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TALK, TWEET, SHOUT ABOUT ANTIBIOTICS THE BEEF MAGAZINE
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TEST IT! Don’t gamble on feed quality
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Established 1938 ISSN 1196-8923 CATTLEMEN EDITORIAL Editor: Gren Winslow 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 (204) 944-5753 Fax (204) 944-5416 Email: gren@fbcpublishing.com
Contents CANADIAN CATTLEMEN · OCTOBER 2014 · VOLUME 77, NO. 10
FO R AG E
Field Editor: Debbie Furber Box 1168, Tisdale, SK S0E 1T0 (306) 873-4360 Fax (306) 873-4360 Email: debbie.furber@fbcpublishing.com
Be ready for whatever Mother Nature has in store for you this winter.
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DON’T GAMBLE ON FEED QUALITY WAT E R
FEATURES
President: Bob Willcox Glacier FarmMedia Email: bwillcox@farmmedia.com
Don’t gamble on feed quality . . . . . . . . . . . 10 A small herd built with pride . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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Talk, tweet and shout about antibiotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
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Pasture pigs prove profitable . . . . . . . . . . . 26
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Winter water systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Winter water systems
28
H EA LT H
The full cost of pink eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Verified Beef Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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What can we do about mycoplasma? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Vitamin case cracked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
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The full cost of pink eye More than dollars are at risk.
Congratulations! To our October survey winner, Sam White of Gardners Mill, N.S. This month’s survey is on page 54. Cover Photo: Debbie Furber
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Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Newsmakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Our History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Vet Advice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Holistic Ranching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Research on the Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Straight from the Hip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Prime Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 CCA Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 News Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Purely Purebred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The Markets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Market Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Sales and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 C AT T L E M E N · O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
3
COMMEN T
By Gren Winslow
A packer’s view of the meat world The more access, the better
A
bout a week before Prime Minister Harper signed off on the Korean Free Trade agreement and released the text of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union, Jeff Cline was giving the Canada Beef forum in Toronto a look at how a packer sizes up his various markets. Cline started out his career by earning a teaching degree from Brandon University before collecting an MBA and heading to Japan to teach English and learn Japanese. After three years in Japan he joined Cargill in High River as a sales account manager and five years later transferred to the Cargill Beef’s headquarters in Wichita, Kansas where he is now the senior program manager, international beef, for Cargill. A large portion of his talk dealt with variety meats (a nicer term for offal) and the role market access plays in his attempts to maximize the value of every carcass that comes out of the eight plants that Cargill operates in North America. They also market Australian beef through a joint venture with Teys Australia. North Americans may turn their noses up at variety meats but in many parts of the world offal is sought after and can drive profits. Far from being the leftover bits, variety meats are a large and vital portion of the export business but it takes some management to gain the maximum value from this portion of the carcass. You can’t just throw it in a box and expect top price for it. Take tongue for example. Traditionally the highestvalue product per pound among the variety meats, tongue also offers numerous opportunities to add value in processing. You can trim the tip off or skin it to produce a product that looks nothing like tongue when it is presented to a Japanese consumer in the supermarket. Cline says tendons provide a good example of how access to multiple markets can leverage up the value of a beef product. There is demand for tendons in many countries but it isn’t a large market. If Korea, say, was the only market open for beef tendons Cargill alone could easily flood the market. But with access to Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and the U.S. they have buyers scrapping for a shrinking supply on this particular product. As a result the world price has gone from $1 to $2 and more recently $3 per pound. To gain that value though you must have the labour available at the plant to trim the tendons properly and in a fashion that suits the buyers in different countries. In Japan, for instance, consumers like to see them laying out straight like a cucumber. Large intestine presents a similar marketing challenge where the return for the extra labour required has to be carefully assessed in each market. In Japan, for example,
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they need to be split and laid flat in the box. In Korea there is a market for inverted intestine to put the fat on the inside, so it almost looks like a sausage. This is another of those products where demand and supply must be carefully managed. Cline learned that lesson the hard way when they had a Korean customer offer to take all the inverted intestine they could produce. They did, for six months, then had to call a halt because they had a two-year supply on hand. “If I put one extra load of intestines into Korea that’s going to crash the market and what does that do to the 20 people at the plant who are producing that product. It’s just so sensitive,” he explained. The small intestine is used in soups. Abomasum, the fourth stomach, looks good on the grill in Japan and Korea. Honeycomb tripe, the second stomach, is an attractive product that displays well, and is popular in many cultures.
In many parts of the world offal is sought after and can drive profits Omasum, the third stomach, is popular in Hong Kong and China and is starting to rival tongue, fetching close to $6 a pound, more than AA ribs or steaks. Taken together with the rumen the stomachs can add $20 to $25 to a carcass if they are in good shape. With a burned-out rumen that value is lost. Add the liver, another organ that can be damaged by poor feeding management, and you strip $35 or more from the value of the carcass. Each of these products puts certain demands on the staff in every plant that Cargill operates which comes with a cost that must be factored into Cline’s marketing plan. Net return is the measure he uses when targeting markets. With high-value cuts and offal the rule is the same, it goes to the highest net return. In assessing the bigger picture for Canada Cline expects our shipments to the U.S. will shrink some more with time. Japan is probably the quickest win for Canadian beef as we are still running well back of our pre-BSE share of this market, and he thinks we need to target the manufacturing side of the market to regain that share. Focusing on Japan may slow down the growth of our Hong Kong and China business. South Korea will take more time but it will become a major market for years to come. c
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THE INDUST RY
NewsMakers Saskatchewan beef producer Jack Hextall was elected chair of the board of directors of Canada Beef Inc. last month at its annual meeting in Toronto. He replaces Chuck MacLean Jack Hextall of Alberta who served as chair of the industry’s promotion and marketing agency for the past two years. Trevor Atchison, the Manitoba producer representative, is vice-chair. The various committee chairs are: finance, Lonnie Lake of Sysco Canada; governance, Arden Schneckenburger, Ontario; planning and priorities, Mike Kennedy, Cargill; foreign trade, Arthur Batista, Ecolait. The Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians and Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. presented its 2014 Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award to Dr. Joe Stookey of the UniverDr. Joe Stookey sity of Saskatchewan last month in recognition of his widely recognized research into beef cattle behaviour and welfare. He was a key member of the beef welfare code development committee and sits on numerous other committees involved in animal welfare, both in Canada and internationally. The Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award is given annually to a veterinarian or animal scientist working in Canada, a faculty member or a graduate student of a Canadian university to recognize his/her achievements in advancing the welfare of animals. The Beef Cattle Research Council has paired up three young beef researchers with industry mentors to broaden their practical understanding of the entire Canadian beef industry. Dr. Emma Dr. Emma McGeough McGeough at the University of Manitoba has been paired with Janice Bruynooghe and Sandy Russell of Spring Creek Land and Cattle Consulting. Dr. McGeough received her bachelor of agriculture science and a PhD in ruminant nutrition before moving to Canada to take a post-doctoral position at the Lethbridge Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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research station. In the spring of 2013 she became an assistant professor of sustainable grassland/livestock production systems at the U of M. Bruynooghe and her husband Chad started Spring Creek Land and Cattle Consulting in 2003 at their ranch in Outlook, Sask. She also served as the director of the Saskatchewan Forage Council for 11 years up to 2012 and is currently involved in creating a Saskatchewan Forage Network. Sandy Russell became a partner in Spring Creek Land and Cattle Consulting in 2008 after working for six years with the provincial Agriculture Ministry as a beef economist and industry analyst. She is also co-owner of the Russell Cattle Company near Outlook. Dr. Bill Biligetu is being mentored by Aaron Ivey of Ituna, Sask. Biligetu took a bachelor of science in grassland sciences and a master’s in rangeland management Dr. Bill Biligetu at Inner Mongolia Agriculture University then moved to Canada to complete a PhD in perennial forage physiology and management at the University of Saskatchewan. He worked as a forage breeder for Agriculture and AgriFood Canada and forage specialist with the Saskatchewan Agriculture Ministry before his appointment as assistant professor of forage crop breeding at the University of Saskatchewan in May of this year. Aaron Ivey runs a mixed cattle and cropping operation with his wife Adrienne near Ituna. They are the 2014 Outstanding Young Farmers for the province and Aaron is the past chairman of the Saskatchewan Forage Council. Dr. Raquel Rodriquez Doce, a post-doctoral fellow at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research centre in Lacombe is being mentored by Graeme Finn of Madden, Alta. Dr. Raquel Dr. Rodriquez Doce Rodriquez Doce studied animal production and economy at the University of Leon in Spain, followed by a master’s in animal production and PhD in ruminant nutrition. Among other things her work has generated near infrared reflectance spec-
troscopy (NIRS) calibration equations to predict forage quality traits. Graeme Finn and his wife Heather and daughters run a cow-calf and yearling operation with a focus on year-round intensive grazing of both high-legume pastures and annual crops. New Holland Agriculture and Construction signed on as a strategic partner of the Canadian Forage & Grassland Association last month. Chad Saxon is the new communications co-ordinator of the Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP). He comes to the MBP with 16 years of newspaper experience at the Estevan MerChad Saxon cury, rising to editor of the publication in 2008. Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) has awarded $500 bursaries to four students who are children of beef producers or are beef producers themselves. The winners are: Bradley Wright of MacGregor who is working toward an agriculture diploma at the University of Manitoba; Samantha Rimke of Oak Lake enrolled in the faculty of arts and science at the University of Saskatchewan; Stephanie Dousselaere of Cartwright, enrolled in agriculture and food science at the University of Manitoba and Kendra Elliot of Brandon who is completing a bachelor of science degree with plans to apply to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. Western Beef Development Centre economist Kathy Larson is looking for young Saskatchewan ranchers willing to share their management and marketing practices with the rest of the industry. Her findings could help to shape future research, extension, policy and programming efforts by the centre and governments. Her definition of young is anyone raising cattle who is 35 or under. She’s also interested in hearing from anyone who started into cattle within the last five years, even if they are over 35 years of age. Larson can be reached at klarson.wbdc@pami.ca. The interviews begin in November. For more details visit http://www.wbdc.sk.ca/ youngrancher.htm. c
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our histo ry
By George Copithorne
Predator destroyed From the December 1948 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
R
anchers over the years have not only had to protect their herds from disease and poison weed but have had to be constantly alert to protect them from predatory animals. In the case of cattle, wolves and grizzly bear are the worst killers and when one of these appears in a community, no time is lost in hunting down the unwelcome invader. The grizzly which eased into the Cochrane and Morley district took a heavy toll on cattle before rancher George Copithorne trapped and shot him, but let the rancher tell his story. “I first saw grizzly tracks in the district in February 1946: a lot of cattle died that spring from poison weed and I think he got a craving for beef then. In the spring of 1947 he killed a calf at Buckley’s. He was shot at and disappeared only to come back during the summer and lived high until winter. He came back to Buckley’s again in the spring of this year and was chased off after several kills. I suspicioned his presence in my field when I noticed a large number of coyotes in the district. They were following his kills. He killed two of my yearlings and then moved to an adjoining field of heavy bush where he killed six calves and one cow before the stock could be moved out. He always battered his victims’ head and at the first meal removed the stomach, ate the lining, tore off the brisket and scooped out the heart. For a time he moved south into the Bragg Creek district but ranchers there immediately hunted him and he came back
into my fields making two kills on the way and a third kill right by my fence. “In the fall of 1947, I had a long talk with Jack Butler who is now ranger at Sheep Creek. He told me he had helped to trap grizzlies farther south. He advised to look for a fresh kill and then build a solid pen around it with a roof on top and one small opening where I should set a trap. I
I had no scales large enough to weigh him, but I judged he weighed about 700 pounds
was not long now in finding a fresh kill and did as I was instructed a year earlier. I had the pen and trap set before dark. Two days later I came back and found he had sprung the trap without getting caught. He tore the side of my pen, had a good feed and was gone. I hauled the carcass back into the pen and not only nailed the pen up solidly but wired it securely leaving no opening at all. I set the trap after digging a bed for it to make it level with the surrounding ground and covered the trap with moss and leaves. I placed the trap near where the opening was before.
“The bear must have been close by when I was working because my horse has a habit of blowing through his nose when he smells a bear and he signalled twice. “The next morning as I rode out to see if had any success, I noticed a cow grazing within 50 yards of my set. I thought I had missed again; I was to be surprised. I noticed my pen was broken and the heavy drag log, which was fastened to the trap, was missing. My heart thumped and I nearly froze in my tracks as I quickly gazed around. At 40 feet away, standing quietly among the small trees he had beaten down, stood the killer. To make certain I had a good cartridge in my gun I pumped in another shell. In my excitement the fact that the shell I ejected was a good one didn’t matter. The most exposed part of him was his shoulder and I brought him down with a well-placed shot and for good measure I shot him through the neck with a second shot. My gun was a .300 Savage rifle. “He was caught securely by the hind leg; there was no chance of him pulling free. The trap was a Newhouse double-spring No. 5 bear trap with teeth set in the jaws. “The bear looked very dark in the shadows and if it was not for his dished face, one would have taken him for an overgrown black. When he was dragged out in the sunlight, however, there was a golden sheen to his pelt. While it was September 18 when I shot him, his hide was still strictly a summer one. His head was well furred, however, and I am having it mounted. “ I had no scales large enough to weigh him, but I judge he weighed about 700 pounds. He measured seven feet from his nose to his hind feet and probably nine feet from front claw to hind toe.” George Copithorne estimates that before the grizzly met his end he had killed, since the summer of 1946, no less than 100 head of cattle. Small wonder the Jumping Pound Stock Association was glad to pay over to the rancher the $500 reward which had been posted for the bear’s destruction. c For more of the past from the pages of our magazine see the History section at www.canadiancattlemen.ca.
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COVER STO RY · fo r ag e
By Debbie Furber
Don’t Gamble on Feed Quality
Test so you’ll be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws your way, says forage specialist Terry Kowalchuk
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I
n a survey of Saskatchewan forage last fall 62 per cent of the 200 bales sampled did not meet the energy requirement for a 1,350-pound cow in mid-gestation at -25 C. Only five per cent of the alfalfa, alfalfa-grass, grass and cereal greenfeed bales supplied enough energy to carry pregnant cows through the last month of pregnancy. Then winter hit with a vengeance and stayed well into spring, sending feed values down even further. Only five to 10 per cent of producers in the province would have been aware of what their bales contained, because they are ones who bothered to test their 2013 feed supply. 2014 is shaping up to be much the same with heavy summer rains spurring lots of growth and delayed harvests and plenty of weathered feed in many areas. You can’t avoid the weather but you can avoid shortchanging your cattle with a simple feed test so you’ll be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws your way this
winter, says Terry Kowalchuk, a provincial forage crops specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture (SMA). Sampling Bales
The goal with forage samples is to end up with something that accurately represents what the cattle will be eating this winter. Grabbing samples from bales isn’t likely to do that. Leaves fall off when you pull out handfuls and you can’t reach very far into the bales. A bale probe with a sharp cutting tip is a better solution. Inserted 12 to 18 inches into the bale it will pull out a uniform crosscut sample of leaf and stem material. SMA regional service centres loan out probes that fit onto a cordless drill at no charge but when you consider what’s at risk Kowalchuk figures a standard probe is a worthwhile investment for any sized operation. The probes demonstrated at Western Beef Development Centre’s summer field day
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
forage
were supplied by Star Quality Samplers of Edmonton, and range in price from $135 to $400, depending on features. The ideal is to sample each lot of hay separately. Nutritional quality varies enormously depending on the forage mix, soil type, fertility, disease, growing conditions, stage of cutting, dry-down time and condition of the windrows at baling. A lot can cover an entire field or parts of it when cutting or baling times differ. If you move bales to a stackyard, Kowalchuk recommends arranging them by field or lot for ease of sampling and identification. It also makes it easier to select bales of a certain quality as needed through the gestation cycle. Probe bales from each layer of the stack to get your sample. Round bales should be probed on the side, small square bales near the centre of one end and large square bales anywhere along the end or side. Obviously you want to avoid sampling or feeding any mouldy material. Sample at least 20 bales from each lot, dropping the cores into a pail as you go. Then mix them well before you pull out a composite sample to seal in a plastic bag for testing. You’ll need at least 250 grams from a probed sample, or a large Ziploc bag full of a grab sample. Use a permanent marker to label each bag with your name or farm name, along with an accurate description of the mix of forage species in the sample, the field or stack, and sampling date. Silage
For silage, Star Quality Samplers custom manufactures push-type and drill-driven probes up to five feet long, but remember to seal the probe punctures in the silage cover or bag to prevent spoilage. Some people just grab samples from spots at various levels across the face of the silage during successive days of feeding. Again, gather at least 20 samples, mix well, push the air out of the bag, label it and put it in the fridge or freezer to prevent spoilage before it gets to the lab. With silage it’s best to test after it ferments and the pH stabilizes, which usually takes about six weeks, says Kowalchuk. Swaths
For swath grazing, take grab samples from various slopes across the field. Avoid areas that aren’t representative, such as weed patches and saline spots. The material can be coarsely chopped with scissors and then mixed well to obtain your test sample. www.canadiancattlemen.ca
Sample at least 20 bales per lot, then mix and note the forages and location on each bag.
Analysis
You’ll need to let the feed test lab know whether you want your samples analyzed by wet chemistry, near infrared (NIR) or some of each. The samples for the 2013 Saskatchewan forage survey were analyzed by wet chemistry at Central Testing Laboratory in Winnipeg. A basic wet chemistry package for forages (hay, silage, cereal greenfeed and swaths) for beef cattle is $32 per sample. Wet chemistry analysis is the gold standard for feed testing, says Central Testing general manager Yvan Bruneau. NIR costs a little less and is quicker than the three to five days for wet chemistry, but it’s more of a general estimation. It might be good enough if you’re not weighing out feed ingredients and you can decide from there if the sample needs to be retested by wet chemistry, he explains. NIR is based on the amount of energy from the near-infrared light spectrum absorbed by hydrogen bonds in feed molecules and calibration curves programmed into the machine. The feed sample is scanned and compared to the calibration curve specific to the feed type to predict the amount of each component. The accuracy depends on how well a feed component absorbs NIR light energy and the accuracy of the calibration curves. Bruneau says Central Testing developed its
own calibration curves built off wet chemistry analysis of forage samples representative of tame and native forages grown in Canada rather than relying on the general calibration curves that come with the machines. NIR works well at predicting moisture and organic elements like protein, starch and fibre needed to estimate energy content and feed value. It’s weak at predicting mineral levels since minerals don’t absorb nearinfrared energy unless they are bonded with hydrogen in a molecule. Central Testing’s NIR package for hay (grass, alfalfa and alfalfa/grass), and silage (alfalfa, alfalfa/grass, barley, corn, cereal) or straw costs $23 per sample. It includes the same six minerals as the wet chemistry package: calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium and salt; however, a NIR analysis with minerals analyzed by wet chemistry is available for $25. They also test for pH in silage and nitrates in greenfeed when requested. More details are available at www.ctl.mb.ca. SMA and Alberta Agriculture maintain an online listing of labs across Western Canada and some in the U.S. that analyze feed and water samples. See Canadian Cattlemen, October 18, 2010, for more on feed testing methods and weather effects on forage quality. c Continued on page 12
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forage Continued from page 11 Saskatchewan 2013 forage survey: partial feed test results (dry matter basis) Hay Alfalfa
Alfalfa/grass
Grass
Cereal greenfeed
Quality range
Crude protein %
Digestible nutrients %
Calcium %
Phosphorus %
High
19.0
59.3
1.76
0.28
Average
14.7
51.9
1.31
0.19
Low
8.0
53.2
0.79
0.11
High
19.5
62.0
2.30
0.39
Average
11.5
57.0
0.96
0.16
Low
7.0
52.7
0.30
0.08
High
12.7
59.6
0.92
0.22
Average
9.2
57.8
0.56
0.14
Low
6.0
54.3
0.24
0.09
High
15.0
64.5
0.77
0.33
Average
9.6
59.5
0.37
0.23
Low
7.1
53.8
0.19
0.14
This table illustrates the wide variability in hay quality across Saskatchewan last year. The scenario could be much the same this year given that growing conditions have been similar to 2013 in many areas. (Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture). More detail on making use of the survey is available at www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca.
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2014-09-19 3:28 PM
manage m e n t
By Karen Dallimore
bought the farm from his mother. The next generation, Dave Jr., was three years old when he started coming to the farm on weekends with his parents. While young Dave showed a passion for farming and equipment at an early age, he generally figured that most of how his Dad did things was ridiculous. They would hand clean the barn with wheelbarrows because they couldn’t get equipment in the barn and feed 3,000 small squares in a year, 20 every day. “I couldn’t do what he did,” admitted Dave Jr. But when Dave Sr. fainted in Home Depot one day, life at the Grist Farm changed. His aortic valve was only 25 per cent useful. For a man who didn’t know how to stop until the job was done, the last six years have been hell. FATHER Versus SON Dave Grist and his son Dave Jr.
A small herd built with pride
I
n 1969 Dave Grist’s parents bought a farm in Erin Township, Ont. Dave was 30 years old at the time and his father, Ken, had just retired with no pension. He thought he would buy a few cows to give his father something to do while earning him a bit of income. The thought of using EPDs — Expected Progeny Differences — would have been science fiction. Dave’s off-farm career was as a schoolteacher. His wife was a teacher too. He worked in the city and came out to the farm on weekends. The cow-calf operation expanded from three cows to around 20, which was all that would fit in the old barn. They were one of the first to have a Charolais bull back in the ’70s; using Shorthorn, Simmental, Limousin, Hereford — all types of cows. They were looking for quality, based on how they looked, and ease of calving was always important since they had little experience. Temperament was important too; if they had to hide behind a feeder to escape a cow’s wrath, she didn’t stay long.
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And as for the bull, temperament was number one because of safety concerns. It only took one incident to make them realize that safety was paramount. They turned out a young bull into a loafing parlour only to have to hide behind posts when it wanted to play — with them as the toy — until they could escape. The plan was to sell calves in the fall since there was nowhere to separate them from the bull or feed them separately. When it came to selling them though Dave soon found out that what he thought was a great looking animal wasn’t what the market wanted. Their calves would weigh up to 800 pounds at six or seven months of age, but the feedlot buyer wanted cheaper, lighter calves. “We were always proud of our calves,” said Dave. “They had great body condition, got great feed, they looked amazing, but people said they were too fleshy.” Dave Grist struggled with that for many years. THE NEXT GENERATION — DAVE JR.
Dave’s father Ken died in 1980 and he
There never was a “conversation” about Dave Jr. taking over the farm. “I don’t think we saw eye-to-eye — we never have,” said Dave Jr., “but we have similar ideas on what it takes to raise animals.” “I’ve always wanted to farm, but not being able to make money at it is a really big problem,” Dave Jr. admitted, especially now, as the father of four young children. Aside from farming he owns a second-hand store in nearby Kitchener which allows him the flexibility to schedule around changes in the weather when the farm calls. Their farm still consists of 20 cows — 19 purebred Angus and one sentimental crossbred, which Dave Jr. says makes his dad happy, “he can tell which one it is, the only one with white, all the rest are solid black or red.” This year they’ve got nine bred heifers and 20 calves on their 98-acre farm and rent another 120 acres. GETTING GOOD ADVICE
Early on, the Grists counted themselves lucky to have the help and guidance of a neighbour, John Cartwright. It was Cartwright who introduced them to genetics. (“You can select a bull genetically for calving ease? We didn’t know that!”) Until then calving ease was an after-thefact issue: the calves would come before you could judge the bull. THIRD GENERATION EPDs
Calving ease was an important issue for them because it affected them most, but Dave Jr. wanted to know more. What else Continued on page 16
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m a nag e m e n t
Continued from page 14
can I select for? What else can I learn? What’s all this about EPDs? Along came another friend and mentor, Jason Koudys. With his background and experience, he asked Dave Jr. the important question: Are you breeding for show or traits that the commercial guy would appreciate? Dave Jr. considered himself pretty naïve so he didn’t want to show animals, but what he did enjoy was the statistical side. He’d learned from Koudys how to look at EPDs, pedigrees, and trace the background of cattle to third and fourth generation before deciding which cow he wants before he ever sees her. At the sale, it was just a matter of confirming in person what he had already decided on paper. And Koudys happened to have just the bull they needed — an Angus, a black, but a red carrier, setting the stage for their mixed red and black herd. It used to be when they saw a cow was close to calving they would cancel appointments and not leave the farm. “It was that bull,” said Dave Jr. “We went from utter chaos, panic and arguments at calving time to 42 calves born by that bull that we didn’t have to do a stinking thing with. We never even saw one of them born.” The Grists now have two herd bulls, one mature to clean up after A.I. on the main herd and one yearling as a backup, in case of unforeseen injury and to clean up after A.I. on the yearling heifer group. Dave Jr.’s goal is to have a uniform looking calf crop born within 80 days, with A.I. calves in the first 30 days and natural service calves in the next 50. EPDs FOR THE PLATE
He continues to use EPDs to focus on what he calls “traits for the plate,” with his attention on traits such as marbling and rib-eye area. It wasn’t possible to address the issues of each individual animal before, but now he can, especially with the use of A.I. With genetic evaluations and EPDs he doesn’t have to wait to find out what he’ll get; with A.I. the farm bull no longer has to be a jackof-all-trades. Others have also started to notice. “Seed stock sales are very important,” says Dave Jr., “it’s our best foot forward. I don’t offer animals for sale from our seed stock program that I wouldn’t be proud to put our herd letters on.” This year he’s selling bred heifers instead of bulls. The reason for this is simple: he did 50k panels on his top calves and the results led him
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to keep a new yearling herd bull and nine heifers for seed stock. The others didn’t make the cut; they were sold as stockers or freezer beef. The Grist farm debut was a futurity sale in Orangeville about five years ago, where they had the top-selling Black and Red Angus heifers. This was confirmation to the fatherand-son team that they were heading in the right direction. Ironically, with little experience or interest in showing, they had to pay someone to prepare the animals and walk them in the pre-sale parade. “The animals looked great but there was more to it for me,” says Dave Jr.
They’d both like to hear, “I want that heifer. It came from the Grist place.” That’s something to strive for
Their vision of a good calf remains the same, although now they have put in a new barn to finish their own calves, ensuring that their genetics didn’t get lost at an auction with a pen full of other similar-looking calves. Three years ago they did a heifer test group of 11 and last year they finished five bulls in another test group through BIO (Beef Improvement Opportunities). Weighing and data collection have become part of their routine. Incorporating the performance program from the Canadian Angus Association gives additional information to buyers of their cattle at registered Angus auction sales. “Now, I would never buy an animal without EPDs and I think there are more and more people on the same page as I am,” says Dave Jr. “Some people wouldn’t even look at them (EPDs) in a sales catalogue, or maybe even understand them. That’s fine, but there is no way I’m losing a sale of a nicelooking animal to a buyer that thinks like me, that simply needs to know more than what’s on the surface.” BREEDING GOALS
As Dave Jr. explains, the use of A.I. allows them to use sires with specific traits to either enhance or pull EPDs in the direction they want, which is something that can’t be done
even with one very good herd bull. He wants a well-balanced animal that is optimized for calving ease, growth and carcass merit. He’ll use low birth weight sires, almost exclusively in the negative one to two range, but sometimes a little less. “I can remember too many times where I spent time at 2 a.m. pulling my guts out, trying to get a calf out and still alive with my dad or a neighbour before we started using EPDs. Not a fond bunch of memories.” Dystocia also has a poor effect on rebreeding, increasing the amount of time it takes for the cow to recover and rebreed, plus the calf is stressed and that can often affect the amount of time it takes for it to stand and nurse. They’ve only pulled three calves in the last six years. “Definitely an EPD that I would never ignore and certainly one that is crucial when breeding a heifer.” For weaning weight, plus 50 to 70, yearling weight plus 75 to 110. There are lots of A.I. bulls on the market, including their latest yearling herd bull, that maintain a negative birth weight with lots of growth. Their Red Angus yearling bull has a -1.8 BW but still has a +64 WW and a +110 YW. The milk EPD is typically between +15 to +25. “An animal’s ability to produce milk can’t be ignored, especially when producing seed stock and our replacement heifers.” Other traits include carcass data, REA and marbling. “I’d like to get rewarded for what we’re doing,” says Dave Jr. They’d both like to hear “I want that heifer. It came from the Grist place.” That’s something to strive for. FOURTH GENERATION
“Our goals are so similar it’s scary,” says Dave Jr., acknowledging the vision he still shares with his father. “Handing the farm from one generation to the next has worked out well, even though the roads to getting to our goals have been quite different.” The fourth generation of the Grist family, 11-year-old Nathanial, started 4-H last year. Dave Jr. won’t discourage the boy from farming. He watches from a distance as his son goes nose-to-nose with his calf, combing it, hugging it, making a connection just as he did at that age. He hopes that his son will take a liking to the showing part so he can prepare the cattle for the sales. “I’m sure my friends wonder why I do this,” admitted Dave Jr. “My wife shakes her head and puts up with a lot. Someday I would like to make money, but in the meantime I will continue to do other things to allow me to farm.” c
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ď ľ Nutriti o n
By John McKinnon
Is Your Roller Mill Stealing your Profits?
A
s you read this, harvest should be drawing to a close and we will soon have a handle on this winter’s feed grain supply and pricing. For those looking to feed this winter, ensuring that cattle effectively utilize the grain portion of the diet is a critical component of your management. One only needs to walk a pen to realize that poor feed processing practices result in an unacceptable level of whole kernels in the manure. These whole kernels are in effect stealing your profit, as they do not provide any nutritional value to the cattle and contribute to poor feed utilization. Poor feed processing practices can be traced directly back to the roller mill. In most cases, the rollers are set too tight and the grain is overprocessed (i.e. too high a proportion of fines) or they are too far apart and the grain is underprocessed (too many whole kernels). Damaged rollers or those that need to be re-grooved also have a negative impact on the efficiency and quality of the rolling process. The need to process and the degree of processing required varies depending with the type of cereal grain you are feeding. Remember that rumen microbes need access to the interior of the grain kernel if they are to efficiently ferment the starch. With grains such as barley and wheat, the outer seed coat (and hull in the case of barley) provides protection against chewing and rumen fermentation activity. When barley or wheat kernels are fed whole, a significant proportion will pass through the animal undigested. For this reason these grains need to be processed, typically by dry-rolling, although in some cases the grain is tempered before rolling. Overprocessing results in excessive production of very fine particles that can cause a variety of digestive upsets ranging from cattle going off feed to more severe issues related to subacute and acute acidosis. Oat grain is also covered by a hull. Young calves will effectively utilize the whole oat; however, with older cattle, this grain needs to be dry rolled for optimal feed utilization. Corn grain is unique as the kernel does not have a hull; however, its outer seed coat is relatively easy to disrupt by chewing. For this reason, feeder cattle perform relatively efficiently when fed whole corn as the main concentrate in the ration. Corn can also be dry rolled, although the benefits over feeding whole are debatable, particularly when the cost of rolling is considered. Typically, the most efficient gains are achieved when corn is steam-flaked. The starch in steam-flaked corn is more available to rumen
18
C at t l e m e n ¡ o c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
microbes and the result is a higher net energy value for both maintenance and gain. Cattle fed steam-flaked corn typically exhibit more efficient gains relative to those fed whole or dry-rolled corn. The benefits of steam flaking, however, need to be balanced against the increased processing cost, particularly with cereal grains such as barley or wheat. Evaluating the efficiency of your roller mill is unfortunately not an exact science. Subjective appraisals include monitoring the feed bunk and intake of the cattle, as well as walking the pens and observing the manure. With respect to the feed bunk, one does not want to see an excessive accumulation of fines or erratic eating habits by the cattle. Visual inspection of the manure for both consistency (i.e. normal versus grey and runny manure) and relative quantity of whole kernels are also good indicators of the effectiveness of the grain processing and feeding management programs. Too many whole kernels indicate that the roller is not performing as it should. Some nutritionists and feedlots will go so far as to analyze the starch content of manure to evaluate the effectiveness of the processing program. A more objective approach is to measure the degree to which the grain has been processed. This is commonly done in one of two ways. The first method, developed by Dr. Garry Mathison of the University of Alberta, involves measuring the proportion of fines by sieving a known amount of processed grain through a one-millimetre screen. Ideally the proportion of fines passing through the screen is less than three per cent; however, in reality, one needs to accept five per cent or slightly higher, if one wants to ensure that the vast majority of kernels are processed. A second method is to look at the processing index, which is a measure of the weight of a volume of processed grain relative to the weight of an equal volume of unprocessed grain. While values found in industry range from as low as 65 to as high as 85 per cent, it is not uncommon to see values between 75 and 80 per cent. Values below this range indicate a more aggressive feeding program and the need for close attention to proper bunk management practices, while higher values indicate a less aggressive feeding program and potential issues with poor feed efficiency. While such attention to your roller mill may seem overboard, remember that a 10 per cent improvement in feed efficiency translates to a reduction in feed costs of $15 to $20 or more per head. c
John McKinnon is a beef cattle nutritionist at the University of Saskatchewan
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vet aDv i c e
BROOD COW NUTRITION PART OF FALL PLANNING
T
he best indicator we have for assessing the nutritional status of beef cows is body condition and all measures of production are tied to this. Thin cows produce poorer-quality colostrum, have weaker calves, wean lighter calves and are less likely to breed back in the first 21 days of the breeding season producing more open cows in the fall. Because 50 per cent of fetal growth occurs during the last 60 days of pregnancy, managing body condition through the last three months of gestation becomes important. Poor body condition can influence the size of two calf crops: this year’s and next. Using body condition scores this fall to assess the nutritional status of cows as they come off pasture is the right place to start planning nutrition programs for the winter. Having cows in optimum condition for calving season next spring will impact things like the length of calving season the following year. When the breeding herd is in good condition, producers make better use of their bull inventory and benefit from better response to vaccines used in both cows and calves. For example, going from a BCS 2.0 (thin) to a BCS 3.0 at calving, gains up to 30 days in return to heat after calving. In other words, a cow between BCS 3.0 and 3.5 will start cycling about a month earlier than a herd mate at BCS 2. This single step helps maintain a 365day calving interval and the reproductive momentum herds need to maximize profit. The body condition of a brood cow significantly impacts her economic contribution to the bottom line. Tracking body condition scores and monitoring the year-to-year productivity it influences allows producers to makes performance-based decisions on matters like adjustments to rations, time of weaning, managing the breeding herd in groups through fall and winter, and culling strategies. Planning ahead puts producers in a position to manage, rather than react, when a tough winter or poor feed compromises the health and condition of brood cows. Optimal targets for body condition scores (BCS) at key times are: • Fall pregnancy check, or start of winter feeding program — BCS 3.0 • At calving — BCS optimum for mature cows is 2.5; optimum score for first-calf heifers is 3.0 • Thirty days before the start of breeding season — BCS 2.5 A key factor when looking at a group of cows is the number that are thin and below optimum body condition. Small numbers may be indicative of cattle that simply don’t fit your environment or management system; larger numbers are symptomatic of feed shortages, or poor-quality feed. Groups falling outside optimum ranges should be sorted and managed separately. Larger percentages of thin cows indicate a general requirement for additional inputs and a significant change to ration management. Producers should consult an animal health professional (veterinarian, nutritionist) for help. When rations need adjustment, the sooner they start the easier it is to reach desired targets for weight gain. To move one full point on the five-point body condition scale, say from BCS 2.0 to BCS 3.0, requires 160 pounds additional weight in medium-framed cows and 200 pounds in large-framed cows. Twenty per cent more energy
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is needed to accomplish this in a 90-day period; 30 per cent more over 60 days. These figures do not take into account the weight of the fetus. Fetal membranes and fluid, can add up to another 130 to 180 pounds through late gestation. A cow that is just maintaining weight during late gestation is actually losing body mass, and possibly body condition because the fetus is growing by at least one pound per day. Feed analysis provides important information on the nutrient levels of the feed and is necessary to accurately formulate rations. As much as underfeeding affects body condition and poor performance in the breeding herd, overfeeding is costly and wastes feed. Important points to remember: • The body condition of cows at the start of the winter feeding period has a major effect on the amount and quality of feed required. • Cows have greater difficulty gaining weight during cold winter conditions. Thin cows must gain weight through winter. First- and second-calf heifers require additional feed to support growth. • Cows coming off grass thin in the fall stand to be thin going onto grass the following spring unless winter rations are adjusted for energy and protein. • Cows reach peak lactation around six weeks post-calving. Energy and protein demands also peak at this time. • Early-spring grazing is not always the answer. New pasture growth can be affected. Each day grazing is delayed in the spring two or more days of grazing are added in the fall. • Cows eat what they like, not what they need. Cows will eat until full, given voluntary free-choice access to feed. Cows do not balance nutrients needs, only feed intake. • Nutrient levels of forages and grasses fluctuate widely from year to year (as much as 30 per cent). • A cow’s nutrient requirements (energy, protein, minerals) will increase about 30 to 40 per cent with calving. Forage intake will generally increase about 30 per cent. • Feed costs represent 50 to 70 per cent of total production costs for cows and the major factor influencing reproductive performance. • For a beef female to reproduce, requirements for maintenance, growth and milk production must be met first. Total body energy reserves greatly affect reproductive performance and profit. Thin cows at calving mean reproductive performance in the subsequent breeding season will suffer. Therefore, as winter approaches and you look forward to optimal reproductive performance in the spring, managing winter rations based on feed quality and nutritional requirements of the cow herd becomes a part of fall planning. Seek professional help with questions about nutrition and feed analysis. It’s important to remember that all measures of production are affected to some extent by nutrition, and that is the very thing BCS is all about. c Dr. Ron Clarke prepares this column on behalf of the Western Canadian Association of Bovine Practitioners. Suggestions for future articles can be sent to Canadian Cattlemen (gren@fbcpublishing.com) or WCABP (info@wcabp.com).
C at t l e m e n · O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
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health
By Debbie Furber
Talk, Tweet and Shout about Antibiotics We’ve sat back long enough
S
ickness happens. When animals get sick they need treatment every bit as much as people. Retaining access to effective antibiotics for food animals is important for animal welfare and food safety because raising healthy animals means healthful, safe food. This is an important message consumers need to hear from producers in the discussion on antibiotic resistance, says Dr. Leigh Rosengren, a veterinary epidemiologist who runs her own consulting firm from the family’s beef and grain farm near Midale, Sask. “Antibiotic resistance is a threat to Canadians’ health. This isn’t a fear-mongering campaign made up by some marketing agency. It’s a true, honest and real threat,” she says.“It’s our responsibility as producers to explain what we do in Canada and on our ranches, particularly when consumers are afraid, occasionally misinformed and incredibly worried.” Antibiotic resistance is about the ability of bacteria to resist a normally effective concentration of antibiotic. Many antibiotics are produced in nature by fungi and bacteria. Ever since the beginning of time, bacteria have been evolving various defences that make them resistant to antibiotic substances as they compete for survival in their environments. In this context, it’s easier to understand how antibiotic-resistant bacteria can turn up in animals that have never been treated with antibiotics and even in places where antibiotics have never been used to treat animals. It’s also why some antibiotics have never worked against some bacteria and never will. Sometimes bacteria have natural resistance to several antibiotics. Though the use of antibiotic drugs in human and veterinary medicine isn’t the root cause of antibiotic resistance, it has been exacerbating the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria ever since penicillin from the Penicillium fungi became commercially available in the 1940s. “So to be perfectly frank, we’ve all inher-
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C at t l e m e n · O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
Dr. Leigh Rosengren
ited a bit of a mess,” Rosengren says. Finger pointing by or at livestock producers isn’t going to solve this very complex issue that affects everyone and needs everyone on board working toward a common solution. “Antibiotics are one of those commongood things; a societal resource, we all need to manage responsibly because when managed irresponsibly, the effect impacts us all,” she says. “Nobody understands stewardship of societal resources better than producers — the ethic of planning and managing a resource to leave it in a better state than those before us.” Practice antibiotic stewardship daily, she urges, because all antibiotic use for people and animals will contribute to resistance. Antibiotics never kill 100 per cent of the target bacteria, nor the millions if not billions of other bacteria exposed to them during treatments. The survivors that have defences to the antibiotic go on to reproduce more of their kind. Some bacteria can collect and trade genes of resistance with other bacteria and pick them up from the environment via tiny plasmids that have nothing to do with their core genetics.
“I’m not saying don’t use antibiotics because sick animals need medicine, but before you pick up that bottle, think once, twice and three times whether the health benefit outweighs the burden on resistance,” she says. “Get your veterinarians involved because they have the training and resources to guide you down the road toward minimizing development of resistance in your herds.” If resistance evolves, producers will need to move to more potent, more costly drugs and some of the most powerful antibiotics approved for use in cattle are also categorized by Health Canada as highly important and very important in human medicine. If agriculture should lose access to the top antibiotics, due to resistance or regulation, there will be economic and animal welfare consequences because of increased sickness and death loss. Antibiotic resistance is not the same as antibiotic residues and people need to know there are no antibiotics in Canadian meat, she stresses. Residues are chemicals that can easily be measured and that’s how withdrawal times are determined. All veterinary drugs in Canada are licenced by Health Canada for specific species, uses and dosages with methods of administering them and withdrawal times stated on the labels. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts routine testing at packing plants to make sure there are no antibiotic residues. Shout back
“Be engaged and speak out to let consumers know the beef industry takes food safety seriously. We are being out-shouted in social media. Tweet back with your two cents because people against farming are out there tweeting,” Rosengren says. Tweet the good news about what you do to raise healthy animals. She says it’s like night and day how vaccines and biosecurity have supplanted antibiotic use just in the past decade alone.
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health
Let people know that beef producers have an antibiotic stewardship program as part of the Verified Beef Production program. It was introduced by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association as Quality Starts Here in the early 2000s and after revisions to incorporate international HACCP standards and technical reviews by the CFIA, was rolled out with the new name in 2005-06. The producer manual, available to anyone online, includes standard operating procedures for animal health management, cattle shipping, medicated feed, pesticide control and training. The goal of the animal health management procedures is to minimize the risk of drug residues, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and broken needles in cattle. Rosengren searched “antibiotics in meat” to find out what naysayers are shouting about and offered some facts of the matters to get out to consumers. 1. Agriculture uses 80 per cent of all antibiotics. The organization that represents pharmaceutical companies in Canada does release some sales data, which show that most antibiotics used in animal agriculture are unrelated or unimportant in human medicine.
However, there isn’t a system in place to measure the distribution of pharmaceuticals or actual on-farm use by species in Canada or the U.S. She encourages producers to take every opportunity to participate in research on this topic because this is a weakness agriculture needs to address. The 80 per cent figure started with a 2010 blog post by a U.S. researcher who simply subtracted U.S. pharmaceutical companies’ sales data on antibiotics for human use in the U.S. from that for use in food-producing animals in the U.S. Agricultural use did include ionophores, later said to account for one-third of the sales. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a caution about the shortcomings of comparing the two figures this way. 2. Agriculture is simply using antibiotics to make animals grow faster. In the early years, research sufficiently showed that adding small amounts of an oral antibiotic, such as tetracycline, to the ration improved both health and growth, so growth
sou rc es
Tell people what we are doing In Canada, research continues to shed light on questions related to the use of antibiotics in beef cattle. So far, it’s a very good news story as illustrated by recent publications by the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). Fact sheets on the projects, findings from past research, and a document with video clips from researchers entitled “Antimicrobial Resistance” are posted at www. beefresearch.ca. Other reliable Canadian sources of information are the Verified Beef Production program (www. verifiedbeef.ca), the CCA’s new Beef Advocacy Canada program (www. beefadvocacy.ca) and the CCA site (www.cattle.ca) for the updated code of practice, environmental and other stewardship and sustainability initiatives.
Continued on page 24
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h ea lt h
Continued from page 21
promotion was also approved as a label claim on some antibiotics approved for delivery through feed or water. That’s about to become passé as pharmaceutical companies in Canada follow suit with their U.S. counterparts in voluntarily removing growth-promotion claims from therapeutic antibiotic labels. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve labelling harmony with the U.S. so that the onus isn’t on Canadian veterinarians to decide on extra-label use, Rosengren explains. Label claims on some antibiotics approved in both countries are much broader in the U.S. than in Canada because Health Canada’s tight regulations make it burdensome for pharmaceutical companies to bring new products with wide label claims to Canada. The products with the revised labels will still be available for therapeutic and preventative use. Consumers don’t understand the preventative approach because it’s not used in human medicine, she says. Beef production systems on the other hand are very predictable and often preventative use can be the most appropriate. “If I have a pen of newly weaned calves and one starts to cough, I had better be proactive or I will have a pen of coughing calves. Is it humane to let them all get sick so I can prove they needed the drug when I predictably knew the whole pen would get sick and I delayed use of the small guns and now need to go in with the big guns?” Removal of growth-promotion claims doesn’t apply to ionophores and other technologies that have gained favour over oral antibiotics for this purpose, those being hormonal ear implants and beta adrenergic agonists.
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Ionophores are classified as a polyether antibiotic, not a therapeutic antibiotic. They have never been used in human medicine, therefore have no relevance in the resistance debate, Rosengren says. In ruminants, they improve feed efficiency in several ways, one of which is by reducing the methane-producing bacteria in the rumen that waste feed energy that would otherwise be available for growth. 3. Agriculture is creating superbugs that make us vulnerable to diseases we used to be able to cure. Superbugs is a catchy word that refers to bacteria with resistance to more than one antibiotic. The World Health Organization and Health Canada have stated that antimicrobial resistance in human medicine is primarily associated with the use of antimicrobials to treat human infections. Antibiotics are one type of antimicrobial. They act specifically against bacteria, whereas antimicrobials include a broader range of substances, right down to common bleach and soap that kill bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. One statistic that doesn’t get much publicity comes from the U.S. Centres of Disease Control (CDC). It estimates that 20 to 50 per cent of all antibiotics prescribed in U.S. acute-care hospitals are either unnecessary or inappropriate, stating that this misuse has contributed to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. The CDC initiated an antibiotic awareness program in 2009 to promote improved use of antibiotics in hospitals and this year recommended that all acute-care hospitals implement antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs). Canadian hospitals are also taking this positive step. As of 2013, Accreditation Canada added ASP requirements to its program and Ontario has required ASPs for acute-care hospitals undergoing accreditation. The Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) was set up to monitor trends in antimicrobial use and resistance to 15 antimicrobials in certain bacteria from human, animal (beef cattle, chicken, pigs) and their food products. The latest results online (2011) show generic E. coli from retail ground beef as having negligible resistance to the highly important antibiotics and low resistance to the older drugs of lesser importance in human medicine. The levels of resistance to some antibiotics rise and fall through the years and in some cases were lower in 2011 than in 2003. This closely mirrored the pattern of resistance in abattoir samples taken from the beginning of the large intestine. Rosengren summarizes a 2013 CDC report on antimicrobial resistance and threats that lists 18 bacteria for which antibiotic resistance is considered to be urgent, serious or of concern. None of them have anything to do with agriculture. Only three of the serious threats relate to agriculture through foodborne exposure, and none of the threats of concern relate to agriculture. “Yes, it can be very serious if someone gets resistant bacteria from meat, but the probability of that happening in Canada is infinitely small because we have incredibly good programs in slaughter plants, good kitchens and we know how to handle and cook meat,” Rosengren says. Remember, foodborne bacteria are not resistant to heat. Proper cooking destroys them. People need to understand, too, that concern is not the same as risk, she says. It’s a long journey from farm to fork and then a resistant bacteria would have to actually cause illness and be resistant to the drug of choice for treatment. In the U.S., a risk assessment followed the chain from farm to fork and estimated that the human health impact from flouroquinolone use in dairy cattle was one case in 13 years for campylobacter and one case in 293 years for salmonella. c
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grazing
By Steve Kenyon
Pasture Pigs Prove Profitable
W
hen I was a child we lived in rural Saskatchewan on a mixed grain and beef farm. I was never involved in 4-H but I always had some type of business venture on the go. I was fortunate enough to have a YEP (youth education program) in my home. One of my favourite profit centres was the pigs. We would pick up a few each spring for us kids to manage and then we would sell pork off in the fall to neighbours. As young boys would, my brother and I spent hours out with the pigs, playing with them, scratching, tormenting and quite often riding them! I’m sure my mother appreciated how dirty we could get. It was never all play and no work. We all had our chores: feed, water… the “pig pail.” We had to pay for feed and processing and we almost always managed to make a profit out of it. Except for the one year that our wolf/shepherd cross decided he liked Huey, Dewey and Louie a little bit too much. It was a hard lesson on death losses, but most years we did all right. It’s been a long time since I fell off a pig in the mud, but I have gone back to my roots. We now raise pasture pork. Not quite the same as the barn-raised, grain-fed pigs we had back then, but they are still just as entertaining to me as they were when I was a child. If you ever have a bad day, just go hang out with the pasture pigs. They will always put a smile on your face. We buy weaner pigs in the spring and they go straight onto pasture. We have a portable pen that we drag around the grass and added a big tarp to make sure they always have some shade because little pink pigs from a barn have the tendency to burn when out on open pasture. When they are young we move the cage every day to give them fresh grass and get them used to the portable pen being “home.” We provide a hog grower as well in a self-feeder which is attached to the pen. In the spring, the majority of their ration is from the pellets as they are just learning to eat grass. As they get older we open up their cage and give them more space with the use of an electric netting fence. This trains them to electricity and helps keeps predators out. We try to move them before the ground starts to look damaged, which this year was about every second or third day. These little piggies put on the pounds fast, so it’s not long before they are eating a lot more grass each day. We switched to using a onewire electric fence to keep them contained. The netting is difficult to move compared to the one wire, and by now they need more space and are big enough so we don’t worry about predators any more. By midsummer, we give three or four days worth of grass each move. We still provide grower pellets, but by now their ration is a lot higher in grass than in pellets. By August they are not only eating lots of grass, but have learned to dig around and are more interested in the roots of the plants. I guess that’s where the term “rooting” comes from. They love the roots. We still give them their pellets, but the diet has switched over to a majority of plants and less of the grower ration. We produce all natural, pasture-raised pork. The “all natural” is what is not in the meat: no hormones, no chemicals, no preservatives, no
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additives. The “pasture-raised” refers to what is still in the meat. Pasture pork has higher levels of Omega 3 which are better for our diets. None of our little piggies go to market. We direct sell to the consumer. We adjusted a few things this year. As with any business, we learn from our mistakes. The electric netting allowed us to move the pen less often at the beginning of the season. Last year we needed the pickup truck every day to move the portable pen. The netting allowed us to keep the cage in the same spot for three or four moves; as we can move the netting on foot. This lowered our equipment use, but still protected our pigs from predators. We also switched from a small water bowl-style portable waterer to a water nipple mounted to the portable pen. The pigs seemed to always pack the bowl with mud so the nipple make less work. Last year I would go out on hot days and give the pigs a spray down to help them cool off. This would give them a bit of mud to roll around in. This year, the nipple waterer did that for me. They would spill enough water when they argued over the nipple that they always had a bit of mud. I do not mind if it leaks a little. We did get some advice from a friend about supplying extra vitamins to help ward off a skin parasite that was reducing our gains. A little extra vitamin A, D and E sure worked well. This makes sense as the vitamins and minerals in the grower are planned as if the pellets are the whole ration. As these pigs eat more grass, their vitamin intake gets lower so we add some extra later in the summer. I love our pasture pigs — just like I did as a kid. I’m so glad that my children are able to enjoy them now as well. I know I should get mad if I ever catch them out “riding” the pigs but I will admit, I’ll probably just show them a better way to mount up. I also look at our piggies a little differently today. Now I just see bacon and pork patties! Mmmmmmm! c Steve Kenyon runs Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. in Busby, Alta., www.greenerpasturesranching.com, 780-307-6500, email skenyon@ greenerpasturesranching.com or find them on Facebook.
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water
By Heather Smith Thomas
Winter Water Systems
W
inter water for cattle can be a challenge in cold weather, especially in regions without electricity for running a pump or tank heaters. There are several options including solar power and the frost-free nose pump. George Widdifield, ranch manager at the Western Beef Development Centre’s research ranch at Lanigan, Sask., says their operation utilizes frost-free nose pumps and also solar power, including a water system purchased from Kelln Solar at Lumsden, Sask.
SOLAR
“One of our solar-powered water systems from Kelln works off a motion detector. When the cattle walk up to it, the pump starts running and they can drink from it. It runs for a while and shuts off after they move away. This system runs the pump off a wet well that we put in from a dugout. The pump is down in that shallow well and doesn’t have to pump the water very far,” says Widdifield. A three-foot-wide cribbing goes down
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into the wet well, with a tub at the top that the water pumps into. “Once the pump shuts off, after the cow leaves, the water in that little tub drains down into the wet well, so there is none left in the tub to freeze,” he says. The ranch also uses another system from Kelln Solar that runs a pump with solar power from a regular ground well. “We run that water in an underground pipe 1/4 mile to a winterized trough that works off a float system. This trough has six drinking holes and you can cover or open as many as needed, depending on how many cows it waters. We’ve had very little trouble with this system,” he says. “Running from a well, the water line to the trough must be down about eight feet so it won’t freeze. The trough itself has six inches of insulation. As long as there is fresh water coming into it all the time it doesn’t freeze. The drinking holes go down through the insulated cover.” Cattle drinking throughout the day lower the water level, which activates the float valve and brings more water into the trough, which keeps it from freezing during cold
weather. Occasionally those holes freeze over at night when the cattle aren’t drinking. “If it’s 40 below zero and the wind is blowing, we have to go out in the morning and knock ice out of the drinking tubes, but as long as there is fresh water coming in regularly the trough won’t freeze up,” he says. The ranch has many small groups of cattle for various research trials, so they depend on numerous water sources. “We have several different systems and also made some of our own insulated troughs because we have to haul water to certain fields for the trials. As long as we put fresh water into them every day, they stay open a long time in cold weather. The insulation makes a big difference,” says Widdifield. NOSE PUMPS
The ranch has also used frost-free nose pumps the past four winters. These consist of a vertical culvert to access water from a nearby dugout. A small drinking basin sits atop the culvert. A cylinder with a piston pump is inside the culvert, pumping water up to the basin when the cows push a lever
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WATER
with their nose. When the cow stops pumping, any water remaining in the upright pipe drains back down and there’s no water left in the pipe to freeze. “These work fine but the cows must learn to use it. We did it the recommended way, starting with just a few cows at a time, and they teach the others. There are different levels in the drain holes in the line, and when we are training cows we put it at the highest level (during warm weather with no danger of water freezing in the pipe) so it’s very easy for them to pump. After they learn, we lower the drain hole.” After they know how to use it they will push it as hard as necessary to pump the water. “We’ve found that even in summer when there is other water available, some cows prefer to use the nose pump and have cool, clean water,” says Widdifield. The big advantage of the nose pump for cold weather is that it is very simple, with little chance for breakdown and problems. The fail point in most water systems is an electronic component. There is only one moving part in this pump — the piston that goes up and down in the cylinder. In sub-zero weather you need it simple — less things to go wrong or freeze up. One nose pump will easily water 100 head. With 400 head, a person can put four basins on top of the upright culvert. James Madge, a rancher in Alberta, has two sites with four basins at each site and waters 500 cows in that pasture all winter. He has another site with two on it, where he waters all his bulls. “We’ve never had anyone tell us a nose pump got damaged, whether they are watering bulls or bison,” says Jackie Anderson, wife of Jim Anderson who invented the nose pump 15 years ago. “There are some bison ranchers using nose pumps, including one of our neighbours. He’s used a nose pump successfully for a number of years. It’s ideal for bison because they are strong enough to push the levers, even when water has to be brought up from deeper wells. Also, many bison producers tell us they have trouble with any water system that drains back down because hairs from bison beards get into the moving parts and cause problems. The nose pump eliminates that risk.” Using a nose pump for water is good insurance against losing cows. “Cows are worth so much right now that one cow saved from drowning in a dugout would more than pay for installing a frost-free nose pump. We heard of someone losing an entire herd because they were all out on the ice, milling around trying to find water,” Jackie says. “One fellow told us his uncle was chop-
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ping a hole in the ice and a cow pushed him in. They are so eager to get to the water that they shove and push each other. Lots of farmers work off the farm and leave their wives to take care of the cattle and their wives are chopping holes in the ice,” she says. Don Viste, a rancher 120 miles northeast of Calgary, Alta., has been using frost-free nose pumps for four years and says they work very well to provide water for his 300 cattle. “What started it for me was the year
we lost 29 head that fell through the ice on a dugout. It wasn’t just the expensive loss, but also the emotional tragedy. These cattle were all home raised and my wife and two daughters had them all named,” he says. “This is why we went to the nose pumps, but there are a lot of other benefits besides making winter watering a lot safer for the cattle. It keeps the dugouts cleaner through Continued on page 32
Be part of the third annual Canfax Cattle Market Forum. Get the current market information specific to cattle producers and industry stakeholders. Tuesday, November 18, 2014 – Registration, Evening Guest Speaker and Reception Wednesday, November 19, 2014 – Full-day Plenary Session Location: Deerfoot Inn and Casino, 1000, 11500 – 35 Street SE, Calgary, AB
For more information and to register online for the Forum visit www.canfax.ca or call 403-686-8407.
C AT T L E M E N · O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
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Activate_CCM_Oct_14.pdf 1 23/09/2014 6:18:18 PM
IT’S HARVEST . . . AND WE KNOW YOU’RE
BUSY !
Here’s a QUICK and EASY-TO-USE guide for handling the top three producer-support requests during fall-run: ACTIVATE your CANADIAN LIVESTOCK TRACKING SYSTEM database account: If you have purchased approved Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in your name, you will already have a Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) database account. The account will be set up with the name, address and telephone number that you provided to the tag dealer at the time of your first tag purchase. The account remains in Placeholder status until it is activated by a CCIA Client Support Representative (CSR). If you have not purchased tags, you will need to have a CLTS account created. If you would like to activate your web store account to order tags online, you will need to activate your CLTS database account first. C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
1. To activate your account or to have one created, contact a CSR by toll-free telephone at 1-877-909-2333 or email at info@canadaid.ca. 2. Provide a business name (optional), contact name (first and last), mailing or street address, telephone number and email address (optional). 3. Once the account has been created or verified by a CSR, the CSR will activate it and provide you with your account number, username and a temporary authorization code to set up a password for your account. 4. Go to www.clia.livestockid.ca. After Need to activate your account with Authorization code, select Click here. 5. Then follow the last few quick and easy steps to activate your CLTS database account !
P: Including an email address in your CLTS account information
TI USER
enables you to reset your password as well as receive system notifications and updates.
CREATE a COST-FREE email address: 1. Go to www.hotmail.com. 2. In the bottom right of the screen, select Don’t have a Microsoft account? Sign up now. 3. Enter your information into the data fields. NOTE: The User name will be your email address. Enter an email address of your choice and select @hotmail.com, @live.com OR @outlook.com from the User name drop-down menu. 4. Enter the captcha code as it appears on the screen. It is not case-sensitive. 5. Click the checkbox to opt-in or out of the offer to receive information about products, services, events and latest solutions. 6. If you agree to proceed after reviewing the Microsoft Services Agreement as well as the privacy and cookies statement, click Create account. You have now successfully created a cost-free email address !
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ACTIVATE your WEB STORE ACCOUNT to order tags online: 1. 2. 3. 4.
At http://tags.canadaid.ca, click Place an Order for producers. The login page will appear, click Register – Create your Access Codes. Enter your CLTS account ID and telephone number, then click AutoFill. If you receive a notice indicating your account cannot be found, please contact us to confirm your account information or have your information entered into the tag order database to set-up your tag order account. 5. If your account can be found, your address will appear and you will have the opportunity to enter your user information. Once entered, click Submit. 6. The home page will appear with your tag order account information located on the right hand corner of the page. Go ahead and place your order !
wat e r
Continued from page 29
the year because cattle aren’t wading out into them. The cattle also seem to do better on the nose pumps because they get fresh, clean water,” he says. Some ranchers in his area have 700 to 2,500 cows watering with nose pumps. Viste has10 dugouts set up for wet wells and nose pumps, but only needs three working at a time. He moves the upright culverts and drinking basins around to various locations when he moves the cows. “I have a trailer set up to do this, with timbers across it — with slots cut out, to set everything in. I just pull up the culvert, set it on the trailer, and away I go to the next location. I use a loader to pull it up, and to set it back in at the next place. Most people don’t have as many dugouts as I do, and just leave the culvert/nose pump in a permanent location, but I move mine around as I move the cows,” says Viste. He eventually wants to make a tripod on the trailer so he can just pull the culvert up with a winch, and reset it with a winch at the next dugout location, so he won’t have
to take a loader along with the trailer. “It will just be an A-frame that I can put up and take down, for doing this. I move my nose pumps several times during winter. I just choose a warm day when it won’t freeze up when I’m relocating it,” he says. There are many ways to put in a nose pump. Some people install a large culvert in a spring, and then divert the water from that large one underground to a smaller one with the nose pump, to keep the animals away from the spring and keep it cleaner. “One fellow in Prince George had to lift water 300 feet,” says Jackie. “No nose pump can do that. He was away at work all week, so he buried a gigantic tank and pumped water into it every weekend when he was home. Then the cattle used the nose pump off that big underground tank. Most farmers can be very creative,” she says. Precautions
“With any winter water systems you still have to check them regularly and make sure they are working and free of ice. With solarpowered systems you have to make sure the batteries stay good or the valve switch in the
tank doesn’t get knocked off kilter. You have to make sure the nose pump doesn’t build up ice on the push lever,” says Widdifield. You might have to knock it loose. “What I like about all of these systems — the solar power with the eye, or the nose pump — is that you don’t have to worry about cattle walking out on the dugout and falling through the ice.” Even in summer it’s nice to have cattle fenced away from the dugouts, watering them with the nose pump or solar-powered wet well, because they aren’t tromping in the dugout, damaging the banks, or contaminating the water. They aren’t getting footrot or spreading fecal-borne diseases. “If you can get your water source farther from your dugout you can keep the water cleaner,” he says. For more information about solar water systems, contact Kelln Solar at 1-888-7318882 or 306-731-2224 or by email: info@ kellnsolar.com. For information about the nose pumps, contact Jim, Jeff or Jackie Anderson at 886-843-6744 or by email: info@frostfreenosepumps.com or go to the website: www. frostfreenosepumps.com. c
November 24-29, 2014
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Holistic R a nc hi ng
By Don Campbell
exiting the beef industry
I
’ve written a couple of articles about benefiting from the current strong cattle prices. This month I want to target a group of producers from age 60 to 90. There are a lot of cows owned by producers in that age group. I happen to be one of them. With today’s strong market this might be an opportune time to exit the beef industry. Cattle prices have basically doubled in the last year. If you are anywhere near retiring you might want to consider this fact. No one knows what future prices may be. What we do know is today’s price. There are basically three stages to a business cycle. First comes the startup. At this stage we are young and ambitious. We are full of energy. Things are exciting. Life is good. The second stage is operating the business. This might go on for 40 or more years. Hopefully you enjoyed your business and can look back with fond memories. The third stage is exiting the business. For many this is the most difficult stage. We are older. Our health may be an issue. We are being called to give up something that has been our life and move to something unknown. This is a scary time. If there is ever a time for rational, unemotional thought this is it. Be assured that there is life after retirement. In fact with a positive attitude and a good outlook retirement can be as enjoyable as any other stage of life. To have a truly successful business I think it is necessary to deal with all three stages of the business cycle. I am very fortunate that my dad was an excellent role model in this regard. He was involved in a lot of organizations and operated two businesses. As I look back I am amazed at how Dad let things go when the time was right. He never held on too long. He exited when the time was right and moved on to something else. I hope to be blessed with his good judgment. All of us will exit the beef industry one way or another. I can see two main ways this will happen. The important point is that each one of us has the power to choose how we will deal with this important decision.
The first group will have the good fortune to have a son, daughter or some other relative take over and carry on the business. This is a wonderful position to be in. If you are in this group I commend you for your planning and foresight. If you have an opportunity to take this road I encourage you to action. Don’t delay, get some help and make a plan. Implement the plan and reap the rewards. The second group will be in the position of being the last to farm or ranch in their family. This isn’t good or bad, it just is. This group can be divided into two subgroups. One will deal with the reality. They will make plans to downsize and/or retire. Life will continue to be good. The last group will deny reality. They will run their business until forced by illness or death to turn the reins over to someone else. This may not be the wisest choice. Points to Ponder
1. Who is best suited to implement an exit strategy for your business? 2. Do you want to finish your business cycle? 3. Do you want your spouse, children or an estate lawyer to finish your business cycle? 4. Do you want to sacrifice yourself and thereby eliminate your spouse from having to finish the business cycle? I believe this is the definition of Love. Do I know what is best for you in your unique situation? Definitely not. Do I believe you can find your own best choice by deliberation and thought? Definitely. Ending the business cycle is difficult. This is perhaps the most challenging part of the business cycle. I believe it is important, however, and I wish you success in whatever road you choose to travel. Happy trails. c Don Campbell ranches with his family at Meadow Lake, Sask., and teaches Holistic Management courses. He can be reached at 306-2366088 or doncampbell@sasktel.net.
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C a t t l e m e n · O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 33
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researc h o n t h e r eco r d
By Reynold Bergen
Flipping for Mechanically Tenderized Beef
A
ll food surfaces carry bacteria, including steaks and roasts. Because beef cooks from the outside in, the outer surface is exposed to higher temperatures for a longer time than the inside of the beef. The heat of cooking will inactivate bacteria as long as they remain on the outside of cuts, and the surface is cooked thoroughly. That’s why steaks and roasts can be eaten rare. In ground beef, microbes from the surface get mixed throughout the beef, so consumers are encouraged to cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 71 C. Mechanical tenderization pierces beef with small blades or fine needles. This cuts the connective tissue and makes the beef more tender. This improves the eating quality of lower-cost, tougher beef cuts. Price and tenderness are two of the major drivers of consumer buying behaviour and eating satisfaction, so mechanical tenderization has proven quite useful. Approximately 20 per cent of Canadian beef is mechanically tenderized. But if there are microbes on the surface of the steak, mechanical tenderization may push some of them deeper into the muscle. Other steaks in the same processing batch may be cross-contaminated if the blades transfer microbes from one steak to the other. Taking care to disassemble, thoroughly clean, sanitize and dry the equipment between batches is critical to minimize this risk. This risk became very apparent in 2012, when several human E. coli O157:H7 infections were linked to mechanically tenderized beef. In response, Health Canada proposed labelling mechanically tenderized beef with recommended cooking instructions. Initially, the proposed label recommended cooking mechanically tenderized beef to 71 C (well done). This posed a dilemma for packers, retailers and restaurants. Mechanical tenderization makes beef more tender, but cooking a steak until it is well done makes it tougher, drier and less tasty. If consumers are asked to choose between eating satisfaction and safety, they may choose not to buy beef. Canada’s beef industry should be able to ensure both satisfaction and safety. National Checkoff funds from the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) and provincial government funding from Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency supported a series of research projects to identify the best way to cook mechanically tenderized beef. This research was led by Drs. Colin Gill and Xianqin Yang at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Lacombe research centre, and was published in the Journal of Food Research (2:77-89) and the Journal of Food Protection (6:919-926). What They Did: Eye of round steaks (one to three cm thick) were deliberately inoculated with known amounts
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of E. coli O157:H7. The E. coli inoculation sites were marked with a dye. After refrigeration, the steaks were barbecued or cooked on a hot plate (skillet). Internal temperature was monitored at various locations in the steak during cooking. Some steaks were flipped once during cooking, some were flipped twice, and others flipped more often. Steaks were cooked until the centres reached temperatures ranging from 56 C to 75 C. The numbers of E. coli that survived the cooking process were then counted. What They Learned: The internal temperature at the centre of a steak is not the only indicator of food safety; how often the steaks are flipped is important too. Flipping steaks only once allowed some of the E. coli to survive, even if the centre of the steak was cooked to a well-done end point. Heat doesn’t always penetrate the steak at a uniform rate, so not all parts of the steak were heated enough to inactivate all of the E. coli when flipped once. When steaks were flipped twice or more at four minute intervals, they heated more uniformly, and no E. coli survived. More E. coli were inactivated in steaks that were flipped twice and cooked medium rare (63 C) than in steaks that were flipped only once and cooked well done (71 C). What it Means: Mechanically tenderized beef can be prepared safely without cooking it like hamburger. These research results were submitted to Health Canada as it developed the new labels for mechanically tenderized beef. The Health Canada label was finalized and released in August. The new label recommends that mechanically tenderized beef be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 63 C (medium rare), and flipped at least twice during cooking. These researchers and the producer checkoff dollars that fund their work are essential to developing effective, science-based solutions to important industry challenges. Industry checkoff dollars supported Dr. Yang’s training through the first Beef Science Cluster, and the BCRC worked to have AAFC hire her as a research scientist. This research contributed to a simple, practical, easy-to-follow label for mechanically tenderized beef, and is an example of how industry checkoff funds are important to ensure that Canada maintains core research expertise. The Beef Research Cluster is funded by the National Checkoff and Agriculture and Agri -Food Canada with additional contributions from provincial beef industry groups and governments to advance research and technology transfer supporting the Canadian beef industry’s vision to be recognized as a preferred supplier of healthy, high-quality beef, cattle and genetics. c Dr. Reynold Bergen is the science director of the Beef Cattle Research Council.
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Canadian Simmental Association #13, 4101-19th St. N.E., Calgary, AB, T2E 7C4 Tel: (403) 250-7979 Fax: (403) 250-5121 Email: cansim@simmental.com Website: www.simmental.com
health
By Roy Lewis DVM
What Can We Do About Mycoplasma?
W
hen talking to feedlot owners and ba ckg rounders across this countr y one question almost always comes up. “Is there anything new out there to combat mycoplasma?” While there are things being worked on it is not an easy fix. What we have found is there are procedures, vaccines combined with minimizing stress (often easier said than done) that go a long way to reducing its incidence. But when cases do become clinical a decision has to be made early for the welfare of the calf to either treat and ship, or euthanize. Mycoplasma comes in many clinical forms but in feedlots we mainly see it in respiratory and joint infections. The respiratory cases are often indistinguishable from other common pneumonias in the feedlot and the joint form can be very similar to histophilus abscesses. In a great number of chronics in our feedlots, if lab specimens were submitted to verify what your veterinarian had diagnosed, mycoplasma would commonly play a role. These cost the feedlot industry millions in treatment and labour as well as deaths and chronics that need to be euthanized. With mycoplasma we need to concentrate on prevention. Even though a few antibiotics have indications for mycoplasma on the label they are more for metaphylactic treatment when exposure is imminent. After a few weeks in the feedlot they say pretty much all calves are infected (meaning they have been exposed and are carrying the organism) yet in well-managed yards with pre-immunized and preconditioned calves the incidence can be kept to a minimum. In cattle, mycoplasma is a secondary invader. In the case of respiratory disease it often comes in on the heels of viral pathogens, primarily IBR. Other respiratory bacteria such as mannheimia, pasteurella or histophilus can also get established and set up the lungs for the invasion of mycoplasma later in the course of the illness. A good number of these infections may spread to the joints. Once in the joints, especially if more than one joint is involved,
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the chances of recovery are very slim. It then becomes an animal welfare issue and often lots of money is spent on antibiotics, painkillers and other medications before the decision is made to euthanize. In the bison industry, mycoplasma is almost always a primary pathogen and can cause considerable death loss in naïve populations of calves, cows and bulls. There appears to be immunity established once the disease goes through but death losses can get quite high on the initial exposure. Researchers are working on an effective vaccine and in some cases autogenous vaccines have been tried. That is where the organism is isolated from the farm and used to make a vaccine. This is easier said than done. Often there are commensal mycoplasmas present but not the ones causing the disease. As well, mycoplasma is not like other bacteria in that it has no cell wall, making it more difficult to develop a vaccine. Several of these vaccines have been tried in the bison industry, some with reasonable success. There is a commercial swine vaccine for mycoplasma so it stands to reason perhaps one may be developed for the cattle industry. But for now it remains the most frustrating pneumonia and joint infection in the feedlot sector. Researchers at VIDO, the Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization, are looking at it. This is the organization that came up with the first scours vaccine years ago. They are world-renowned and if we look at how scours vaccines have evolved we can hope mycoplasma vaccines will follow suit. Antibiotics don’t appear to be the answer. When we treat chronics long term with antibiotics with no hope of eliminating the infection we also raise the possibility of creating resistance to these antimicrobials. So that leaves us relying on anything that reduces stress and/or reduces the likelihood of other respiratory bugs taking hold. Theoretically, that should reduce the incidence of mycoplasma pneumonia. We, as veterinarians, always talk about reducing stress. Transportation, processing, weather, parasites and exposure to
other cattle cause stress and all play a role in determining whether calves get sick. Pre-immunization is one precaution cow-calf producers have direct control over and feedlots can then ask for preimmunized calves. Fortunately this covers the vast majority of calves in Canada. Cow-calf producers are vaccinating calves younger today and reaping the benefits with fewer sick calves on summer pasture. If the boosters are given at weaning then we should, in theory, have less respiratory disease. We can also avoid unnecessary transportation stress by selling directly to feedlots through satellite or online sales. The distance transported is maybe not as significant as the stress of loading and unloading the calves a couple of times. Various electrolyte formulations have been tried to minimize shrink during transport. Excessive shrink is a sign of stress. Controlling parasites increases the gain for cow-calf producers and boosts an animal’s immune response to vaccines. Taken together all these steps should result in healthier calves with less propensity to get sick when entering feedlots. And less sickness should translate to less mycoplasma. In the absence of an industry-saving vaccine or treatment for mycoplasma, we have had to concentrate on prevention, and I think it is working. On average, death losses are decreasing as we prevent more of the other respiratory pathogens, and so is the incidence of mycoplasma. And this trend should expand as we see more collaboration between the cow-calf, trucker, backgrounder and feedlot sectors. We may never totally eliminate mycoplasma but we can keep it at bay with these prevention strategies. In light of high calf prices this fall we should all be aiming for the fewest possible cases of mycoplasma in our feedlot population. c Roy Lewis is a Westock, Alberta-based veterinarian specializing in large-animal practice. He is also a part-time technical services vet for Merck Animal Health.
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health
By Ron Clarke, DVM
The full cost of pink eye Cure the pain as well as the losses
P
ink eye or, more properly, infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), ranks high on the list of most expensive cattle health issues. The impact in lost weight gain alone is substantial. For preweaned calves, pinkeye is the second most costly disease, behind scours. One study showed a 17 pound (lb.) loss when one eye was affected and up to a 65 lb. loss when both eyes were affected. In the U.S., pinkeye affects more than 10 million calves annually, resulting in economic losses topping $150 million per year. In addition to the lost weight, production losses include the time and expense of treatment. Costs can exceed $100 per incident in beef cattle. And the losses persist beyond weaning as calves with pink eye are unable to catch up unaffected herd mates. One Kentucky study with Hereford calves reported a 36 lb. drop in weaning weights for bulls and a 40 lb. drop in heifers suffering from pink eye before weaning. After weaning, bulls that had not experienced any disease before weaning were 70 lb. heavier at their 365-day adjusted weight. Permanent damage from corneal scarring also seriously dampens sale prices in seed stock, and discounts for animals with lesions or damaged eyes can far exceed production losses by hundreds of dollars.
p i n k ey e wo es on pasture
Chronic pink eye
Chronic with ulcer
Painful eyes
Painful eyes
Corneal ulcer
Early cancer
Cause
Cattle are susceptible to pink eye year-round, with most cases occurring in the summer. Not uncommonly, outbreaks follow the introduction of new cattle. Younger cattle exhibit a higher incidence of the disease than older cattle. Calves with less pigmentation on the eyelid, calves born from younger dams, and bull calves experience a higher incidence and more severe lesions. The difference in incidence between bull and heifer calves has not been fully explained other than bulls tend to move around on pasture more than heifers, and as a result are exposed more to conditions that produce pink eye. Classic IBK is the result of infection of the cornea with Moraxella bovis. Other common infectious etiologic agents include Mycoplasma spp, bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), and Moraxella branhamella ovis. Contributing factors include anything that irritates a calf ’s eyes. Feeding practices play a role as do dust, plant particles, pollen or mechanical irritants. Ultraviolet light from prolonged exposure to sunlight certainly contributes. When animals eat out the middle of round bales, leaving a hay shelf over their heads, the likelihood of irritants getting in the eyes increases substantially. The same situation occurs when hay is fed in overhead feeders. Viral diseases like IBR and BVD that compromise the calf ’s immune system can make them more vulnerable to Moraxella bovis bacteria. It has also been associated with large face fly populations. Flies not only irritate the eye, they also spread the bacteria around. Mycoplasma may be another cause. In one study both Mycoplasma bovoculi and M bovis were isolated from conjunctival swabs from calves with clinical signs of IBK.
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health Prevention
While effective vaccination remains the Holy Grail of pink eye prevention, much remains to be done to improve vaccine effectiveness. At the moment the fight against pink eye requires attention to three things: vaccination, fly control and environmental management. The cost of anything that prevents or moderates an outbreak pales in comparison to costs associated with managing outbreaks once they become established. Pink eye vaccines provide variable protection because of unpredictable factors involved in causing the disease. Planning ahead and monitoring face fly populations is another step producers can take to “get ahead” of pink eye and minimize losses. IBK is most common in late spring, summer and early fall and flies seem to play a significant role in transmitting the disease when populations are high. There are several fly management tools — tags, sprays, back rubbers and in-feed growth regulators — all designed to help control fly populations. Although fly resistance to pesticides is a growing problem, strategic use of parasite control products can help. Dealing with pain
Most animals, especially mammals, have the same pain-reception mechanisms as humans. It would be foolish not to attribute somewhat similar pain sensations to them, especially for diseases affecting the eye. A big part of the problem in assessing ocular (eye) pain in ruminants is that evolution has designed them to disguise their pain response. This is common in prey species because predators target animals in distress. Pain symptoms include spasms of the eyelid, tearing and guard-
ing the eye when approached. Animals may display decreased appetite, bruxism (teeth grinding), droopy ears and vocalization when the painful region is touched. Freedom from pain, injury and disease is central to animal welfare as dictated by our new beef code of practice. Poor vision also increases fear and distress in animals. The cornea is one of the most densely innervated areas on the body. Damage to the outside of the cornea causes inflammation to structures inside the eye, which is painful, so we can assume that the pain associated with acute pink eye is significant. Affected animals are often depressed, accompanied by loss of appetite and weight. The same is true with cancer eye and any other disease — IBR, listeria, BVD, malignant catarrhal fever — that cause eye lesions. Treatment options include topical treatments, injectable broad-spectrum antimicrobials and injections into the soft tissue surrounding the eye, application of a fabric patch over the eye and temporary suturing of the third eyelid to keep the eye closed. While prevention is always better than a cure, staying on high ground with pink eye isn’t always possible. Our current preventative measures and treatments need to be improved. Unfortunately, disorders associated with ocular pain and discomfort, or the negative effects of compromised vision in food animals, are seldom considered when discussing conditions involving the eye. Much research is still needed in identifying and treating ocular pain and discomfort in all animals, but particularly food-producing ones that instinctively camouflage pain. When treating IBK it is important to remember that this is a painful condition. So any approach to prevention and therapy needs to address pain management as well as the economic losses attributable to this disease. c
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health
By Debbie Furber
Vitamin Case Cracked
H
igh mortality isn’t normally associated with vitamin deficiencies, but for one Alberta producer, stressful winter weather may have been the tipping point. The family lost 22 of the 70 calves born to heifers during the 2013 calving season. Getting the Viking Veterinary Clinic involved from the outset, when unexplained deaths started happening early in the calving season, led to corrective measures that prevented further losses. Dr. Lacey Fowler says it was initially disheartening when heart, lung, liver and intestine samples taken from dead calves still left them empty-handed. The colour of the heart muscle was paler than normal with some noticeable white streaks, but the findings weren’t consistent with white muscle disease. No reason could be found for the deaths that kept happening day after day. The only common denominator was that all of the dead calves had been born to first-calf heifers, while everything appeared to be fine among the 200 mature cows. Some calves were stillborn. Others lived only two or three hours regardless of whether they were weak and couldn’t stand or quite alert and able to nurse with assistance. After the fifth death, the carcasses were taken to Prairie Diagnostic Services at the University of Saskatchewan for complete post mortems with requests for full mineral panel screening on the livers and cultures for neospora and bovine viral diarrhea. The results were negative for both diseases, but the mineral tests gave them their first real clue — low vitamin E levels. Subsequently, blood samples were drawn from 24 heifers selected at random to test for magnesium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, selenium, molybdenum and vitamin E levels. Fourteen happened to be home-raised heifers; eight were from a group of 40 purchased in late December, and the origin of two wasn’t confirmed. Some had calves at foot and others had lost their calves. Fowler says nothing in the results was unexpected or unusual for an Alberta winter except, once again, low vitamin E levels were suspicious. Twelve heifers were defi-
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cient in vitamin E, three were marginal and nine were normal. The test results weren’t conclusive because some of the deficient heifers had live calves and some of the heifers with normal vitamin E levels had lost their calves. “We hypothesized that because the heifers were still growing, their vitamin E needs would be higher,” Fowler says.
ease — you don’t expect to walk out and find dead calves every day. Also, we didn’t see the selenium deficiency in conjunction with vitamin E deficiency that characterizes typical white muscle disease, or a vitamin A deficiency often seen in conjunction with a vitamin E deficiency.” Treatment results show they hit the nail on the head because the death toll rapidly decreased after they started supplementing vitamins in the ration with injections. Treatment
“ We hypothesized that because the heifers were still growing, their vitamin E needs would be higher.” Dr. Lacey Fowler viking Veterinary Clinic
It’s possible that the calves were deficient in vitamin E at birth and that alone compromised their ability to survive. The mechanism by which this could cause death isn’t well described in scientific literature. If their dams were deficient in vitamin E, then calves able to suck would have received vitamin E-deficient colostrum. This would further compromise their viability because colostrum and milk are the main sources of vitamin E for newborn calves. “Our presumptive diagnosis was hypovitaminosis E,” Fowler says. “This is unique because vitamin deficiencies are normally associated with low-level subclinical dis-
The first step was to add a vitamin E/selenium supplement into the heifers’ diet. It takes a few days to build up to a steady level, so the heifers also received a single injection of vitamin E/selenium with vitamin A/D. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble, but the risk of toxicity is relatively low. Selenium is a different matter. A little is crucial, but a little too much can be deadly. Be careful when feeding supplements that contain selenium because it’s quite easy to reach a toxic level of selenium before meeting the vitamin requirements, Fowler cautions. All calves on the ground received vitaminE/selenium with vitamin A/D injections as did subsequent newborns immediately after birth. The newborns were also tube-fed a commercial colostrum product to ensure adequate intake of colostrum for effective passive immunity and essential vitamins. Given that vitamin E is necessary for proper immune system function, it was highly probable that the calves had compromised immune systems, therefore all newborns were treated with an antimicrobial as a preventative measure. The farm was running an excellent vaccination program and the herd appeared to have sufficient amounts of feed and bedding. Both the heifer ration and cow ration were based on greenfeed bales. The cows received 10 pounds of alfalfa-grass hay as a supplement and loose trace mineral fed free-choice. The heifers received 10 pounds of hammered oats with a 32 per cent protein supplement and a trace mineral salt block with selenium. A 2:1 (calcium:phosphorus) mineral/vitamin mix was fed for the first half of the winter feeding period.
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health
Feed supplies weren’t tested, so it can only be assumed that the heifer ration was short on vitamin E. A general observation overall was that the condition seemed to be affecting the homeraised heifers more than the purchased heifers. Fowler says this may have been because the home-raised heifers received a vitamin-E deficient diet for a longer span of time than the purchased heifers, which probably had a more balanced diet before arrival. Take-home messages
Giving all newborn calves an injection of selenium/vitamin E with vitamins A/D shortly after birth is a common practice, Fowler says, advising producers to consult
with their veterinarian to find out if this is recommended in their specific area. Injections of vitamins A, D and E meet requirements for about two weeks, which means that giving injections at pregcheck time in fall isn’t enough to carry animals through winter. In fact, cattle coming off pasture could already have depleted stores of fat-soluble vitamins if they have been grazing mature forages. Pregnant and growing heifers would deplete vitamin stores more rapidly than mature cattle because of their higher requirements. Vitamins A, D and E are plentiful in green forage, but don’t overwinter well in stored forages, Fowler says.
Feed testing is a good start, but be aware of dwindling vitamin levels in hay as the winter progresses. The best way to ensure adequate vitamin and mineral intake is to top-dress grain or in a total-mixed ration. If feeding free choice, know what the intake per head per day should be and monitor the number of bags, blocks or tubs the herd is consuming. Herd investigations are a collaborative effort between producers, veterinarians and nutritionists, often involving experts at veterinary schools, she says. Having good management records, including feed labels and freezing liver samples from suspicious deaths, can help get to the bottom of a disease outbreak. c
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C at t l e m e n · O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
43
BUILDING TRUST IN CANADIAN BEEF
RESPECT REQUIRED FOR FEED INGREDIENTS Why the Standard Operating Procedure in VBP is important
One problem with one cattle operation. That’s all it could take for a feed ingredient error to become an industry issue. Not surprisingly, given their significance in the production chain, feedlots have been leaders in information development and managing feed issues. As cattle move from ranches and farms into feedlots, the industry is tested on its ability to manage feed ingredients properly. Feedlots are front and centre. One of the most important Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with the Verified Beef Production (VBP) Program is “Feed and water: Medicated and non-ruminant feed.” It covers standards for receiving and storing medications, mixing in feed or water and ways to avoid cross-contamination. It also includes information on what to do if something goes wrong. The SOP for feed ingredient management in the VBP Program backs the feedlot industry in a number of key ways. Support for individual programs. Canada’s feedlot industry is among the most developed and sophisticated in the world. Many have record-keeping and staff training programs specific to their operation. VBP provides an important industry backup support for individual programs. Averting regulatory overload. One of the simple principles the beef industry has operated by is to be proactive in meeting customer needs. Operating at a high level voluntarily helps prevent regulatory programs being forced on the production level of the cattle industry.
VBP supports existing feed management protocols in Canada’s cattle-feeding sector.
Complementing packer affidavits. VBP standards fit hand-in-glove with the food industry chain requirements. For example, complementing affidavits required by packers. VBP provides supporting evidence that label requirements or veterinary prescriptions are followed. Training employees. Some feedlots use VBP as a basis to train new employees. This training is particularly important in feedlots during the busy fall run when new employees join the team, or people are tackling new positions. Cross-reference check. The standards in VBP are a simple double check to confirm correct procedures have been followed, and early detection for possible errors. Furthering understanding. The SOP for medicated feed and water ingredients helps all those involved to have a common
understanding of the effect these standards have downstream in the marketplace. When something goes wrong. Outcomes outlined by VBP are an important support for individual producers and their industry if something does go wrong. GET MARKET-READY
Beef producers know each issue that affects customer confidence is a lesson from the marketplace. The secret is simple: Be prepared. Those that feed medicated ingredients can check the VBP website www.verifiedbeef.org under the Producer Manual for SOP 2, to ensure they are current in their knowledge of feed ingredient management. Better yet, they can participate in VBP and become registered under the program. That means third-party proof they are doing the right things before someone comes asking.
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Value branded
L
ittle did Teressa Bellissimo know that the night she poured hot sauce over leftover chicken wings in Buffalo New York, and served them with celery and blue cheese, that she had created a marketing sensation. The snack prepared for a bunch of hungry boys in 1964 became the cornerstone of the bar that still sells them today. Those wings that once went as scraps into the soup pot are now eaten by 81 per cent of adult Americans generating US$32.8 million annually. The “Buffalo” flavour of the wing is what is branded in this example. And although several recipes exist, the common thread is the taste of the Buffalo wing. I was in Eastern Canada this summer visiting packers and processors of meats and vegetables. On the poultryprocessing floor, there were two things happening — the flavour tumbling of chicken wings (Buffalo wings) and the packaging of chicken breasts for Costco which were to be sold under their private label brand. The protocols for the raising and processing of the birds were in place and that demanded a separate line for the chicken breasts going to the mammoth wholesaler. In this case the producer/processor was branding the supply to the wholesale chain. We often think that this is not branding but it is. Assurances behind the product and private standards are part of the brand. From conception through to cellophane, the product is strictly regulated. Costco itself does not raise or butcher chickens but it creates standards that gives it the confidence to brand the meat under its name. In Alberta and Ontario, Cargill Value Added Meats is the branded supply source of beef patties to McDonald’s that sells the Big Mac and other identifiable beef burgers. Did you notice how many names you recognized in the last sentence? That is the power of branding. In traditional branding we think of the big guns Nike or Coca-Cola. But Nike and Coca-Cola are trademarks that have risen to brand status and consumer recognition. You are on your way to being a star athlete if you run in a Nike and the world is a better place when drinking Coca-Cola. The fact that pop is sugared water does not enter the consumer psych and the Nike brand overshadows the fact that the shoes are made primarily in China and Vietnam in non-unionized shops. So profound is consumer loyalty because of brand recognition that all other aspects of the brand are ignored or forgotten. Nike does not own any production plants but to put that brand on the shelf, every company must follow the standards for production. Some folks, I expect those outside of a brand, debate the value of branding food and consumer goods. But companies aggressively buy out other companies for their brands every day. In Canada, Quebec co-operative Exceldor bought out the P&H turkey side for the Butter-
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ball brand. Recently, Imperial Tobacco paid US$7.1 billion for buyouts to get to the recognizable cigarette brand of Winston. Apple generates the highest sales per retail foot in North America. Easy to recognize and use, Apple fans stay for the long haul, not only for the technology but for the ease of upgrading. Making it easy to remember the brand, easy to buy and easy to use make for a better consumer experience. In the experience economy, even when you don’t have a widget to sell, you must still sell the experience. The memory by association then kicks in. If you see the name Jaguar you think of a sleek finish and wealth, while ads on German cars create images of solid engineering and driving at top speed on the autobahn (which is fun by the way). Jaguar reminds potential clients of the long association of wealth related to the car when it refers to its “recognizable DNA.” Who is going to argue the euphoric state driving this car may create? Consumers buy the brand. Which tractor are you using? Why? What jeans are you wearing? Why? What kind of car do you buy? Why? The answers lie in your recognition of the brand and your loyalty to it. It may not be that the Wranglers you wear are better than another brand but your loyalty to these jeans is driven by your experience and a good memory or two while in them. Now — what beef are you eating? Why? Is there a point of differentiation on the shelf that is so strong that you are driven to that product every time? And more importantly, is the product always what you expect? When our combine breaks down we have a certain degree of tolerance because it is the brand we chose and there is a service man behind it. When we buy a tough steak — whom do we turn to? Who is the holder of the brand and the one responsible for both the differentiation of product and the consistency in it? This leads to a question — are we going to be forever satisfied being a branded supplier of beef in Canada if there is opportunity to create a brand that goes beyond the back of the shelf? Every business model should have complete customer satisfaction at its core. Without this central fundamental belief, our lives in any line of production and processing are short and without cause. That is why we need to support branded initiatives for what they are — an opportunity to differentiate, align by recognition, create consistency through private standards, develop loyalty and increase sales. Would you like a beer with those wings? What brand? c Brenda Schoepp is a motivating speaker and mentor who works with young entrepreneurs across Canada and around the world. She can be contacted through her website www. brendaschoepp.com. All rights reserved. Brenda Schoepp 2014
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prime cuts
By Steve Kay
Working for the industry
I
t’s just over 10 years ago that Canada then the U.S. discovered their first homegrown BSE cases. The North American industry has largely put BSE behind it. But the huge cost to the industry is a reminder how economically devastating an animal disease can be. Then there’s the emotional cost of producers being forced out of business and the resulting impact of declining cattle numbers on the structure of the industry. BSE’s biggest cost, particularly for the U.S., was the bans on cattle and beef exports. Then there was the cost of reduced cattle prices and increased costs for processors because of new regulations regarding the removal and disposal of specified risk materials. The full costs of BSE might never be known. But to date, BSE has cost the Canadian industry C$5 billion to $7 billion and the U.S. industry more than US$16 billion. Costs remain, because neither country has regained full access for cattle and beef to every market it had in early 2003. BSE and other big issues spotlight how important it is for the industry to have strong leaders and skilled people behind the scenes. Top of the latter group in Canada must surely be John Masswohl, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s lobbyist in Ottawa. Canadian Business recently named Masswohl as No. 40 in its list of Canada’s 50 most powerful business people in 2014, calling him low profile but effective. Masswohl has been involved with the CCA since late 2004. So I thought it was timely to ask him what he thought were some of the association’s biggest moments over the past decade. Here’s what he told me. “There was that Friday evening in July of 2005 while we were hosting the Five Nations Beef Alliance meeting in Alberta. We had gotten the word in the afternoon that the Appeals Court in Seattle had overturned Judge Cebull’s injunction
and the border was to open immediately. Later that evening we had taken all the Five Nations’ cattle producer leaders to the grandstand show at the Calgary Stampede when the grandstand announcer came on and told the crowd of several thousand people that the border was to open that night. A huge cheer went up from the crowd that was amazing and very satisfying. “Another was being invited to accompany the prime minister to Brussels, Belgium to sign the Canada-Europe agreement in principle for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that provides for creation of a very significant quantity of duty-free beef access to Europe. CCA, primarily Dennis Laycraft and myself, put in many trips to accompany negotiators to Europe throughout the four years of negotiations. I know that if we hadn’t done that, an agreement likely would have been reached much earlier but it wouldn’t have been an agreement that Canadian cattle producers could have supported. Because we worked so hard to get the right outcome, the prime minister personally insisted that the deal include acceptable access for Canadian beef. “The most satisfying moments tend to come from areas where we work the hardest and everyone else thinks it’s hopeless and questions why we put in the effort. The reason we do it is because we know that it will be worth it in the end and since few others believe, no one else is going to do the work if we do not. The issue I’ve worked on the longest is COOL. Even though we are not across the goal line on that yet, we are going to get there. That will be a sweet moment indeed.” The Canadian industry is fortunate to have people like Masswohl, Laycraft and others working on its behalf. c A North American view of the meat industry. Steve Kay is publisher and editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly.
October 23
Pre-sort Gelbvieh Cross Calf Sale Heartland Livestock Swift Current, SK
October 27
Gelbvieh Influence Feeder Sale
VJV Auction, Stavely, AB
October 29
Pre-Sort Gelbvieh Cross Calf Sale
Medicine Hat Feeding Co. Medicine Hat, AB
November 27 Agribition Gelbvieh Sale Regina, SK
December 6 Wish List Gelbvieh Sale Red Deer, AB
December 13 Prairie Gelbvieh Alliance Sale Moose Jaw, SK
CANADIAN GELBVIEH ASSOCIATION 403.250.8640 gelbvieh@gelbvieh.ca
www.gelbvieh.ca 48
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Davidson Gelbvieh & Lonesome Dove Ranch
Vernon & Eileen Davidson 306-625-3755 davidsongelbvieh@sasktel.net www.davidsongelbvieh.com Ross & Tara Davidson & Family 306-625-3513 lonesomedoveranch@sasktel.net www.davidsonlonesomedoveranch.com
O'Faelan Farms Inc. Ron Whalen 902-651-2006 Vernon River, PEI drrwhalen@yahoo.ca www.ofaelanfarms.ca
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Twin Bridge Farms Ltd.
Ron, Carol, Ross, Gail, Owen Stone Gate Farm & & Aaron Birch Ron & Carol 403-792-2123 V&V Farms Ltd. Aaron 403-485-5518 Darrell & Leila Hickman Lomond, AB 780-581-0077 Gelbvieh Stock Exchange Sale Group aaron@tbfarms.ca Vermilion, AB Don Okell - 403-793-4549 www.tbfarms.ca darrell.hickman@lakelandcollege.ca jenty@eidnet.org Vern & Vivienne Pancoast www.jentygelbviehs.com 403-548-6678 Gary or Nolan Pahl - 403-977-2057 Maple Grove Gelbvieh Redcliff, AB garypahl@shockware.com Lee & Neal Wirgau vvfarms@xplornet.com www.towerviewranch.com 204-278-3255 Narcisse, MB maplegrove@xplornet.com Keriness Cattle Company Ltd. Prairie Gelbvieh Alliance Sale Group Kert Ness - 403-860-4634 Kirk Hurlburt - 306-222-8210 kertness@shaw.ca hurlburtlivestock@sasktel.net Gelbvieh Association of Joe Ness - 403-852-7332 Chad Nicholas Airdrie, AB Alberta/BC 306-436-7300 jonus@telus.blackberry.net c/o Merv Tuplin - 780-450-1280 cnicholas@mccoycattle.com Edmonton, AB Ian Thackeray mervtuplin@gmail.com 306-861-7687 Carroll Creek Cattle Company tgfis@sasktel.net Jason Hurst Fir River Livestock 519-881-7929 Dave Hrebeniuk - 306-865-6603 Durham, ON Eastern Canadian Gelbvieh Assoc. Darcy, Renee, Colt & jasonhurst0@gmail.com c/o Laurie Hurst Kenzie Hrebeniuk - 306-865-7859 Durham, ON Hudson Bay, SK 519-369-1763 firriver@xplornet.com carrollcreekcattleco@gmail.com Man-Sask Gelbvieh Assoc. www.gelbviehworld.com www.go-gelbvieh.com c/o Lee Wirgau - 204-278-3255 Narcisse, MB maplegrove@xplornet.com Skyline Way NE, Calgary, Alberta T2E 6V1 CANADIAN GELBVIEH 5160Ph: 403.250.8640 • Fax: 403.291.5624 Email: gelbvieh@gelbvieh.ca • www.gelbvieh.ca ASSOCIATION
CCA repo rts
By Dave Solverson
Trade and labour issues
W
hat a hectic few weeks it has been, with harvest on the go at home, lobbying activities to lead and significant progress being made on trade files with huge potential for Canada’s beef cattle industry. These new opportunities come at a time when most producers are thinking about next year’s business plan. Much like the opportune arrival of the late blast of summer on the Prairies that turned snow-flattened crops around in time for harvest, the trade achievements could mean the difference between staying the course or setting off in a new direction. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) was on hand on September 22 when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Korean President Park Geun-hye signed the final text of the Canada-Korea free trade agreement (CKFTA) in Ottawa. This landmark achievement is the direct result of the diligence of Prime Minister Harper, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Ed Fast. The CCA thanks them for their efforts and encourages swift passage of the CKFTA through the Canadian Parliament and the Korean Legislature. The deal provides Canada’s beef producers with the ability to get every piece of the animal to the market that will pay the most for it, and that’s what maximizes prices at the farm gate. A big plus in this regard is that Canada will also be getting an aggressive phase-out on offals that get more value in Korea than they do in North America. Under the terms of the agreement, the 40 per cent Korean tariff on fresh and frozen beef will be fully eliminated in 15 equal annual steps and the 18 per cent tariff on offals will be fully eliminated in 11 equal annual steps. The tariff has been the main impediment to accessing the Korean market since Korea lifted its BSE prohibition on Canada in early 2012. For the past few years, Canada’s key beef competitor, the U.S. has enjoyed an increasing tariff advantage flowing from its free trade agreement with South Korea. The formal signing of the text brings us an important step closer to restoring a competitive position for Canadian beef in the Korean market. The weeks leading up to the CKFTA were filled with lobbying. I met with Minister Ritz along with our packer partners, on September 15 to discuss the ongoing challenges of labour shortages in beef-processing operations. Minister Ritz commented that it helps him advocate for the beef industry amongst his colleagues when there is good collaboration between sectors of the beef industry. Collaboration is central to the Five Year National Beef Strategic Plan being developed by industry groups. I was invited by Canada’s Minister of Employment and
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Social Development Jason Kenney to a reception before the opening of Parliament and was able to continue our ongoing discussion about labour issues on farms and in processing plants. Ultimately, we need to ensure Canada’s beef industry has access to a ready supply of workers to be able to grow our output in response to the opportunities provided with new and regained market access. Labour was among the key industry issues discussed at the CCA’s fall picnic on Parliament Hill on September 23. This is a high-profile event for the CCA and it is always well attended by members of Parliament, senators, ministers and their staff and other key influencers. In addition to the event, the CCA has meetings with MPs from all political parties from across the country who sit on various committees. International Trade Minister Fast was the keynote speaker at the fall picnic and in his remarks announced that he had introduced legislation to implement the CKFTA. Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau also attended and we had good discussion about CCA’s top priorities. A lot of MPs and senators posted pictures of themselves to Twitter from the event, enjoying the high-quality beef served at the CCA fall picnic, which proved popular with followers of @Cdncattlemen. In addition to the labour concerns, we also discussed our desire to see the CKFTA and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) become implemented. The need to continue to challenge the unfair U.S. mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) regulation was also discussed and I shared our appreciation of the Government of Canada’s efforts to date. The government’s articulation of its intent to impose tariffs on U.S. exports has been very helpful in building support for a COOL resolution in Washington, D.C. and we encouraged that pressure to increase. Prior to the fall picnic, I was in Washington with CCA vice-president Dan Darling and executive vice-president Dennis Laycraft where we held meetings and discussed issues including COOL in advance of the World Trade Organization compliance panel ruling on COOL, which is expected to be made public this month. In late September the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) held its first annual meeting in Kelowna. Discussions focused on the sustainability initiatives that the CRSB is working on and shed some light on the work that the CRSB is engaged in to help set future goals for the organization. There is never any shortage of industry issues to discuss and I’m looking forward to engaging with producers on these and other topics at the upcoming fall meetings in Alberta and Saskatchewan and at the next CCA town hall in Dauphin, Man. on October 28. c
Dave Solverson is president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association
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CalviNg tips & tales
Friends and neighbours, we are once again looking for your best calving tips and tales for Cattlemen’s January 2015 Calving Special. We’re looking for good ideas, practical advice, or humorous tales and photos to share with fellow readers. A reward will be sent for Tips & Tales printed in this special. Send your calving tips to Calving Tips & Tales (and your address) to Canadian Cattlemen 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 Email: gren@fbcpublishing.com Fax: 1-866-399-5710
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NewsRoundup
Forage
Mountainview, a sainfoin with staying power By Peg Strankman
Mountainview, a new sainfoin cultivar, developed by Dr. Surya Acharya through the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research station in Lethbridge appears to have met the challenge of persistence for this palatable forage. In field testing it has shown it can survive and prevent bloat in mixed stands with alfalfa. “Up to this point sainfoin had been selected for biomass production and winter hardiness,” explains Alberta forage specialist Linda Hunt. “This resulted in the development of varieties that had excellent produc-
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tion when grown in a pure stand for hay or once-over fall grazing, but weren’t suitable for multi-cut hay or grazing systems. Forage growers found that although sainfoin was palatable, it just did not persist more than one or two growing seasons in mixed stands and so was not worth the high cost of seed.” “AC Mountainview is a different kind of sainfoin and unique in North America,” says Hunt. “This new variety was selected from populations being grown with alfalfa under a multi-cut system. The resulting variety has excellent regrowth and the potential to persist in stands of alfalfa. The idea is that the tannins in the sainfoin, when seeded in the right proportion with the alfalfa, will buffer the bloat risk of the alfalfa and allow producers to safely
graze a high-quality, highly productive forage stand. Early research in this intensive grazing system is showing promise.” At least 15 per cent sainfoin on a dry matter basis in the sward seems to be enough to ensure no bloat occurs. Foothills Forage and Grazing Association (FFGA) arranged a tour of some of the test fields in southern Alberta in August. First stop was at the AAFC research station in Lethbridge to get the latest information on the field trials from forage researchers, Drs. Alan Iwaasa and Eddie Sottie. Trials at the AAFC Lethbridge and Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre (SPARC) at Swift Current indicate Mountainview has good stand survival under
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NEWS ROUNDUP
continuous grazing with low stocking rates. However, SPARC forage researcher Alan Iwaasa says the survival rate was not as good in rotational grazing trials with high stocking rates. Based on these results Iwaasa suggests the Mountainview cultivar may have limitations in the dryland brown soil zone. It seems that to maintain a sainfoin stand under an intensive grazing system in the brown soil zone management needs to include delayed grazing or harvesting after seed pod formation Sottie, a forage researcher at AAFCSPARC, says the Mountainview sainfoin consistently showed higher mean total yearly dry matter yield over older varieties like Nova in pure and mixed stands in the plots maintained at Lethbridge and Saskatoon. “We also found average daily gain in alfalfa-sainfoin mixed pastures were similar to gains in pure alfalfa pastures,” he says. For producers who would like to try the new sainfoin in their grazing rotation there are still challenges. Seed supply for Mountainview is not yet available. A hailstorm last year at the Lethbridge research station set
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seed collection back a year. Although a couple of seed companies do include sainfoin in some seed mixes these are likely a U.S. variety and may not persist under Canadian conditions. It is expected there will be some seed for the new Mountainview cultivar available in 2015 with a more abundant supply ready
for 2016. Producers should contact their local forage associations for the results of how well sainfoin performed in the local trials and to check on seed availability for next year. Dr. Bill Newton who ranches at the Continued on page 54
Feed & Water Testing Ph: 204-237-9128 Fax:855-754-1046 www.ctl.mb.ca
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“I’ll bet this has something to do with you forgetting your anniversary.”
Continued from page 53
south end of the Porcupine Hills west of Fort Macleod has plenty of experience with sainfoin. During the FFGA tour Newton showed two sainfoin pastures, one seeded 11 years ago and a second that was seeded prior to 1979. The key to sainfoin persistence in his experience is making sure the plants set seed at least every two to three years. “You have to be prepared to manage it,” he says. “As the pastures mature I probably have lost some production but given the ecosystem services like carbon retention and water infiltration I get back it’s more than worth it for me. I try not to come back in less than 60 days. It’s so palatable the cows will graze the same plant repeatedly and that weakens it.” Gary Brown, the second grazier on the sainfoin tour says he likes the sainfoin for grazing but not for hay. He seeded his field to sainfoin and brome grass in 1997 seeding into barley stubble in poorer soil just southeast of the Pine Coulee reservoir. Brown grazes the sainfoin mix later in May, then
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letting it regrow and set seed. He usually puts cattle back in for a while after it has gone to seed. Past experience from producers and forage researchers in establishing sainfoin in Alberta suggests it does well in welldrained, dry sites in soils that have neutral to alkaline pH. It does not like wet roots. Heavy trash cover should be avoided. It’s recommended the seed be placed within one to two centimetres of the soil surface. Sainfoin has a large seed. There is just one seed in each seed pod so the seed is sold with the hull intact. It’s recommended it be seeded in the pod at a rate of 36-42 pure live seed/metre (nine to 13 seeds per foot of row). This is equivalent to six to 35 pounds per acre, depending upon how far apart the rows are spaced. Row width should not be more than 12 inches to keep appropriate sainfoin density in a mixed pasture stand. It is not recommended for seeding with a cover crop. Reduce the seeding rate by one-third in mixtures with grasses. Because the sainfoin seed is so much larger than alfalfa mixed stands of the two, legumes have to be seeded in alternate rows in two passes or using two planter boxes with alternate runs blocked. Sainfoin seed should be inoculated, however, no inoculant is currently registered for use in Canada. The fact that sainfoin-specific inoculant has a relatively short shelf life has been a barrier to obtaining CFIA registration. The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association is working to find a solution. Continued on page 56
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News Roundup Continued from page 55
nutrition
Vitamin E levels drop in stored feeds
Fresh, green forages supply adequate levels of vitamins to meet the needs of beef cattle, but that’s not so once it’s cut, says Alberta Agriculture beef and forage specialist Barry Yaremcio. Within days of cutting, the precursors for vitamins in hay start to oxidize. How fast this happens depends on moisture content of the bales and weather conditions. Precursors are substances in feed that the animal converts to active forms of vitamins. The precursor for vitamin A, for example, is beta carotene. The sun’s ultraviolet rays convert the vitamin D precursor to active vitamin D. Supplementing with the actual vitamins is recommended when feeding forage that has been baled for more than 90 days, Yaremcio says. Ensiling destroys vitamin precursors, so vitamins have to be added to silage-based rations. Vitamin injections won’t sustain adequate vitamin levels through the winter and it’s important to check the label on injectables to find out if vitamin E is included at an effective level. Generally, vitamin A-D injectables contain only small amounts of vitamin E as a preservative. A nutrient must supply at least 10 per cent of the daily requirement to be listed on a label as an active ingredient. The best way to supplement vitamins is to feed them. Unfortunately, most commercial mineral-vitamin products are not meeting vitamin E requirements, according to Yaremcio.
His advice is to consider boosting vitamin E by ordering custom mineral mixes or purchasing vitamin E separately and adding it to your commercial mix. Vitamin E is available from feed mills and some farm supply centres in 25-kilogram (kg) bags containing 50,000 international units (IU) per kg for roughly $125 per bag. It might seem pricey, he says, but the results of increasing vitamin E levels to support immune function and reproduction will be worth it. The latest version of CowBytes (a ration balancing calculator with supporting information on feed requirements for beef cattle), includes higher vitamin E levels than the 2000 National Research Council guideline of a minimum 15 IU per kg of dry matter intake. Dry matter intake can be anywhere from one to three per cent of the animal’s body weight depending on hay quality and many other variables, whereas the CowBytes calculation is based on IU per head per day. Research since 2000 has recommended 500 IU of vitamin E per head per day for lactating cows and heifers and 300 IU per head per day for all other classes of cattle. Cattle under stress, including newly weaned calves and those arriving at feedlots, should receive 400 to 1,000 IU per head per day for one to two weeks. The increase to 300 IU for calves isn’t reflected in the CowBytes program. This can be updated by clicking on the modifications tab, changing the 100 value for vitamin E to 250, and then saving the change for future use. You have to remember, he says, that weathering reduces overall hay quality. Even if minerals and vitamins test adequate, animals won’t get the full value if poor quality reduces daily feed intake. If the feed was borderline for quality when tested in September and stacked outdoors, then it should be retested four weeks before the start of calving. There’s
no need for a second feed test when hay is stored under a tarp or shed. Retesting two-year-old bales is strongly recommended, he adds. Carry-over hay can be one to three per cent lower in protein, five to eight per cent lower in total digestible nutrient and five to 10 per cent lower in digestibility than current-year hay. CowBytes is available for $50 from Alberta Agriculture by calling 780-4270391, or search for “cowbytes” to see the program demo and order online. Yaremcio can be reached at 403-742-7926. Also see John McKinnon’s nutrition column and Ron Clarke’s vet advice column in Canadian Cattlemen’s February 2014, issue for more on vitamin supplementation.
trade
Free trade creeps closer
Canada’s free trade files with South Korea and the European Union (EU) took some giant steps forward last month. First Prime Minister Stephen Harper and South Korean President Park Geun-hye formally signed off on the final text of the Canada-Korea free trade agreement, three months after it was tabled in the House of Commons, and agreed to put the agreement into force “as quickly as possible.” Before that can happen the enabling legislation and regulations must be approved by the Canadian Parliament and the Korean National Assembly. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) noted the final text calls for a 40 per cent Korean tariff on fresh and frozen beef to be “fully eliminated in 15 equal annual steps” while an 18 per cent tariff on offals will end in 11 such steps — a faster pace than the rate of reduction for offals from the U.S. Tariffs of two to eight per cent on beef fats and tallow are to be eliminated immediately on implementation. Korea reopened to Canadian beef in 2012 — the same year Seoul’s free trade deal with
feedlot DIRECTORY “Custom Feeding With Personal Care”
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KLASSEN AGRIVENTURES LTD. Box 488, Linden, AB T0M 1J0 303007 Rge. Rd. 250 Myron Klassen Tel: 403-312-3577 myron@klassenagriventures.ca
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NEWS ROUNDUP
the U.S. came into force. As a result, the U.S. has enjoyed an increasing tariff advantage flowing from its free trade agreement with South Korea. In 2002, Korea was a $40-million market for Canadian beef and our fourth-largest export destination. In 2013, our export sales to Korea were down to $7.8 million. The CCA’s director of government and international relations, John Masswohl, noted the deal calls for “an aggressive phaseout on (tariffs for) offals that get more value in Korea than they do here in North America.” Just as the Korean deal started to fade from the news cycle Prime Minister Harper along with European Council president
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso released the negotiated text of the CanadaEU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)in Ottawa. When this deal comes into force, which may not be until 2017, almost 94 per cent of EU agricultural tariff lines are to become duty free, including durum wheat (up to $190 per ton), other wheat (up to $122 per ton), and oils such as canola oil (3.2 to 9.6 per cent), the government said. The Canada/EU deal also sets up a mechanism under which Canada and the EU will discuss and “attempt to prevent or resolve non-tariff barriers that may arise” on ag exports.
For Canada’s beef sector, CETA will eventually offer duty-free access for 64,950 tonnes per year. Of this, 50,000 tonnes — 35,000 tonnes of fresh/chilled beef and 15,000 tonnes of frozen beef — would be reserved for Canada. In a release the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) Canada said the 20 per cent duty on the existing 14,950-tonne “Hilton quota” shared with the U.S. will be reduced immediately to zero, and Canada will also still have access to the existing shared duty-free quota for high-quality grain-fed beef. “Combined with the new access, there is a Continued on page 58
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News Roundup Continued from page 57
potential to reach more than 100,000 tonnes per year of duty-free access for Canadian beef,” the CCA said. Live cattle, genetics and most beef offals and processed beef products will benefit from “immediate” unlimited duty-free access, the association added.
The ratification process can get underway on a Canada/European Union free trade deal now that negotiations are formally concluded. CCA president Dave Solverson says cattlemen would like to see the same unanimous endorsement from all the provinces and territories that the agreement-inprinciple received last fall. “The CCA urges the federal and provincial governments to move quickly to implement the agreement as soon as possible.” The agreement has been hailed as a game changer for Canada’s beef industry, as the removal of long-standing barriers
in this agreement, such as high tariffs, enables Canadian beef producers to benefit from the high-valued European beef market. The CCA has been working on the CETA from the outset of negotiations in 2009, engaging with the Canadian negotiating team and conducting advocacy with key EU and Member State officials and industry representatives. CCA representatives attended numerous negotiating rounds in Brussels and Ottawa and met regularly with the Canadian negotiators of CETA to ensure they clearly understood the needs of Canada’s beef sector.
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Sales every Friday @ 9 am, Oct - Dec Calf Sales Monday’s @ 9 am Featuring the Show Alley Box 10 Stavely, AB T0L 1Z0 403-549-2120
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is in the heart of cattle country in southwestern Saskatchewan and indeed we are “Proud of our cattle, Proud of our Market”.
Office - 204-434-6519 • Fax - 204-434-9367 Email - g_lam@hotmail.ca Harold Unrau - 204-871-0250 (cell) - manager Henry Penner - 204-355-7518
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Meadow Lake Livestock Sales Ltd.
P.O. Box 248, Mankota, Saskatchewan, S0H 2W0 Phone: 306-478-2229 • Fax: 306-478-2443 Email: mankotastockmens@sasktel.net
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• Regular Cattle Sales - Monday’s 9:30 a.m. • Presorted Internet Calf Sales - Thursday’s 11:00 a.m. • Regular Monthly Horse Sales - Friday’s • Bred Cow & Heifer Sales scheduled throughout the fall - 1:00 pm
Order buying services available. For sale information & market info. visit our website www.mlstockyards.com Brent Brooks (306) 240-5340 Boyd Stuart (306) 841-7998
Blair Brooks (306) 240-9883 office (306) 236-3411
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NEWS ROUNDUP
SEEDSTOCK
Lowlines make the cut
North Dakota State University’s Dickinson Research Extension Center has given the Lowline breed a permanent place for now in its beef evaluation program. The decision to establish a first-cross (F1) Lowline herd evolved from an earlier look at the potential of Lowline bulls as easy-calving sires to produce crossbred feeder cattle with performance and carcass quality suitable for today’s mainstream beef industry. From 2004 though 2007, the average birth weight of the 126 Lowline-sired calves from the conventional herd of Red and Black Angus females ranged from 64 to 75 pounds. In the feedyard, average daily gain each year ranged from 2.73 to 3.81 pounds, with 68 to 100 per cent of carcasses grading Choice or higher and 75 to 87 per cent being yield grade three and lower. Satisfied that Lowline-influence steers will meet the needs of today’s beef industry, Continued on page 60
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REGULAR SALES EVERY WEDNESDAY Cows and Bulls sell @ 9:00 a.m. Feeders and Cow/Calf pairs to follow OPEN CONSIGNMENT BRED COW & HEIFER Saturday November 22 @ 12 noon Saturday November 29 @ 12 noon Saturday December 6 @ 12 noon Saturday December 13 @ 12 noon Saturday December 20 @ 12 noon
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SPECIAL SALES Calf Sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Every.Mon ..&.Wed .,.Oct ..to.Dec .,.10.am Stock Cows & Bred Heifer Sales . . . . . . . Every.Tues .,.Nov ..to.Dec .,.1.pm Special Yearling Sales . . . . . . . . . . Every.Thurs .,.Sept ..to.Oct .,.11:30.am Pre-Sort Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Every.Sat .,.Oct ..to.Nov . For a complete listing of our sales visit www.perlich.com Or contact us by phone at:
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Box 6, Picture Butte, Connection AB T0K 1V0 Your Total Auction Reg. Feeder & Slaughter Cattle Sales–Tues. 10:30 a.m. Reg. Mixed Cattle, Hog, Sheep Sales – Sat. 11 a.m. Special Calf Sales in the Fall Phone 403-732-4400 Fax 403-732-4405 • Office: Jenn Schultz Owner/Auctioneer: Erik Dunsbergen Owner/Auctioneer: Erik Dunsbergen
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David Ropp (519) 749-5072 Allen Colwell (519) 501-0147 Wednesday - 1:00 PM - Vaccinated Feeder Cattle Thursday - 11:00 AM - Regular Stocker Sale Daily internet presort sales & direct from ranch sales. Contributing markets: Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Provost, Lloydminster, Vermilion, Yorkton, Maple Creek, Meadow Lake, Mankota, Assiniboia, Weyburn
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FEEDER/SLAUGHTER SALES SHEEP & GOAT SALE Every Friday 9AM First & Third Wed. of Receiving open until every month. Receiving 11PM Thursdays open until 9PM Tuesday Gates Open Mon.-Wed. 8AM-4PM Thurs. 8AM-11PM Friday 8AM-6PM Sat. 8AM-4PM For more info call: 204-694-8328, Jim Christie 204-771-0753, Scott Anderson 204-782-6222, Mike Nernberg 204-807-0747 www.winnipeglivestocksales.com Licence #1122
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the program discontinued use of Lowline bulls but retained the F1 Lowline heifers. The researchers liked what they saw in
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an initial evaluation of the heifers’ performance, so the question expanded to how to make the most of Lowline genetics in a commercial cow herd. A comparison of the 2010 F1 Lowline replacement heifers to replacement heifers from the conventional herd (in brackets) was: weaning weight 487 (574) pounds, hip height 41.1 (43.3) inches, frame score 3.75 (5.26), rib-eye area 5.31 (5.94) square inches; rib-eye per hundredweight 0.92 (0.82), fat depth 0.08 (0.25) inches, spring weight 552 (664) pounds. In 2011, they followed cow size and calf weight through to weaning with the following results for F1 Lowlines and conventional females (in brackets): calf birth weight 68 (91) pounds, cow weight 999 (1,358) pounds, weaning weight 537 (585) pounds, cow weight at weaning 1,035
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N EWS ROU N DU P
(1,287) pounds, calf weight as a percentage of cow weight at weaning 51.9 (46.2), acres per pair 10.1 (12.5); gain per acre 32.4 (23.6). Kris Ringwall, the centre’s director of animal science, says Lowline-sired steer calves could be finished through traditional channels, while the half-blood heifers could go into a terminal Lowline cow herd to reduce cow size, reduce calving issues, and produce additional gain per acre. The net result would be shaving 300 pounds off cow size, while retaining muscle mass to produce mainstream beef carcasses with more rib-eye per hundredweight, which translates into more muscle mass per pound of body weight. The centre’s program will continue with both the conventional and F1 Lowline herds bred to Red and Black Angus and Limousin bulls. Some of the F1 Lowline females will be bred to Lowline bulls with the goal of establishing a foundation purebred Lowline herd. Ringwell’s presentation is available at www.usa-lowline.org. c
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What’s on the horizon in agriculture? Watch This Country Called Agriculture and be infomed. This Country Called Agriculture is a new on-demand video series that delivers relevant news & information on the agriculture industry. Host Rob Eirich interviews ag pioneers, professionals and academics that offer insight into today’s trends and what the future holds for agriculture – on and off the farm. Video topics include: Sustainability
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TCCA CURRENT EPISODES Consumer Benefits from Genomics Rob Eirich talking with Tom Lynch-Staunton of Livestock Gentec, and Colin Coros of Delta Genomics, about the benefits of animal genomics for consumers.
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NEWS AB OUT YOU
By Deb Wilson
PurelyPurebred
Suggestions are always welcome. My phone number is 403-325-1695 Email: deb.wilson@ fbcpublishing.com
backlog of samples and improve turnaround time for these tests. It is confident that this transition will result in better service for its members. Samples that are currently in transit to Quantum Genetix (GenServe) in Saskatoon, Sask., will be forwarded to Delta Genomics. Members who are concerned about samples they submitted should contact the CAA office at 1-888-571-3580 or registry@cdnangus.ca. Be prepared to provide the animal tattoos and dates that you submitted your samples. The CAA says its members will soon be able to rely on a turnaround time of 10 business days for processing of SNP parentage verification test results.
n Recently, I was invited to attend a 4-H windup evening for the Delburne 4H Beef Club at the Cumberland Community Hall, east of Red Deer, Alta. In attendance were two representatives from Ronald McDonald House of central Alberta Patti Parker, donations and community relations coordinator, as well as Linda Caponpon, co-ordinator of volunteer and recreation programs. These two ladies were presented with a cheque for $6,757.46 for Ronald McDonald House, by the 16 members of the 4-H club. The money was raised by the sale of a charity steer raised by the club members, and sold at their annual sale. This year’s purchaser of the charity steer was Pike Wheaton Chevrolet, of Red Deer, Alta. Patti and Linda tell me that several of the other central Alberta clubs have raffles to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House, as well. With an operational budget of over $1.2 million dollars annually, these funds are hugely appreciated. Congratulations to Delburne 4-H Beef Club members, their leaders and parents. What an awesome initiative for your club to undertake. It is very supportive of your community. n The Canadian Charolais Association Scholarship Deadline is October 31. Applicants must be involved in agriculture and
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registered in a post-secondary education college or university program. Applicants or their family must have purchased or be using a Charolais bull. For more information visit the website at www.charolais. com/association/scholarships. n The Canadian Hereford Association, Canada’s largest beef cattle registry, has reached three million registrations. The association has held number 3,000,000 and it will be auctioned off at Agribition, immediately following the Grand Champion Female Class during the National Hereford show on November 28, 2014, and is available to any 2014 born Hereford animal. Online bidding will be available through www.cattleinmotion.com. All money raised will be donated to the Hereford Research Fund for use in future research. Visit www.hereford.ca for more details as they become available. Sponsoring the event are Cattle In Motion, T Bar C and Agribition. n If you have not already heard, the Canadian Angus Association (CAA) is transitioning to Delta Genomics in Edmonton, Alta., for SNP parentage verification testing. The association’s newsletter thanked members for their continued patience and understanding as it works to reduce the
n Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC) recently participated in welcoming an incoming Mexican delegation that was visiting Alta Genetics along with representatives of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Market Access Secretariat, Trade Commissioner Service and Alberta Agriculture. John Crowley also represented the CBBC at the American Simmental Association meetings along with Canadian Simmental Association general manager Bruce Holmquist where they met with a number of American geneticists and breed associations. Executive director Michael Latimer and Doris Rempel participated in a conference call with AAFC staff regarding the agrimarketing program which will replace the Legacy funds that CBBC currently receive for International Market Development. The discussion was very encouraging, and there will be more information available as it is received. CBBC staff were also invited to participate in Canada Beef ’s hosting of an incoming delegation from China. This group imports and distributes a significant amount of beef in China. Also in attendance were reps from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canfax and beef processors. One of many items these visitors were interested in is how Canadian genetics affects the quality of our beef compared to other countries.
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
PURELY PUREBRED
n Recently, representatives from around the world met in France, the birthplace of Charolais, for the World Charolais Congress 2014. Among the delegates were 18 Canadians who were treated to French hospitality and the breathtaking scenery as they toured through south-central France. As well as the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Herd Book Charolais, and 50th Anniversary of Charolais International, tour participants took in farm visits, an A.I. centre, the Institute of Charolais, a 500-year-old auction yard, feed efficiency meetings and the National Show and Sale. During the congress the general assembly of Charolais International met and elected its executive; president Helge By, publisher of the Charolais Banner, Canada; vice-president Helge By Luis Enrique Villasenor Gutierrez, president of Charolais Charbray Herd Book de Mexico; vice-president Michel Baudot, president of Herd Book Charolais,
France and secretary, Clement Perrodin, technical sales with Herd Book Charolais, France. Charolais International provides a platform for organizations to network and share information for the betterment of the Charolais breed on a global scale. There were 20 voting delegates for International Charolais hailing from 10 countries including Mel Reekie, general manager of the Canadian Charolais Association. The Canadian Charolais Association will welcome the world in 2015 when they host the World Charolais technical conference in June. n The Canadian Simmental Association (CSA) has hired Carla Schmitt to fill the position of CSA programs co-ordinator with the primary focus on its youth program, the Young Canadian Simmentalers Association (YCSA). Schmitt has previous involvement with junior programs as a director of Canadian Western Agribition. She led the 4H and educational programming efforts at the show, which provided her with valuable experience for this position. The new national YCSA board is listed on the associations website www.simmental.com/ycsa.
html. The new YCSA president is Sophie Wotten. This year the Canadian Simmental Association national show is at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. n The Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) headed to southern Ontario in late August for a tour. The three-day trip began in Toronto on August 21 at a dinner with Canada Beef Inc. staff where CYLers learned more about that organization’s marketing and promotions role in the industry. The next day the group headed to the McDonald’s Canada head office where they met with CYL mentor and McDonald’s senior manager of sustainability, Jeff FitzpatrickStilwell. Staff from McDonald’s supply chain department along with staff from Cargill’s Spruce Grove facility joined the group via conference call to discuss supply procurement. The group’s next stop was Gilbrea Farm, outside of Hillsburgh, for a tour of their cow-calf operation and a BBQ supper. The CYLers toured the farm’s barns and hanContinued on page 64
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HOLE SPONSORS • AFSC - Cattle Price Insurance Program • Adams Ranch • Ballco Feeders • Bar 4 Bar Land & Cattle • Bio Agri Mix • Bruce Farms • Burns Valkenburg and Associates • C & H Irrigation • Can Simmental Assoc
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• TEAM • Veno Ranches • Western Financial • Animal Medical Center
MEDIA • Alberta Beef Magazine • Canadian Cattlemen Magazine • The Western Producer
LUNCH • Livestock Export Services • Merck
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C a t t l e m e n · o c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 63
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dling system and asked questions about basic production practices and record-keeping. The next day saw the group taking in more farm tours as well as a stop at VG Meats in Simcoe. VG Meats has a processing facility and retail stores that offer consumers a locally raised, fully traceable product that is tested for tenderness — 25 per cent of which is their own cattle that they raise on their cow-calf operation. In addition to the cow-calf operation, VG Farms has a feedlot to supply the processing plant. The next stop was Miller Land and Livestock near Jarvis. The group met three generations of the Miller family and toured their feed yards and purebred Charolais herd. There were many questions from the group that included topics such as the difference between feeding cattle in Western Canada as compared to southern Ontario, the crops the Millers grow, land acreage, and succession planning. From there the group headed north to their last stop near Woodstock. This division of Nature Farms finishes Holstein cattle and the group toured the feedlot including the new barn and handling system. Many questions were asked about the decision to finish Holstein cattle instead of beef cattle and also about the feedlot, such as bedding, feedstuffs, marketing, etc. The group thoroughly enjoyed their time in southern Ontario. Many CYLers had never experienced agriculture in this region and it was a great learning experience. The group had many questions and each stop spurred on quality conversation with their hosts. CYL would like to thank their hosts for welcoming the group and the great hospitality during the tour. Funding for the CYL program is made available through its foundation partners: Cargill, UFA Cooperative Ltd., the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), MNP and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) as well as Gold Partners Farm Credit Canada and New Holland.
for BUILT TWO
n National Breed Shows at Canadian Western Agribition: • National Speckle Park Show — Wed., Nov. 26, 9 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Gelbvieh Show — Wed., Nov. 26, 12 p.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Red Angus Show — Thurs., Nov. 27, 9 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Black Angus show — Thurs., Nov. 27, 9 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Limousin Show — Thurs., Nov. 27, 2:30 p.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Shorthorn Show — Fri., Nov. 28, 9 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Polled Hereford Show — Fri., Nov. 28, 9 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. • National Horned Hereford Show — Fri., Nov. 28, 9 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. — Other national events at Canadian Western Agribition: • RBC Beef Supreme Challenge — Sat., Nov. 29, 4 p.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. Presented by: Royal Bank of Canada. • Canadian National 4-H Youth Judging Competition — Mon., Nov. 24, 8:30 a.m., Chevrolet GMC Stadium. Sponsored by: John Deere, Federated Co-op, TD. c
Bryce and Dawn McKenzie, Rosetown, Sask.
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C at t l e m e n · o c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
Market Su mma ry
By Debbie McMillin
TheMarkets Fed Cattle Fed cattle prices increased steadily and unseasonably though the summer. At a time when we usually see slumping prices as demand tails off and larger front-end supplies and carcasses hang over the market, 2014 summer fed cattle prices increased steadily, reaching a high of $165.28/cwt in August and holding above $160/cwt since then. In the last week of September Alberta steers averaged $161.81/cwt, nearly $43 above the same week in 2013. The cash-to-cash basis is currently -9.45/ cwt compared to a five-year average of -12.09/cwt. The Alberta and Saskatchewan cattle-on-feed report for September 1 showed fewer cattle than a month ago or last year at 615,152 head. For the second consecutive month, August placements reached a record low, 30 per cent smaller than last year and 34 per cent below the five-year average. In Canada the number of fed steers slaughtered to date is up four per cent year-to-year at 1,049,535 head. Heifer slaughter is up 10 per cent at 628,041 head. Carcass weights are running 24 pounds below year-ago averages; however, the gap has narrowed recently. Current steer carcasses are averaging 877 pounds, just 10 pounds under the same week last year, in response to strong cash prices and a falling cost of gain. Slaughter cattle exports are also up, running four per cent ahead of last year to date with a total of 269,409 head having crossed the border to the middle of September.
Feeder Cattle Feeder cattle prices continue to break new records, fuelled by shrinking supplies and excellent profit margins in the fed market. The shrinking dollar’s bounce in the export market and a lower cost of gain are other contributing factors. Unfavourable harvest weather with the anticipated bump in feed grain supplies available for cattle www.canadiancattlemen.ca
caused a few jumps in the price, as well. Alberta 550-pound steers averaged $274.20/cwt near the end of September, up a full $112 from last year. The normal slump seen during the fall run didn’t show up this year. The small calf crop and a growing number of forward-sold feeders kept auction market volumes light enough to keep buyers keen on sale day. Alberta 850-pound feeder prices told a similar tale, averaging $230.96 at the end of September, an $87.33/cwt improvement over last year. The feeder basis remains stubbornly wide at -23.96/ cwt, which is 5.18 above last year and 14.56 wider than the five-year average. Even so feeder exports to date in 2014 are running 38 per cent ahead of the last year.
Non-Fed Cattle Despite increased volumes during the fall run, cows continue to trade at historically high levels. Since the high of $128/cwt set six weeks ago, D1,2 cows have ranged from $123 to $126, averaging $123.40/cwt at the end of September which is $45 more than the same week last year. Domestic cow slaughter is down five per cent at 284,957 head and exports are off by 11 per cent at 173,585 head reflecting the drop in the female herd over the past few years. By the end of 2014 total cow marketings will be nearly eight per cent smaller than last year. Most producers are in the midst of pulling their bulls and deciding whether to keep them for another breeding season. At the end of September slaughter bulls were trading for an average $139.50/cwt. Bull slaughter was up slightly over the past few weeks pushing year-to-date totals up by 19 per cent to 4,012 head. Exports are also up by 13 per cent with the Americans buying 54,544 bulls to date this year. Debbie McMillin is a market analyst who ranches at Hanna, Alta.
More markets
DEB ’S OUTLOOK Fed Cattle There is good support for the fed market moving forward; however, some volume needs to move through the system before supplies tighten up towards the later part of the fourth quarter. It will be important in the coming weeks to keep inventories moving in a timely manner. The risks moving forward are sticker shock as consumers face higher prices for their beef, and retailers needing to sacrifice some margin on features to keep product moving. Positives include a Canadian dollar that just broke below the 90 cent mark which should hold U.S. interest, and expected smaller North American supplies available through November and December to satisfy a seasonal fourth-quarter spike in demand. Feeder Cattle Support for feeder prices is coming from a historically strong fed market plus the lower Canadian dollar, good competition among buyers, falling costs of gain and the smaller number of feeder calves that will be coming to the market in the coming months. Supplies moving forward are more unpredictable as it depends on how many replacement females end up in the feeder market. The signals for growth are in place but we still don’t know if producers will choose to expand or take advantage of record feeder cattle prices and sell their entire calf crops. The replacement heifer market is also enticing for those who choose to sell first-cut females. Non-Fed Cattle Today’s cow prices have producers analyzing the benefits of selling older cows versus buying younger ones or keeping replacement heifers to maintain the herd. The demographics of today’s cattle producers suggest some may be digging deeper into the herd and cutting back on overall numbers which would bring more cows to town late in the year. Whatever happens, the cow numbers will remain tight relative to demand and that will be reflected in the price. U.S. 90 per cent trim is still trading near all time record highs, putting a solid floor under the Canadian market. The slumping dollar further supports export sales. As a result, the nonfed market should hold in a steady trading range in the short term and move with the fed market should fourth-quarter demand prompt a seasonal rally late in the year.
C a t t l e m e n · o c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 65
M A R K ETS
Break-even Prices on A-Grade Steers
Market Prices
170
280
160
ALBERTA
250
150
220
140
190
130
160
120 110
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
180
ONTARIO
165
130
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
130
D1,2 Cows
120 110
150
100
135
90 80
120 105
Steer Calves (500-600 lb.)
70 60
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Canfax weighted average price on A-Grade steers
Break-even price for steers on date sold
2014 2013
2015 2014
September 2014 prices* Alberta Yearling steers (850 lb.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $215.51/cwt Barley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.89/bu. Barley silage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.63/ton Cost of gain (feed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.84/cwt Cost of gain (all costs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93.75/cwt Fed steers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162.07/cwt Break-even (February 2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.21/cwt Ontario Yearling steers (850 lb.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $219.05/cwt Corn silage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.76/ton Grain corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.47/bu. Cost of gain (feed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70.19/cwt Cost of gain (all costs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98.59/cwt Fed steers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160.00/cwt Break-even (March 2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169.21/cwt *Mid-month to mid-month prices Breakevens East: end wt 1,450, 183 days West end wt 1,325 lb., 125 days
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Ontario
Alberta
2014 2013
2014 2013
Ontario prices based on a 50/50 east/west mix
Market Summary (to September 6) 2014
2013
Total Canadian federally inspected slaughter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,856,417. . . . . . . . . . 1,770,487 Average steer carcass weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848 lb.. . . . . . . . . . . . 872 lb. Total U.S. slaughter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,502,000. . . . . . . 22,058,000
Trade Summary Exports 2014 2013 Fed cattle to U.S. (to August 30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256,920.. . . . . . . . . . .247,549 Feeder cattle and calves to U.S. (to August 30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249,606.. . . . . . . . . . .178,905 Dressed beef to U.S. (to July) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279.17 mil.lbs.. . . . 250.84 mil.lbs Total dressed beef (to July). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397.21 mil.lbs.. . . . 352.40 mil.lbs 2014 IMPORTS 2013 Slaughter cattle from U.S. (to July) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 *Dressed beef from U.S. (to July) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172.60 mil.lbs. . . . . . 221.22 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from Australia (to July) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.51 mil.lbs. . . . . . . 19.24 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from New Zealand (to July) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.06 mil.lbs. . . . . . .23.64 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from Uruguay (to July) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.63 mil.lbs. . . . . . . 22.42 mil.lbs Canadian Grades (to September 27, 2014) % of A grades +59% 54-58% AAA 22.2 21.7 AA 28.6 8.8 A 1.9 0.1 Prime 0.3 0.5 Total 31.1 53.0 EAST WEST
Total graded 445,709 1,557,664
Yield – 53% Total 11.1 55.0 2.1 39.5 0.0 2.0 0.7 1.5 13.9 Total A grade 98.0%
Total ungraded 17,051 480
% carcass basis 82.4% 89.0% Only federally inspected plants
66
C at t l e m e n · o c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
market ta l k
By Gerald Klassen
Feed Grain Update
F
eed grain prices in Western Canada have been grinding lower over the past month. Harvest pressure is typical for this time of year and producers have been actively selling barley and feed wheat off the combine in the major feeding regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan. While the barley fundamental situation is somewhat tighter for the 2014-15 crop year, adverse weather in late August and early September downgraded approximately 20 per cent of the wheat crop to feed quality confirming burdensome supplies of feed grains. In addition to the larger supplies in Western Canada, U.S. corn is trading into southern Alberta more readily as the harvest nears. Keep in mind cattle inventories in Alberta and Saskatchewan are at seasonal lows in September so the market is experiencing burdensome supplies during the lightest demand period of the crop year. Feedlot margins remain in positive territory. Fed cattle prices have traded sideways but the weakness in the feed grains complex has caused feeder cattle values to percolate higher. I’ve received many inquiries from backgrounding operations and feedlot managers regarding the price outlook for barley and feed grains in general. Cow-calf producers also need to be aware of these input costs given the indirect relationship with feeder cattle prices. I thought this would be a good time to revisit the outlook for feed grains. The USDA estimated corn production at 14.4 billion bushels, up from 2013 crop size of 13.9 billion bushels. Given the larger u.S. corn supply and demand
Acres seeded
USDA 10/11
USDA 11/12
USDA 12/13
5-year av.
USDA 13/14
USDA 14/15
88.2
91.9
97.2
90.0
95.4
91.6
Acres harvested
81.4
83.9
87.4
82.2
87.7
83.8
Yield (bu./ac.)
152.8
147.2
123.4
148.4
158.8
171.7
SUPPLY (million bushels) Opening stocks Aug. 1
1,708
1,128
989
1,424.6
821
1,181
Production
12,447
12,360
10,780
12,159.6
13,927
14,395
Imports
27
29
162
48.0
35
30
14,182
13,516
11,931
13,632.2
14,783
15,606
Feed-waste-dockage
4,803
4,548
4,335
4,816.8
5,177
5,325
Food seed industrial
6,415
5,867
6,044
5,846.4
6,505
6,530
Ethanol
5,020
5,011
4,648
4,587.8
5,075
5,125
Domestic demand
11,218
10,985
10,379
10,777.2
11,682
11,855
Exports
1,835
1,543
731
1,590.8
1,920
1,750
TOTAL USE
TOTAL SUPPLY USE (million bushels)
13,053
1 2,528
11,110
12,368.0
13,602
13,605
TOTAL CARRY-OVER
1,128
989
821
1,264.0
1,181
2,002
Stocks-to-use ratio
8.6%
7.9%
7.4%
10.2%
8.7%
14.7%
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
carry in stocks, total corn supplies for 2014-15 will be nearly 1.0 billion bushels larger than last year. On the demand side, U.S. domestic demand will experience a year-over-year increase but exports are showing a marginal decline, despite the historically low prices. The 2014-15 carry-out will reach over 2.0 billion bushels which is extremely bearish for the market. The Chinese ban on a specific GM variety of U.S. corn is one reason for the lower export program. We now find DDGS and corn moving into alternate destinations and southern Alberta is a prime home for the additional supplies. The second reason for the year-over-year decline in U.S. exports is the larger crops in Europe and Ukraine. European and Black Sea supplies are trading into traditional U.S. markets distorting the traditional trade flow. France and a part of Germany also experienced adverse rains during the winter wheat harvest period resulting in burdensome supplies of feed grains in Europe as well. Finally, South American corn has been trading at a discount to U.S. corn tempering export sales from the U.S. This price relationship is slowly changing but has been a major factor over the past couple of months. Slower offshore movement will continue to weigh on the corn market into the spring of 2015. U.S. cattle-feeding margins are positive US$230 per head compared to negative US$30 per head last year at this time. This has enhanced demand for Canadian feeder cattle in Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan as feeder cattle exports to the U.S. are 40 per cent above year-ago levels. In Western Canada, margins are in the range of CD$120 to CD$140 per head. Therefore, expect feeder cattle prices in the U.S. to continue leading Canadian values higher. Statistics Canada estimated barley production at 7.2 million mt, down sharply from 10.2 million mt in 2013. Barley supplies in Western Canada will be relatively tight during the 2014-15 crop year with a forecasted carry-out near 1.0 million mt, down from the 2013-14 ending stocks of 1.9 million mt and way below the 10-year average of 2.1 million mt. The function of the barley market is to ration demand which will be done in three fashions. First, domestic barley prices will remain above world values to shut off exports. Secondly, barley is projected to trade at a premium to feed wheat so that feedlots use more wheat in the rations. Finally, barley prices have to move high enough to encourage imports of U.S. corn into southern Alberta. During harvest when selling pressure generally drives the market lower, barley prices will remain at a discount to alternate feed grains but this will not last during the winter period. I’m not saying barley prices will experience a steep rally but will only increase to encourage the use of U.S. corn and feed wheat. It is important to realize that there will be limited exports of feed wheat during the first half of the crop year. Therefore, farmers wanting to sell feed wheat are basically dependent on the domestic market for the price structure. c Gerald Klassen analyzes markets in Winnipeg and also maintains an interest in the family feedlot in southern Alberta. He can be reached at gklassen7@hotmail.com.
C at t l e m e n · O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
67
GOINGS ON
Sales&Events Events November
4-9 Farmfair International and Canadian Finals Rodeo, Northlands Expo Centre, Edmonton, Alta. 5-8 Agri-trade Farm Show, Westerner, Red Deer, Alta. 7-16 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ont. 13 Best of Canadian Agri-marketing, Association Awards, Westin Hotel, Ottawa, Ont. 17-19 5th Annual Canada’s Forage & Grassland Conference and AGM — “Closing the Forage Gap,” Bromont, Que. 18-19 Canfax Forum, Deerfoot Inn, Calgary, Alta. 19 Market Access Secretariat Meeting, Ottawa, Ont. 24-29 Canadian Western Agribition, Evraz Place, Regina, Sask.
December
1-3 Alberta Beef Producers Annual General Meeting, Calgary, Alta. 9-11 2014 Western Canadian Grazing Conference — “Going Beyond Sustainability,” Radisson Hotel South, Edmonton, Alta., www.wcgconference.ca 10-11 Saskatchewan Farm & Food Care Launch Transitioned from Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan, Sheraton Cavalier, Saskatoon, Sask.
Letters SAGE GROUSE order explained
I would like to provide some information to your readers in response to Don Campbell’s column,“The Greater Sage Grouse” published in your August 2014 edition of Canadian Cattlemen Magazine. The purpose of the Emergency Order for the Protection of the Greater Sage Grouse is to address imminent threats to the survival and recovery of the sage grouse. It applies to habitat on federal and provincial Crown lands, in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan and focuses on limiting activities known to be harmful to the sage grouse. There is no requirement to remove buildings, fences or other structures that are already in place. Environment Canada recognizes appropriate grazing is beneficial to sage grouse habitat. That is why the duration and intensity of grazing is not regulated by the order. Existing fences do not need to be modified or replaced, however, new fences must meet the standards set out in the emergency order.
68
C at t l e m e n · o c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
17 Canadian Beef Breeds Council Board Meeting, Calgary, Alta.
A DV E RT IS E R IN DEX
January 2015
Page Ability Pump 61 60 Airdrie Trailer Sales Assiniboia Livestock Auction 58 33 BK Tires Balog Auction Services Ltd. 45 Boehringer Ingelheim 9 58 Bow Slope Shipping Assoc. Calgary Stockyards Ltd. 58 56 Calhoun Cattle Co. Ltd. Canadian Agri-Blend 55 Canadian Angus Assoc. 60 Canadian Cattle Identification Assoc. 30, 31 Canadian Charolais Assoc. OBC Canadian Forage & Grassland Assoc. 12 Canadian Gelbvieh Assoc. 48, 49 Canadian Hereford Assoc. IFC Canadian Limousin Assoc. 22, 23 Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society 27 Canadian Shorthorn Assoc. 57 Canadian Simmental Assoc. 37 Canadian Speckle Park 53 Canadian Welsh Black Society 60 Canadian Western Agribition 32 Canfax Cattle Market Forum 29 Canterra Seeds 5 Cattlesoft-Cattlemax 12 Cattlewomen for the Cure 63 Central Testing Laboratories 53 Foothills Auctioneers Inc. 58 Ford Motor Company Canada 7 General Motors 17 Greener Pastures 54 Grunthal Livestock Market 58 Hi-Hog Farm & Ranch Equipment 60 International Stock Foods 60 John Deere Ag Marketing Center 34, 35 Klassen Agriventures Ltd. 56 Kubota Canada 15 Lakeland Group/Northstar 18 a-p Manitoba Livestock Cash Advance Inc. 58 Mankota Stockmen’s Weigh Company 58 Meadow Lake Stock Sales Ltd. 58 Merck Animal Health 3, IBC Mosaic Company 41, 61 Nester Livestock 43 Nilsson Bros. Livestock 59 Northlands Farmfair International 25 Olds Auction Mart 59 Ontario Livestock Exchange Inc. 59 Perlich Bros. Auction Market Ltd. 59 Picture Butte Auction Market 59 Plain Jan’s Inc. 60 Salers Assoc. of Canada 60 John Schooten & Sons Custom Feedlot Ltd. 56 Southern Alberta Livestock Exchange 59 Stettler Auction Mart (1971) 59 The Cattle Range 8 Tru-Test Inc. 21 Viking Auction Market Ltd. 59 Vold, Jones & Vold Auction Co. Ltd. 55 Western Canadian Grazing 24 Wetaskiwin Co-op 55 Winnipeg Livestock Sales Ltd. 59 Zoetis Animal Health 13
10-25 National Western Stock Show & Rodeo, National Western Complex, Denver, Colorado, www.nationalwestern.com 21-23 Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference, Evraz Place, Regina, Sask.
Sales december
15 Sandan Charolais Spring Calving Dispersal, at the farm, Erskine, Alta.
January 2015
31 MC Quantock “Canada’s Bulls” Sale, at the ranch, Lloydminster, Alta., www.mcquantock.com
February
7 Hill 70 Quantock Ranch “Barn Burnin’ Bull Sale,” at the ranch, Lloydminster, Alta./Sask., www.hill70quantock.com
March
7 26th Annual Davidson Gelbvieh Bull Sale & Lonesome Dove Ranch Bull Sale, at the bull yards, Ponteix, Sask., www.davidsongelbvieh.com c
Noise restrictions apply only from dusk to dawn during the sage grouse mating season. These do not apply to a person driving a motor vehicle to or from a residential building, or visiting a person or place where an agricultural operation is being conducted. None of the prohibitions apply within 100 metres of a residential building, a building/ shelter used for an agricultural operation or a machine or structure used to feed, handle, treat or provide water to livestock. In areas where grazing could be modified to improve the habitat, the government will provide incentives for voluntary stewardship measures through programs like the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk and the National Conservation Program. I encourage your readers, particularly landowners in the area of greater sage grouse, to contact Environment Canada for information on the emergency protection order (fact sheets are available online at sararegistry.gc.ca), the Amended Recovery Strategy for Greater Sage Grouse and the possibility for funding to support recovery of this species. They are encouraged to contact the department at 1-855-245-0331 or sara.pnr@ ec.gc.ca. David Ingstrup, Regional Director Canadian Wildlife Service
Event listings are a free service to industry. Sale listings are for our advertisers. Your contact is Deborah Wilson at 403-325-1695 or deb.wilson@fbcpublishing.com
www.canadiancattlemen.ca
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* Per like-sized vial in animals of comparable weight. † Consult your veterinarian for details. NOTE: The correlation between pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (pk/pd) data and clinical efficacy is unknown. 1. Menge, M., Rose, M., Bohland, C., Zschiesche, E., Kilp, S., Metz, W., Allan, M., Röpke, R., Nürnberger, M. Pharmacokinetics of tildipirosin in bovine plasma, lung tissue, and bronchial fluid (from live, non-anesthetized cattle). J. Vet. Pharmacol. Therap. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2885.2011.01349.x. 2. As per the approved Canadian product label concentrations and recommended dosages. ZUPREVO® and RESFLOR® are registered trademarks of Intervet International B.V., used under license by Intervet Canada Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, operating in Canada as Merck Animal Health. MERCK® is a registered trademark of Merck Canada Inc. in Canada. Copyright © 2014 Intervet International B.V., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA. All rights reserved.
Zuprevo ad Canadian Cattlemen.indd 1
2014-07-30 09:56
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