying the ride, he added.

“When you’re making money without doing it — like what the industry has been experiencing over the last five years — that extra hard work isn’t seen as worth it,” he said.

“But I always say most good things are hard.”

The post Show me the money: The lowdown on preconditioning appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

That was the message from veterinarian Cody Creelman during a recent Beef Cattle Research Centre webinar.

Preconditioning includes anything a producer does to a weaned calf that reduces shrink and chance of illness or death when it arrives at the feedlot, said Creelman of Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Airdrie. It can range from a single blackleg shot to a comprehensive herd health program that includes vaccination, top-quality nutrition, and a host of best management practices.

“If I was a producer, I would make sure that I knew my input costs as best as I possibly could,” said Creelman. “I could figure out which preconditioning system was going to fit my individual system of raising cattle. I would consult with veterinarians, nutritionists and marketing consultants and find a system that works for me. Feedlots do want these types of cattle.”

When calves between 500 to 700 pounds hit the feedlot, they generally receive antibiotics, vaccines to protect against respiratory and bacterial pathogens, and treatments for parasites.

The vaccines and antibiotics typically cost $30 per head (plus $12 in labour), but because feedlot operators don’t know the history of the cattle, they want to ensure they remain healthy.

• More on the Alberta Farmer: Should you precondition your cattle?

Calves have a five per cent chance of catching bovine respiratory disease (BRD) — also known as shipping fever — which will cut their daily gain by nearly a pound per day compared to other calves. But cow-calf producers can reduce the incidence of the disease and mortality at the feedlot by giving a respiratory pathogen vaccine any time between branding and three weeks before weaning. Some pharmaceutical companies guarantee “zero per cent BRD pulls” when their vaccine is used, and will compensate feedlots if a cow becomes sick and has to be pulled from its pen for treatment, said Creelman. The net effect is reduced antibiotic use and mortality, and increased feed efficiency and beef quality, he said.

“There’s also an increase in animal welfare and consumer perception of the industry,” he said. “All of this data is out there showing what preconditioned calves can do when they hit the feedlot.”

Reducing the risk of antibiotic strains of the disease is another big reason for preconditioning, he said.

“I do not look forward to the day when antibiotics do not work as well as they did. So we have to do more than we’re doing in our current system,” said Creelman.

And there’s no reason not to precondition calves, he said.

“You’re running those calves through for branding anyway, so why not give them all the vaccines they need to be preconditioned? Then when they get vaccinated at the feedlot, that acts as a boost, not a primary vaccine.”

Another part of preconditioning is to ensure calves are acquainted with feed bunks and water troughs.

“They can’t just go to the feedlot and wander around lost until they just one day bump into the feed bunk,” he said.

As well, producers should be ensuring their feed is high quality and, if need be, consulting with a nutritionist to learn more about the minerals.

“You can get up to three pounds of gain a day at home. It may take a bit of practice to get that, but if you can achieve that, that’s a lot of salable pounds at 30, 45 or 60 days that will put some extra cash in your jeans,” said Creelman.

He also recommended low-stress weaning and direct marketing to the feedlot.

“Decreasing the bug soup and kindergarten effect of going through the auction mart system can be a viable option when it comes to management as well,” he said.

Still, producers aren’t guaranteed a premium for the extra work involved in preconditioning. But if they don’t, cow-calf producers are just passing risk on to the feedlot, said Creelman.

“Even though we’re in the same industry, I feel like there’s a lot of us versus them out there,” he said. “There’s a lot of mistrust. For the good of the animal, we need to pull back together and work together to improve consumer perception.”

And while preconditioning information may not always be passed along to the buyer right now, that may soon change. Traceability programs, certified preconditioning, and electronic video auctions can all help ensure that information about preconditioning stays with the animal throughout the value chain, he said.

Producers can also sell directly to the feedlot, and build up a good relationship with the feedlot owner.

“Even with tools like BIXS, you can extract your carcass data out and then extract the personalized data to leverage buyers in subsequent years,” he said.

The post Everyone will benefit if calves are preconditioned, says vet appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.