News Update

August 18, 2015

Tune in to Angus Television or Radio?

We want to know your interest in Angus Media’s television programs, The Angus Report and I Am Angus, and radio show, Angus Talk. Share your opinion in a short, online survey. The first 10 participants will receive a free “Angus The Business Breed” hat, so act early to claim your prize. To share your thoughts, access the survey here (http://kwiksurveys.com/s/cvSOu3oC).

— Announcement from Angus Media.

Herd Expansion Continues

The recently released USDA cattle inventory report points to what many beef industry analysts recognize as herd expansion. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) director of producer education, John Paterson, says a growing cow herd means more opportunities for beef producers — in the form of increasing average incomes and demands for high-quality beef.

Paterson suggests that the cattle inventory could bounce back to pre-drought levels as early as 2017 and may reach 30 million head by 2020.

“Because of the drought, I think we got rid of our low end of the cow herd. We got rid of the less productive cows,” he states. “We’ve got a pretty young cow herd with pretty good genetics in the United States. And we’ve got a great opportunity to continue to build on quality.”

Paterson says the million-dollar question in the beef industry right now is how high the inventory could climb, and how many cows the industry can handle.

“If we’re at 28 million, I doubt if we’re going to 34 million. I think we’re going to settle out somewhere in that 32 million just because of pasture availability,” he says.

Watch the full interview with Paterson on this week’s The Angus Report.

— Adapted from The Angus Report.

Handle With Care

“We have an animal handling issue in our feedyards,” stated Dan Frese, providing the feedyard perspective on cattle welfare and transportation during the Cattle Transportation Symposium hosted May 14-15 in Fort Collins, Colo. The Miller, Neb., veterinarian and cattle feeder cited research suggesting overly aggressive handling is a major contributor to so-called fatigued cattle syndrome.

While pursuing an additional doctorate at Kansas State University (K-State), Frese was involved in research seeking to understand the cause of the syndrome or causes of lameness, lethargy and muscle tremors observed in finished cattle arriving at packing plants. A tremor rippled through the cattle-feeding industry in 2013 when a beta-agonist growth-promoting product was named as the suspected cause.

According to Frese, however, the symptoms have also been observed in finished cattle that did not receive a beta-agonist. He called fatigued cattle syndrome a multi-factorial problem of cattle that typically are heavily muscled and have achieved rapid gains and heavy finished weights. Contributing stressors include environmental factors such as heat and humidity, less-than-optimum facility design, transportation, and aggressive cattle handling.

For more information, please view the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article.

— Adapted from an Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article by Troy Smith, Angus Journal.

Key Performance Indicators Can Lead to Cattle Profits

Key performance indicators have been used in business applications for many years, but not so much in cattle operations.

Stan Bevers, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist in Vernon, discussed 13 key performance indicators, also known as KPIs, at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course in College Station recently.

“Key performance indicators are measurements to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of an operation,” Bevers said. “They provide a rancher with an analysis of the operation and detail whether the operation is fulfilling the goals of ownership.”

Bevers said KPIs can become a report card for a cattle operation and provide “targets” that can be met to maintain profits. KPIs include the following:

Pounds weaned per exposed female.
Revenue per breeding female.
Nutrition base expense as a percent of total expenses.
Labor and management expense as a percent of total revenue.
Operating expense as a percentage of total revenue.
Net income ratio.
Cost per hundredweight of weaned calf.
Current ratio.
Total investment per breeding female.
Debt per breeding female.
Equity-to- asset ratio or market basis.
Asset turnover ratio on cost basis.
Rate of return on assets on market basis.

For more information, please view the full news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Blair Fannin, Texas A&M University.

Ames Workshop Will Examine Stewardship
of Antimicrobial Drug Use in Livestock

Stewardship of medically-important antimicrobial drugs in food animals is the subject of workshops targeted to livestock producers, their feed suppliers and veterinarians in seven Midwestern states. The workshop will be Sept. 16, 2015, at the Gateway Hotel, 2100 Green Hills Drive, Ames, Iowa.

This free workshop is an opportunity for participants to gain a comprehensive understanding of two Guidance for Industry (GFIs) documents issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the use of medically-important antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals, as well as FDA’s revised Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). The workshop is also an opportunity for other stakeholders, such as state and federal agencies, colleges of veterinary medicine and university extension personnel, to gain insights into the changes needed to meet the requirements.

Led by Farm Foundation NFP, this workshop is targeted to pork, cattle, poultry and sheep producers, veterinarians and feed suppliers in Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Western Illinois, Northern Kansas and Northern Missouri. Advance registration is requested and can be completed online.

For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.

— Adapted from a release by Farm Foundation NFP.

— Compiled by Paige Nelson, field editor, Angus Journal.