News Update
Jan. 27, 2009

Applications now Accepted for Second Beef Leaders Institute

Young Angus producers interested in networking with others, learning more about the American Angus Association® and exploring the beef production system should apply to the 2009 Beef Leaders Institute (BLI). The BLI is designed for Association members, 25-45 years old, as a resource to provide insight to all segments of the beef industry. BLI is set for May 31-June 3, and begins at the Association’s headquarters in Saint Joseph, Mo.

This marks the second year for the BLI, a three-day intensive tour of various segments of the industry including feeding, packing, marketing and retail outlets. In addition, the attendees, all members of the Association, put themselves into the consumer role to gain added perspective on beef consumption.

“The BLI gives our younger Association members the opportunity to get off the farm or ranch for a few days to network with their peers, while gaining knowledge of the American Angus Association and the entire beef industry,” says Shelia Stannard, director of communications and events for the Association. “With the financial assistance of the Angus Foundation, which supports education, youth and research we can provide BLI to our membership at little cost to them.”

BLI is limited to 20 participants each year to facilitate discussion and tours. Selection is based on application, and all applications are due to the Association by March 2. Once selected, attendees must provide their own round-trip transportation between their home and Kansas City International airport, or Saint Joseph, Mo., if driving. The Association provides transportation during the BLI, as well as lodging, meals and materials.

For further information or an application, visit www.angus.org or contact the Association by calling 816-383-5100. BLI is just one of many programs that the American Angus Association supports for its nearly 33,000 members nationwide.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

Auxiliary Scholarships Available for Junior Angus Members

Applications for American Angus Auxiliary scholarships are now available online. The postmark for applications is May 10. Interested junior Angus members may download the application, access directions, frequently asked questions and general information by visiting www.angusauxiliary.com/scholarships/index.html. For specific state and local Auxiliary scholarship deadlines and information, visit the Auxiliary web site or contact your local Angus auxiliary.

Additional questions about the American Angus Auxiliary scholarships can be directed to Kathi Creamer, Auxiliary scholarship chair at 17270 6450 Rd., Montrose, CO 81403; or at 970-240-2798.

The American Angus Auxiliary consists of individuals interested in the welfare of the Angus breed. Its members work to provide educational activities for junior Angus members, such as scholarship programs, awards and competitions. For more information about the American Angus Auxiliary, visit www.angusauxiliary.com.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

One Sick Calf Equals a Less Profitable Pen

Low mortality isn’t the only way to measure the success of your health program.

Pfizer veterinarian Robin Falkner told attendees at last fall’s Feeding Quality Forums in North Platte, Neb., and Amarillo, Texas, to start thinking about disease management a little differently.

“We want to worry about things that can change and that can matter,” he said.

Consider the steer with a 10% chance of living. A cowboy treats him, sends him to a holding pen and spends extra time with him — only to increase his chance of survival to 14%.

“Your total focus is on saving that one,” Falkner noted. “How much of my time can I burn up on him that I could better invest somewhere else? In this situation, the bunks aren’t cleaned out. The water troughs aren’t getting cleaned. We don’t have that extra five minutes in another pen to pull one early.”

A change of mind-set would help the bottom line, Falkner said: “We need to move away from asking what can we do to save him to asking what he can kill.”

That’s because the real risk goes beyond wasting time. That one calf is shedding to the rest of the population — after all, he has pathogens that have already beaten the drugs and management at that yard, Falkner said. “That’s why it’s not about saving him. It’s about saving the other calves.”

Rather than managing health on an animal-by-animal basis, feeders need to think of keeping disease under control in groups of cattle and their yard as a whole.

“I’m not a veterinarian who thinks the world revolves around health, but if you intentionally manage pathogens, your world will change,” Falkner said. He referenced Texas Ranch-to-Rail data that shows a sick calf costs $100, and Iowa research illustrates a 10-point drop in Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) acceptance rate for calves treated twice.

“That’s not the whole story, though, because it affected the other calves in the pen,” he said. Sick cattle cause problems with everything from bunk feeding to final marketing, but managing health will improve both the efficiency of groups of cattle and the feedyard as a whole.

“Does heath impact any decisions we make about filling pens at any point in time? I think it’s the biggest bottleneck to profitability we’ve got,” Falkner said. “We are scared to buy certain types and classes of cattle because we don’t know if we can handle the health. We’re scared to wreck and overload our labor.”

When those health disasters happen, feeders often put off buying until they have it under control. Some try to change vaccines, nutritionists, veterinarians or even order buyers.

“Switching a good program to one you don’t know is probably not a good deal,” he said.

Instead, Falkner provided some practical prevention recommendations, including not placing your hospital pen next door to receiving.

“You don’t know how many feedyards I’ve been to where the cattle are going to stand right next to a pen of chronics, overnight, before they’re processed in the morning,” he said. Following up with ironic humor, he asked, “Are you just trying to inoculate them early so we can go ahead and get over it? We make sure we give our brand new, naïve, stressed-out cattle good, early access to the worst bugs we’ve collected in the past six months, year or 10 years.”

He also suggests keeping cattle out of that treatment pen if at all possible.

“A low flow of cattle into the hospital works well, because that flushes the bugs out regularly and they don’t accumulate as much,” he said.

Cattle that have been in the yard for 10 to 35 days are the “most dangerous,” Falkner said. “The bugs have all gone through them and they’re shedding a whole lot.”

Sometimes sickness doesn’t show itself in one group of cattle until you mix them with another after they’ve had a couple of weeks to get settled in the yard.

“You create the perfect storm, and you blow them completely up,” he said. “This disease is going on in one group, and by itself it’s not any more than a runny nose, but you put it on top of another disease that’s going through the other group and it’s really bad.”

Taking a careful look at every aspect of bio-containment could help prevent “real wrecks,” Falkner said. “You’re going to get the bad bugs. You’re going to select for them when you use those drugs, but you don’t have to accumulate them and you don’t have to inoculate them.”

The meetings were cosponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Feedlot magazine and Land O’ Lakes Purina Feed. Online copies of the event presentations can be found at http://www.cabpartners.com/events/past_events/index.php

— Release provided by CAB.

Take the IVOMEC® Challenge This Spring, Reap Rewards Next Fall

Spring parasite control pays, and Merial is offering cattle producers the chance to prove it to themselves — risk free — with the IVOMEC Challenge.

“For cows and their spring-born calves, benefits of spring parasite control can include increased weaning weights,^1-5 improved reproductive performance6 and reduced pasture parasite loads.⁷ Those benefits all add up to increased profits for cattle producers,” says Dr. Frank Hurtig, director of Merial Veterinary Services Team.

And these profits go beyond just covering the cost of treatment. University researchers conclude that of all the pharmaceutical technologies examined, parasite control in cow herds has the greatest effect on breakeven prices — providing a value of $201 per head.¹ And this effect was derived using only weaning rates and weaning weights.

To participate, cattle producers simply use any IVOMEC Brand Product on both their cows and spring-born calves in the spring then weigh the calves at weaning in the fall. If the increase in 205-day adjusted weaning weight vs. the previous year does not cover the purchase price of the IVOMEC Brand Product used, Merial will provide to the producer an equivalent number of doses of any IVOMEC Brand Product.

“The IVOMEC Challenge is especially important this year as producers evaluate inputs in a tight economy. Merial is willing to help carry some of the production risks, thus helping ensure that producers will see a financial gain for their parasite control investment,” Hurtig says. “Another significant value is that cow herds stand to benefit far beyond just the initial treatments.”

In addition to increased weaning weights,^2-5 treating cows at spring turnout has been shown to reduce pasture contamination,⁷ lower parasite infection levels in calves⁷ and help protect calf immune response.⁸

“Understandably, producers in cold climates may be under the impression that winter kills all parasites on pastures. However, parasites can — and do — survive, setting the stage for production drains into the summer,”⁷ Hurtig says.

Only Merial offers the IVOMEC Challenge with all four proven formulations of IVOMEC Brand Products. All IVOMEC Brand Products also are backed by Merial’s 100% Product Satisfaction Guarantee. For more information, contact your local Merial sales representative or visit www.ivomec.com.

1 Lawrence JD, Ibarburu MA. Economic analysis of pharmaceutical technologies in modern beef production. 2009 Iowa State University.

2 Wohlgemuth K, et al. Relationship between weaning weights of North Dakota beef calves and treatment of their dams with ivermectin. Agri-Practice 1988:23-26.

3 Wohlgemuth K, et al. Treatment of North Dakota beef cows and calves with ivermectin. Bovine Practitioner 1989:(24)61-66.

4 Couvillion CE, et al. Final project report: Epidemiology and control of bovine gastrointestinal nematodes. 1987-1989.

5 Ciordia H, et al. Effect of ivermectin on performance on beef cattle on Georgia pastures. Am J Vet Res 1984;45:2455-2457.

6 Stromberg BE, Corwin RM. Epizootiology of Ostertagia ostertagi in cow-calf production systems in the American Midwest. Veterinary Parasitology 1993;46:297-302.

7 Hildreth M. Economics and control of cattle-worms in beef cattle: a northern perspective. Academy of Veterinary Consultants Meeting. December 2008.

8 Wiggin C, et al. Studies of the immunomodulatory effects of low-level infection with Ostertagia ostertagi in calves. American Journal of Veterinary Research 1989;50(10):1764-1770.

— Adapted from a release provided by Merial.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.