Control Stocker Risk with Management
US - Backgrounding may seem simple: Buy calves right, feed them well, keep them healthy and sell them for more. But all the details behind that list prove how difficult the job can be, as noted during the recent “Backgrounding for Quality” field day at White Brothers Cattle Co., near Chickasha, Oklahoma.
10 April 2012
1 minute read
At the seminar, co-sponsored by Oklahoma State University (OSU), Pfizer Animal Health and
Certified Angus Beef LLC, local veterinarian Bruss Horn emphasized that good management starts
with the buy.
“You can purchase your cattle at a salebarn, you can purchase them on a video but you have to
know what you’re getting,” he said, noting that he considers most salebarn cattle “high risk.”
Previous history and management give a producer clues as to how to handle them upon
arrival—a step that requires advanced planning.
“Are you going to process them right off the truck or are you going to let them rest?” Dr Horn
asked. Local calves are less likely to benefit from a break than long-distance arrivals, where the plan
might be, “I am going to give them some good clean hay and water and they are going to lie down
and rest before we process them the next day.”
He said using preventative antibiotics on high-risk cattle—co-mingled groups, those with no
history or known problems—helps maintain health. That’s in tandem with a good vaccination
program on all cattle. At Dr Horn’s practice, it’s common to give shots for blackleg, BVD (bovine viral
diarrhea) and IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis).
“I am a big proponent of modified-live vaccines. I just think you’ll get a whole lot better
response with them,” he said.
They also “double deworm” cattle at receiving, using an injectable and an oral dose at the same
time.
Dr Horn brought up other best management practices, like dehorning, castrating any bull calves
and testing for persistently infected (PI) BVD cattle.
“So, it’s time to turn them out—the herd health does not stop there,” he said. “You know there
is a difference between vaccination and immunization. Vaccination is getting a shot and
immunization is if it worked.”
Free-choice trace minerals, including iron and copper, can help that response.
“You have got to have them on a good plane of nutrition,” Dr Horn said.
“Sustained corn prices will result in a paradigm shift, accentuating the importance of growing
those cattle to heavier weights on grass before bringing them forward,” said the animal scientist.
He shared research that included both fall and spring calves that were either weaned directly
into a feedyard or grown on grass or wheat pasture first.
As expected, the yearlings had worse feed-to-gain ratios (6.83 vs. 5.44 lb.), but heavier hot
carcass weights. The average daily gains (ADG) were similar, calves at 3.63 lb. and 3.81 lb. for
yearlings.
“We all know that the growth potential of our cattle has increased over quite a few years and I
think that’s the primary explanation for that,” he said.
Turning cattle into yearlings did not hurt quality grade.
“That is different than some of the data recorded up in the northern Great Plains,” he noted.
Mostly that’s due to high-quality forage—full of protein and energy—or supplementation.
“For long feeding programs in Oklahoma, supplementation programs have been an absolute
game changer,” he said.
Talking about the development of fat deposits during grazing, Horn said there is a strong,
positive relationship between marbling and ADG, indicating that adding pounds and quality are
mutually beneficial.
Veterinarian Mike Nichols, of Pfizer Animal Health, reminded stockers that their charge is to
make money by eliminating the gamble in the high-risk cattle.
“No segment of the beef industry is more focused on health,” he said. “If nutrition is not right,
the animal health aspect will not be right.”
And in today’s climate, full of high input prices, sometimes it’s good to reflect. “With
investment in the calf, the results of our decisions have more impact than they ever have before,”
he said.
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