CCT121112

IRT SCANNING FOR FEED EFFICIENCY • HERD HEALTH CHECKS • BEEF WATCH

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November 2012

Volume 75, No. 12

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 Field Editor: Debbie Furber Box 1168, Tisdale, SK S0E 1T0 (306) 873-4360 Fax (306) 873-4360 Email: debbie.furber@fbcpublishing.com

FEATURES Herd health — your veterinarian and your goals........8 Irt scanners might someday sort for feed efficiency. .................................................... 10 A taste of drought. ....................................................... 18 Westwood cleans out the cows.................................... 23 What does besnoitiosis have in store for north america?..................................................... 26

Advertising Sales: Deborah Wilson Box 19, Site 3, RR 1, High River, AB T1V 1N1 (403) 325-1695 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: deb.wilson@fbcpublishing.com Head Office: 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562 Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Arlene Bomback (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Publisher: Bob Willcox Email: bob.willcox@fbcpublishing.com Associate Publisher/Editorial Director: John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com

Mycoplasma beats up on bison....................................... 30

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What do you do with the manure from 3,000 cows?......................................................... 40

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Beef watch....................................................................... 56 Verified beef production................................................ 61 Departments

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COMMENT............................................... 4 NEWSMAKERS......................................... 6 NUTRITION............................................ 44 VET ADVICE.......................................... 46 HOLISTIC RANCHING.............................. 48 RESEARCH............................................ 50 PRIME CUTS......................................... 52 STRAIGHT FROM THE HIP...................... 54 CCA REPORTS...................................... 60 NEWS ROUNDUP................................... 62 PURELY PUREBRED............................... 68 THE MARKETS...................................... 71 MARKET TALK....................................... 73 SALES & EVENTS.................................. 74

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Cattlemen / november 2012 3

C O M M E N T

by Gren Winslow

LETTERS The sky is not falling

Look ahead, not back

CFIA should stop the blame game

T

his letter from Gib Drury (who sits on the board of Canada Beef) sums up reaction through much of the industry when JBS USA agreed to take over the XL Foods plant in Brooks. JBS brings a lot to the table. It’s the best solution, and probably the last chance for the plant at Brooks, which in normal times handles better than one-third of Canada’s production. It is hard to imagine how the facility will survive this recall wreck if JBS decides not to exercise its option and take over XL’s package of four plants, a feedlot and surrounding lands.

As this issue went to press Bill Rupp, JBS CEO for North America and Australia made it clear that their first job was to get the plant running and have it recertified by USDA. Fortunately his company has a highly regarded quality control team that is very familiar with USDA requirements.

The plant had already passed inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and with JBS in charge the USDA recertification seemed more certain.

Certainly this plant didn’t need any more bad publicity. So it was disappointing when Federal Ag Minister Gerry Ritz stood up and told the House of Commons that his CFIA should probably have taken a more hardnosed stand with XL Foods. I realize he was simply trying to deflect blame from CFIA and sell his vision for even tougher regulations in the Safe Food for Canadians Act, but it did no good to a facility that is striving to wipe the slate clean and start again. What message it sent to JBS about the regulatory environment in Canada can only be guessed at.

It’s hard to find anyone in the industry who isn’t angry about the way this recall was handled.

The CFIA report on the investigation released the day after it recertified the plant still left a lot of questions as to why it was necessary to shut it down. The inspectors complained that documents weren’t provided fast enough, yet in an Oct. 12 interview with Sheri Monk for our sister publication, ALBERTA FARMER EXPRESS, Lee Nilsson said they provided everything that was asked of them as fast as they could. If there were problems in the way the safety data was analyzed or lack of cleanliness in the processing areas (the subject of six corrective action requests) surely these should have been picked up by the CFIA inspectors who work at the plant before it all hit the fan. There is no mention of that in the report.

At any rate, the plant has passed muster and will be monitored more closely by CFIA for a time. There is plenty of blame to pass around on all sides here but that is in the past. And it is the future we need to worry about, not the past.

4 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

The future of the Canadian beef industry brightened considerably when JBS decided to take an active role in Canada, first in a management position and hopefully as an owner of the XL facility. As a world-class meat processor JBS has the financial resources and food safety and quality control expertise to get us out of this E. coli fiasco at the XL plant in Brooks, Alberta. Most importantly JBS has a worldwide sales network with an international culture, and tremendous expertise in operating largescale integrated packing plants in many countries. Canada can fit nicely into that international business model.

As Canadian cattlemen we have a choice to make: cut our production in half to correspond to the domestic market consumption or continue to export 50 per cent or more of our beef production. With JBS as another major player in the Canadian marketplace the export option becomes considerably more attractive. The presence of JBS will refocus our industry on the global marketplace and expand our opportunities.

JBS will also compete for as much of the domestic Canadian market as they can. This competition inside Canada is important to narrow the price spread that presently exists between the Canadian and U.S. market. The company will go nose to nose very effectively with Cargill. They will hire a full staff and pull in management from the U.S. and Australia (as well as recruiting talent from Canada) to fill any holes they find. Should they decide to stay, they will continue to recruit locally and train internationally. This again will be good for cattle prices and local skills development.

With any luck, they will also take a leading role in the packing industry in Eastern Canada by reopening the cow plant in Quebec (formerly Colbex-Levinoff). The challenge now is for JBS to work in partnership with the newly integrated beef promotion agency (Canada Beef Incorporated) to rebuild a positive image of Canadian beef both at home and abroad.

GIB DRURY ALCOVE, QUE.

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NEWSMAKERS Leanne Thompson is the new executive director of the Saskatchewan Forage Council. She has previously worked with the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan, the Western Beef Development Centre, the SasLeanne Thompson katchewan Stock Growers Association and the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association and did several projects with the SFC over the past four years. She replaces Janice Bruynooghe who resigned at the end of September to concentrate on her business, Spring Creek Land and Cattle Consulting.

Katelyn Laverdure has been appointed communications manager of the Alberta Beef Producers replacing Lori Loree who resigned in July to spend more time on her family busi-

ness. Katelyn was serving as the acting manager while Lori was away on maternity leave, so this promotion will be business as usual for her.

Bruce Holmquist of Kinistino, Sask., was presented with the prestigious World Simmental Felckvieh Federation Goldon Book Award at the federation’s general assembly in Landshut, Germany.

Bruce Holmquist Holmquist is the outgoing WSSF president and current CEO of programming and external relations of the Canadian Simmental Association. This meeting completed Bruce’s second terms as WSFF president. He is only the second Canadian to have served in this capacity.

Erin Zatyliny has stepped down as the communications co-ordinator of the Canadian Hereford Association

you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

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• Calculate average body condition score for a pasture group of cattle

• Ability to use your own cows for condition score references in the gallery

• Greater flexibility in managing your cow records

6 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

Download your FREE updated app today!

To learn more visit crystalyx.com or call 800.727.2502.

to take a position with AdFarm in Calgary.

Jolene Noble is the new program co-ordinator with the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program run by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). She ranches with her family near Manning, Alta., and is a graduate from the University of Alberta with a bachelor of science in agriculture majoring in range and pasture management.

She’s also spent some time in Australia learning about the beef industry. Jill Harvie remains the CYL program manager and policy assistant with the CCA. D r. A n d r e s Arteaga has bought the embryo transplant company Bova-Tech Ltd. (BTL) and relocated the office and embryo storage to Airdrie, Alta. Originally from Mexico, Arteaga holds Dr. Andres Arteaga a masters degree in veterinary science, specializing in theriogenology from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon.

Health Canada is reviewing the science around the safe handling and cooking of mechanically tenderized beef products following the recall of processed steaks from beef sourced at the XL Foods plant in Brooks. While this review is ongoing, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada are encouraging Canadians to cook mechanically tenderized steak and beef cuts to an internal temperature of at least 71 C, which would equate to a medium cooked steak. Normally the internal temperature of a steak is not a concern because cooking even a rare steak destroys any bacteria on the surface. The review will look at the likelihood that tenderizing can spread bacteria, and practices industry can use to prevent the spread of bacteria.

In 2010 the American Meat Association did a review of illness-related recalls linked to mechanically tenderized beef products in the U.S. The AMI determined none of the recalls due to outbreaks were related to plain blade tenderized steaks. All were due to the consumption of marinated or enhanced steaks.

C www.canadiancattlemen.ca

When cowboys became cattlemen… we were there.

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health

Herd Health — Your Veterinarian and Your Goals

W

hen you picture your ranch’s veterinarian, what do you think of?

Most will be seeing their family veterinarian treating a sick animal, performing a C-section to save a calf, or diagnosing pregnancy in their cows. While these are important parts of veterinary medicine, even more important is preventing these animals from getting sick and preventing your cows from being open. After all, the pounds of calf you sell is the money you have to spend.

When margins get tight, like they have been since BSE stopped Canadian cattle trading in 2003, it is human nature to save money by not spending it. In reality though, businesses that survive tight periods focus on running more efficiently, not just cutting costs. Cattle producers need to think the same way — after all, your cattle are your livelihood. While it takes discipline to change your mindset, the reward is worth the effort. Picture your ranch sitting on a three-legged stool. The legs of the stool supporting the ranch are your veterinarian, nutritionist, and financial manager. Most farms have a financial adviser, either their bank or accountant, to make their money go further. But you are still limiting yourself, balancing on one stool leg. Where does the money come from? Your cattle, of course. What money your financial adviser has to work with relies on the money you have made. For most producers, their money comes from spending as little as possible throughout the year and selling their calves at the end of it. But business success is more about maximizing returns than the total amount spent — in other words, smart investing. So what would you say if you had a way to lower your cost of production and bring in more money when you sell? You have had it all along. It’s that same veterinarian you pictured treating your sick cow.

All it takes is a change of perspective. When you ride a horse, do you sit facing forward or back? Let me put it another way — do you call the vet-

8 Cattlemen / november 2012

erinarian before or after your animals are sick? Which will save you more money? How much fun is treating a pen of animals? Due to the mindset of veterinarians treating sick animals, most of the time veterinarians are called out when it is too late for this year’s calf crop — in reality, your veterinarian should have been consulted beforehand to make sure it didn’t happen by minimizing risks.

The best time to have your regular herd health visit is in the winter and summer to get ready for calving and weaning During a disease outbreak, it is not the sick animals we treat that are losing the most money. It is the other animals that are fighting the disease but don’t look sick. Like an iceberg, the tip is the visibly sick animals. Under the water are the ones that are fighting the disease but aren’t showing signs. It wasn’t the tip of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, just as it’s not the few sick animals that will sink your farm. It is the larger number of animals that are fighting against visible illness, not gaining the weight they should be, so you have to feed them more. By keeping this group from having to fight the disease, we can maximize the number of pounds you sell while minimizing the cost of getting those pounds.

A common argument against regular herd health visits is that you make enough in the good years to cover the cost of an outbreak. What if you could have good years all along and not have a bad year that sets you back into debt just as you were getting out? What if your good years were even better because you didn’t have calves fighting disease or poor nutrition to gain weight?

So what is a herd health? Most

producers think of bull testing and pregnancy diagnosis, vaccine programs or your veterinarian performing post-mortems on dead animals.

In reality, it is you and your veterinarian sitting down over coffee after walking your pens. You and your veterinarian discuss common problems in your herd and your records while brainstorming ways to prevent diseases. You talk about your goals and future plans and come up with ways to get you there. While bull testing, pregnancy diagnosis, vaccinating and diagnostics in outbreaks are important, they actually have less impact than ensuring your management is as low risk as possible and preventing diseases.

Many producers vaccinate already and that is good but vaccines themselves rely on proper herd management to work; vaccines themselves are not the magic bullet to prevent disease. The spring of 2011 in southern Saskatchewan was a perfect example. There was a high number of scouring calves in vaccinated herds. So the vaccine didn’t work, right? Wrong — the calves were getting sick when they were older and they had lost the protection from the colostrum. Many producers were keeping their pairs in the calving pen longer than they would have any other year because of the rain. It wasn’t until after they started seeing scours that they called their veterinarian out. Had they had their veterinarian out beforehand, they would have been able to come up with a plan to prevent the calves from getting scours.

The best time to have your regular herd health visit is in the winter and summer to get your management and protocols ready for calving and weaning. These are the times that most impact the rest of the year and when most calves get sick. By having a plan in place to minimize disease and stress, for the cost of having your veterinarian consult with you, you can ensure a great investment. So talk to your veterinarian before you have sick animals.

You will be glad you did.

C — Ryan Ridgway B.Sc. Agric., DVM www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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research

IRT scanners might someday sort for feed efficiency

T

he day when producers will be able to rank the feed efficiency of cattle with the use of an infrared camera may not be too far in the future.

Recent research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lacombe Research Centre in Lacombe, Alta., has led to the development of a technology platform coupled to an infrared camera set up at the water bowl to rank the feed efficiency of individual animals by the amount of infrared energy radiating from their faces. The same platform can be used to monitor temperature for early disease detection.

According to lead researcher, Dr. Al Schaefer, the method of using an infrared camera to measure heat loss and the concept of heat loss as an indicator of metabolic efficiency in animals have been proven in past studies. The missing link to the practical application of infrared thermography (IRT) in the beef industry was the computer technology to correlate IRT readings with feed efficiency values, as well as a radio frequency identification system to conveniently tie the readings to individual animals.

“Thermal biometrics is pretty revealing,” Schaefer says. “For disease detection, we know all mammals demonstrate a thermal abnormality and that’s called a conductive temperature, but even when they aren’t sick, mammals lose heat through respiration, moisture evaporation and convection.

All of those are small amounts compared to the way mammals radiate heat, which accounts for 60 per cent of the total heat loss. That’s what makes IRT such a unique opportunity to measure heat loss because the heat that mammals radiate happens to be in the infrared range.”

A higher infrared reading indicates that the animal is losing heat more rapidly than an animal with a lower infrared reading, therefore, the animal with the higher reading is likely to be less efficient at utilizing energy from the feed it consumes for basic metabolic functions and growth.

Past studies demonstrating the use

10 Cattlemen / November 2012

of IRT to rank growth efficiency date back to 2002 with a trial comparing IRT to indirect calorimetry, which is a calculation of heat produced based on measuring the amount of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide and urea emitted as waste. This method has since been shown to work for mature cows, breeding heifers and bulls, leading to 2012, when a collaborative effort between AAFC Lacombe, Alberta Agriculture and AgResearch of New Zealand resulted in the design of the camera system and accompanying technology platform that could be installed in commercial operations as a quick screening method to detect disease and rank feed efficiency.

After testing several prototypes, the one that will advance to field-scale research trials in the new year is an IRT camera mounted near the waterer.

As an animal approaches to drink, its RFID tag triggers the camera’s motion sensor to focus on the face of the animal. The temperature of the eye area is recorded on a hard drive with Internet access for use with the software program that links the IRT reading to a feed efficiency level.

The trial involved taking IRT scans of breeding cattle as well as weaned calves. The same animals were also tested for residual feed intake (RFI) to monitor individual animal feed intake.

Dr. Al Schaefer RFI was established as a method of ranking the feed efficiency of an animal by Dr. John Basarab at Lacombe in 2007. It looks at what the National Research Council predicts an animal of a certain weight should eat to gain a pound compared to actual feed consumption. If an animal consumes less Continued on page 12 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Continued from page 10

than the predicted amount of feed, then it has a negative ranking for RFI, that is, more of the energy from the feed consumed was put toward growth. A higher RFI ranking indicates that the animal required more energy for basic metabolic functions, therefore, less energy remained available for growth.

Determining RFI through feed trials gives a very precise measure of feed efficiency, Schaefer explains, but it requires monitoring feed intake in a stabilized environment for 70 days.

The traditional method, indirect calorimetry, involves bringing animals into a gas chamber where they can be fed and monitored for carbon dioxide and other emissions over the course of a week. While both methods are accurate, they can be time consuming and expensive and not practical for commercial beef animals.

With the automated IRT prototype set up at two water bowls, 70 animals could be assessed within 24 hours.

“Now that we have the prototype,

it is prudent to test it on hundreds of animals in conjunction with RFI,” Shaefer says.

Research to develop the automated IRT prototype was funded by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.

It is hoped that funding from the Beef Cluster and Beef Cattle Research Council will advance the research with a three-year field-scale project starting next April. It will test the prototype as a non-invasive method for early disease detection and a quick and costeffective way to rank growth efficiency of newly weaned calves upon entry to a feedlot as well as to collect additional information on its application in a breeding herd. Engineers will be involved to determine the best placement for the system at various commercial waterers as well as to minimize environmental interferences.

Collaborating with Schaefer and Dr. Vern Baron at AAFC Lacombe, will be doctors John Basarab and Nigel Cook with Alberta Agriculture at Lacombe, Clover Bench and Erasmus Okine with Agriculture Food and

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Nutritional Sciences at the University of Alberta, Kim Ominski with the department of animal science at the University of Manitoba, Jim Webster and Mairi Stewart from AgResearch New Zealand and experts from Livestock Gentec (Alberta).

Practical application The IRT system will give beef and dairy producers a relatively inexpensive, quick and easy-to-use tool to reduce the cost of production by an estimated 25 per cent, through breeding for feed efficiency, improved feed utilization by streamlining animals into specific feeding programs based on their feed efficiency rankings, and early disease detection.

Schaefer explains how this technology could be put to use in a feedlot to benefit animal welfare practices and reduce feed costs.

Upon entry, calves could be monitored for fevers and pulled for treatment before respiratory disease gets the upper hand. Today, the cost of treating an animal ranges from $30 to $75, so a significant savings is to be had by targeting treatment to those animals that will benefit from it, as well as catching the disease in the early stages to reduce the course of treatment and, hopefully, reduce the number of animals that become chronic.

Once stabilized, each animal would then be assessed for feed efficiency.

Those in the top third could be funnelled into a feeding program to target the Canada AAA or higher-quality grades. Those ranked in the lower third could be fed to finish with Canada A carcasses, rather than putting more days’ worth of expensive feed into this type of inefficient animal to reach the higher-quality grades. Spread across thousands of animals, the value of the feed savings in one day alone is staggering.

There’s also a lot of interest in backgrounding calves on grass and in extensive grazing systems with swath grazing, bale grazing and corn grazing to minimize the number of days required on high-grain rations in the finishing stage at a feedlot, Schaefer adds. Researchers and producers have come to recognize some animals do much better than others in extensive management systems, but the question is always “which animals?” Screening for feed effiwww.canadiancattlemen.ca

ciency would reveal whether there is a certain level of efficiency required to help producers make these types of management decisions.

The push for an automated IRT system in New Zealand came from the dairy producers who want feedefficient animals, not only to reduce the cost of production, but to reduce carbon and methane emissions in light of looming carbon tax concerns.

Aside from carbon tax and credit issues, large retailers are already pushing for food producers and companies to brand products with carbon footprint information as a differential selling point. IRT technology may help the Canadian beef industry reduce the carbon footprint for cattle raised in various production systems.

C — Debbie Furber

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Cattlemen / November 2012 13

EDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE OVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOV ASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACH OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYN ATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSE N DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR TOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCE 5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REV AL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIEL AC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRA AMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOL CHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUA VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE O PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTE XIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUE 0 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 S OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZE OLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT R REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBES GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOM EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 F VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SO MYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC S ATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 U YCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVE 5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 ORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPER N ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYS AC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A1 00 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCE ST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NE YNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTE ATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OX CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEM PERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DEC BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM CIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NO OLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SC 180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SP VI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC T L RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST D R/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOIC NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYN +L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 YMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX MASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLU CTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 RM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS VODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD URGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE R RMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOL TRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE TRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI LTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYC CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATT IN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYC NOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 NE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVER LYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTO CIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NO OLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SC 180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SP VI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC T L RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST D R/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOIC NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE LA OXYMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYN +L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CATTLEMASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 YMYCINE LP PEN-AQUEOUS ALVERIN DECTOMAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX MASTER GOLD FP 5 INFORCE 3 LEPTOFERM 5 ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLU MAX VALBAZEN ENVIRACOR J-5 NOVODRY PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FA ONE SHOT RESVAC 4/SOMUBAC SCOURGUARD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY L PLUS ORBESEAL PIRSUE SPECIAL FORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOV RD 4KC SOMUBAC SPIROVAC TSV-2 ULTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE RMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOL TRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE TRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI LTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYC CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATT IN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. 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ORMULA 17900 FORTE SPECTRAMAST DC SPECTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOL LTRABAC-7/SOMUBAC ULTRACHOICE 7 ULTRACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E.A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE CTRAMAST LC SYNOVEX C SYNOVEX CHOICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOV RACHOICE 8 ULTRACHOICE 8 VIBRIN CAL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN ICE SYNOVEX H SYNOVEX PLUS SYNOVEX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEM AL-NATE 23 DYSTOSEL FLUNIXIN HIBITANE KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. A180 CALFSPAN DRAXXIN EXCEDE 200 EXCENEL RTU EXCENEL LIQUAMYCIN LA-200 NEO-SULFALYTE OXYMYCINE EX S CIDR 330 CIDR 1380 FACTREL LUTALYSE BOVI-SHIELD GOLD 5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD F P5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+L5 BOVI-SHIELD GOLD FP 5+VL5 BOVI-SHIELD IBR/PI3 CALF-GUARD CATTLEMASTER 4+L5 CATTLEMASTER 4+VL5 CAT E KOPERTOX NEWCELLS OXY LA 300 OXYTOCIN PREDEF REVIBE REVIBE H.E. 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doing more. using less.

A series on being ready for the farming challenges ahead

potential solutions to the food-versus-fuel debate Options include using more crop waste, or using non-food crops

n

ot that it used to be called “biofuel,” but producing energy from cropland is hardly new.

Until the mid-1940s, when the number of horses passed the number of tractors in North America, hay and oats were agriculture’s main source of energy. One estimate is that in 1915, 27 per cent of the acres in the U.S. were used to feed horses. Much of agriculture’s growth in productivity came from using those acres for humans and livestock instead.

On the other hand, since they grew all their own feed, horse-powered farms were truly running on renewable energy. Gasoline- and diesel-powered farms are not. While there are different estimates of when fossil fuel will run out, we know it will run out sooner or later. We also know that burning fossil fuel contributes to global warming and climate change, to which agriculture is especially vulnerable.

Hence the interest in alternative energy that is renewable and does not add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. That’s led North

American farmers back into the fuel business.

About 40 per cent of the U.S. corn crop is now converted to ethanol, which means that more than 10 per cent of U.S. cropland is now seeded to energy crops — less than in the old horsepower days, but still a lot of cropland.

A policy thAt worked Is it too much? World crop shortages in 2008 and this year have prompted debate, with some claiming that food that could be used by hungry people should not going into the gas tanks of wealthy North Americans.

However, it’s worth noting that the policy to promote ethanol was largely put in place to increase the price by creating more markets for a persistent surplus. That policy has been highly successful, and whatever the use, food or fuel, farmers cannot continually grow corn at a loss.

While controversial, one suggestion in the U.S. is to return to a system of holding buffer stocks to ensure constant supplies for all users, while protecting farmers from

Cattails can absorb nutrients from waste water and polluted lakes, and a Manitoba project is cutting and baling them to be burned for energy.

caseih.com

excessively low prices and consumers from excessively high ones.

Another potential solution to the food-vs.fuel conflict is not to use food crops for fuel at all. So far, the process for making ethanol is the age-old one of distillation, which needs high-starch grain such as wheat and corn to operate efficiently. But grain is only part of the plant. Several companies worldwide are working on “cellulosic” ethanol, which would allow it to be produced from straw, stover, wood waste and crops grown specifically for energy. For example, one project in Manitoba is harvesting cattails, which produce several tonnes per acre with no inputs — in fact, they can remove excess phosphorus and other nutrients which are causing excessive algae growth in Lake Winnipeg.

proven technology Crops such as cattails or willows don’t need experimental technology to be converted to energy. In Europe, willows, straw and municipal waste are burned to produce electricity or hot water which is piped to industry or to heat local homes and businesses.

Some farmers in Western Canada are already growing crops, including camelina and carinata, specifically for companies manufacturing biodiesel, some of which has been blended with jet fuel and used on demonstration commercial flights.

Pennycress, another high-yielding oilseed crop, has been tested in Alberta for the same purpose. Many farmers may not have heard of pennycress, but they know it by its other name — stinkweed.

There’s no magic solution to the food-vs.fuel conflict, but if producing energy means adding more crops to the rotation and better use for crop waste, perhaps the conflict is considerably reduced.

On a farm, there’s no such thing as a few small chores. You need versatile equipment that works as hard as you do. That’s why we offer a family of tractors and hay tools designed with the power, efficiency and versatility to help you get things done. All built for a level of operator comfort that makes those long, hard days a little shorter and a lot more productive. And right now, you’ll find great offers on our full line of Farmall® tractors, balers, windrowers, and Puma® and Maxxum® tractors. To learn more, visit your local Case IH dealer or caseihdeals.com.

©2012 CNH America LLC. All rights reserved. Case IH is a registered trademark of CNH America LLC. www.caseih.com.

grazing

A taste of drought

Techniques to extend the grazing season pay off for this grazier

I

t’s the driest Randy Tkachyk can recall in his 20 years of farming the family’s 105-year-old farm near Sundown, Man. Situated near the borders of Ontario and the U.S. along the western edge of the Lake of the Woods ecoregion, the Sundown area typically receives about 20 inches of rain during the growing season. This year, there was a grand total of four.

Tkachyk, who was one of Manitoba’s 2011 graziers of the year, says his rotational grazing system has been the most helpful strategy in weathering the dry spell, and in mid-September he expected to have pasture until the end of the month.

He has been using practices such as rotational grazing, sowing mixes of perennial forages with varying growth habits, and annual forage crops to extend the start and end of his grazing season since he stopped grain farming in 1997 to concentrate on expanding his Angus-Simmental cow-calf operation. He started rotational grazing and a custom grazing business in 2001 and took another big step by implementing winter bale grazing six years ago.

“When I look at grass and compare it to mechanical feeding, the cost per day is cheaper on grass and with bale grazing in the field,” Tkachyk says.

Figuring that cows were given four legs to get to the feed and spread their own manure, his overriding objective is to reduce costs and improve profitability by keeping machinery use to a minimum.

It so happens that the 45 days of grazing gained from the same land base since implementing rotational grazing translated into some drought protection this year.

In recent years with ample moisture, he has been getting upwards of 168 days of pasture grazing for his own 140 pairs and replacement heifers and custom grazing an additional 170 pairs and 100 feeders. In spite of this year’s scanty precipitation, his pastures will provide approximately 120 days of grazing for his own herd, though the custom grazing enterprise had to be limited to the 170 pairs and shortened by about six weeks.

18 Cattlemen / November 2012

Tkachyk bale grazes older pastures the winter before he breaks them.

He has noticed, however, that the older pastures haven’t weathered the dry conditions as well as the younger stands.

“In the past with the moisture we would normally get, the native grasses come through and help to extend the grazing season, but now with the first dry year, the older pastures and hayfields aren’t producing as well compared to the younger fields. Now I see that I need to break some of these older pastures and introduce new plants that can reach down to the water to improve production and extend the grazing season,” Tkachyk says.

His normal practice for renewing a pasture is to use it for bale grazing the winter before breaking to improve organic matter and fertility. This eliminates the need for commercial fertilizer to grow the next crop, but it does take a year to allow the residue to decompose and prepare the seedbed before reseeding. He generally flips the organic matter with a mould-

board plow and then runs a discer and cultivator over it a few times. An application of glyphosate does help reduce the number of passes needed to prepare the seedbed, he adds.

He usually goes back in with an annual forage crop, such as annual ryegrass or grazing corn, for a couple of years before putting it back into permanent pasture. His standard mix includes orchardgrass, tall fescue, meadow bromegrass white clover, alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil.

Tkachyk says he really likes the quality and quantity of annual ryegrass pasture, which gives him three or four grazes in the year of planting, but he has moved away from corn in recent years because of the production cost and risk. If you get a good crop the economics pencil out, but if not, the production cost is high, he explains.

It has been cheaper to buy in hay if needed than to grow corn for late grazContinued on page 22 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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MLVs are safe for pregnant cows.

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But new information can tell a different story1 about modified-live vaccines (MLVs)—as evidenced by a new university investigation that found an association between on-label use of MLVs and IBR abortions. In a July 15, 2012 article published in JAVMA,2 researchers reported a reproductive loss of 25%. Ultimately, use of MLVs in your breeding herd is up to you. Please consult your veterinarian to discuss vaccine options, like Vira Shield,® an inactivated viral vaccine safe for your entire herd, even pregnant cows and heifers.

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1. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Title 9: Animals and Animal Products. § 112.7 (e) Special additional requirements. Accessed July 16, 2012.

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10/10/12 4:21 PM

semen is affordable, and retain the heifers and some of the bulls into my own breeding herd,” he explains.

“I’ve been very pleased with the performance results and the positive economics and have leased bulls to producers who want genetics for grass finishing.”

Continued from page 18

ing, but that could all change if the dry weather conditions persist.

All of the pastures are conveniently located in a 1,000-acre parcel of owned and rented land contiguous to the yard where the cattle have access to waterers during the winter. A shallow pipeline carries water to holding tanks strategically located to serve the paddocks without controlled access to natural water sources for the summer grazing season.

The setup also makes it possible to maintain one central handling facility for routine processing, loading and unloading, though he does have a few permanent chutes with headgates in the pastures so that temporary corrals can be set up with portable windbreak fences as needed to tend to animals without having to walk them all of the way back to the yard.

Starting fresh; ending finished Bale grazing, which begins around November 15, requires approximately 25 acres and he changes the location from winter to winter to hit areas that need a boost in organic matter, but the cows are free to roam across a full quarter section or more.

Near the end of April as some of the reed grasses start growing in the low areas, he opens the gates to all 65 paddocks and puts out hay as needed. This free-for-all graze-off lets the cows wipe the slate clean to start the season’s grazing rotation with fresh forage.

As calving draws near in May, he begins closing off paddocks so that by early June, the herd is concentrated in one paddock. The summer rotation then begins in the paddocks that have been closed off the longest, depending on the regrowth. Generally, the younger stands are ready to graze sooner than the older stands.

Between his own pairs, replacement heifers and the custom cattle, there could be up to seven breeding and feeding groups to manage on pasture and each is moved to new grass every three to five days. After pregnancy checking the heifers and through the winter, he runs his herd as one group.

Weaning was always around the middle of December until last year when he had doubts about feed quality and weaned in October. This year, he 22 Cattlemen / November 2012

Records tell a story

Open heifers go for grass-fed beef. plans to leave the calves on the cows until into the new year, which is when he traditionally sells the steer calves through a local auction market.

Fenceline weaning has worked very well. After a day together in a fresh paddock, the cows are sorted into an adjacent paddock separated from the calves by a two-strand electric fence. A couple of days later, the cows are moved a bit farther away and the calves are moved in the opposite direction. Weaning is effectively accomplished with very little bawling and no apparent change in the calves’ eating pattern.

All of the heifer calves are retained.

After a tight 45-day breeding period to select for fertility, the open heifers go into a finishing program for a local grass-fed beef program, www. manitobabeef.com. Tkachyk started the business in 2004 and has since partnered with another southeastern Manitoba grass-fed beef producer, Jim Lintott, to supply families and restaurant customers with homeraised beef, pork and chicken.

Tkachyk’s breeding program has a grass-fed focus as well. He carries out a timed artificial insemination (AI) program on second and third calvers using semen from bulls with genetics for high performance on forage diets.

“With AI, I can use bulls worth $50,000 to $100,000 because the

Tkachyk participates in the Verified Beef Production program because it gains customer confidence, but he goes well beyond those requirements in keeping records for his own management purposes.

One of the handiest tools is a notebook divided into sections for each paddock where he records grazing dates, stocking rates and pasture conditions from year to year. “It’s used a lot to look back to see how we were doing a year ago, two years ago, what’s different, what we did then or could do now. This year, no different management could have extended grazing,” Tkachyk says.

He also weighs the calves after weaning as well as a representative sampling of cows and some of the outliers to get a handle on cow performance for making culling decisions.

All of the information is transferred to a spreadsheet for management purposes, such as calculating productivity of the current year and determining carrying capacity and rotations for the upcoming season.

Next year could be a whole new ball game because he had to run the pastures harder than ever this summer and there’s no telling how long the dry spell will last, he adds.

Tkachyk also runs an economic analysis on each enterprise. Since he knows his annual costs and the cows have to pay for the land, he is in effect custom grazing his own cattle.

He foresees doing more of that in the future as he expands his own herd and gradually eliminates custom grazing for other people.

“I’ll expand slowly, maybe not by the full 170 cows, to give me the option of putting some pasture land into annual crops like corn to extend the grazing season,” Tkachyk says.

“As far as a goal, I’m not sure, a lot depends on moisture and the availability of feed for the winter and I’ll have to look at the economics in the long term.”

C — Debbie Furber www.canadiancattlemen.ca

management

Westwood cleans out the cows Sale is timed to the beef cycle

W

estwood Land and Cattle’s complete herd dispersal of 3,600 AngusSimmental commercial cows this fall marks a significant milestone in the Woods family’s business plan for the cow side of their large mixed farm near Moosomin, Sask.

As co-owner Kevin Woods told Canadian Cattlemen last fall, the farm’s strategy for the cow-calf operation is to expand the herd in times of low prices and sell when the market is up. He sensed then that the time to sell was drawing near and was determined to stay the course.

“So, the dispersal is something that’s been in the back of our minds for a few years. It’s strictly a business decision and one that we feel is in our best business interest,” Woods explains. “We’ve spent 10 years putting together a quality herd and think the price is right to realize a big chunk of equity, sit on it, and take a break.”

A bit of a break would be a better way to put it because 1,400 bred heifers will stay home to start a new herd along with some 550 replacement heifers from this year’s calf crop, the leased pasture land will be retained, and the bunkers are packed with silage for the farm’s 12,500head backgrounding operation. The family also crops 10,000 acres, with about 20 per cent of it dedicated to silage production. The whole operation requires a full-time staff of at least 12 employees, as well as several seasonal employees.

Woods has found out that organizing and promoting a large herd dispersal comes with its own unique workload.

Since a lot of the pastures in southeastern Saskatchewan are being put back into crops and not many producers are keen on expanding their herds, he and his dad, Ken, researched the market to identify locations where people seem to be expanding.

They settled on splitting the dispersal into four sales, starting with Heartland Livestock Services at Swift Current, Sask., on November 26, www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Kevin Woods

The farm’s strategy for the cow-calf operation is to expand the herd in times of low prices and sell when the market is up and Balog Auction Services at Lethbridge, Alta., on November 29. The third sale will be at Nilsson Bros. Livestock Exchange in Vermilion, Alta., on December 8, with the final sale December 12 at Provost Livestock Exchange in Provost, Alta.

“These are also markets where we have done business in the past buying feeder cattle and we’ve purchased a lot of our bulls from Alberta breeders through the years, so I think our name is fairly well known in Alberta, too,” Woods says.

The auction markets will manage the sales and Jim Pulyk, a sales manager from Vermilion, will be in charge of sorting the cows for all of the sales so that the offering will be even across all venues, Woods explains. This will

give potential buyers a nice selection of all ages at each sale.

In total there will be 1,000 2012 first calvers, 800 2012 second calvers, 800 2012 third calvers and 1,000 mature cows. The cows that will calve for the second time in 2013 were bred Black Angus, while the remainder were exposed to Black Simmental or Soderglen Black Max for a 60-day breeding period to begin calving April 10, 2013.

To promote the sale as a complete herd dispersal, all cows that have calved must be sold, however, Woods assures potential buyers that they won’t be trucking any cull cows, the ones they wouldn’t want to keep in their own herd, to the dispersal sales.

Woods is proud of the uniform, productive herd the farm has built through some extremely tough years since the BSE trade disruption in 2003. When the bottom fell out of the market for breeding stock, they started culling hard and retained only the best females.

They’ve also made a point of using reputation bulls and AI sires because the farm retains all of the calves for either the breeding herd or backgrounding to a base weight of 900 pounds.

Approximately 65 per cent of the cows to be sold are home raised. The remainder were purchased as open replacement heifers from Westwood’s three regular sources, so Woods has complete health and performance records on each animal. All of the cows have been on a full health program including the Pfizer Gold program.

Woods describes them as strong, hardworking cows that have been raised and bred for easy calving on pasture and to forage for their livelihoods.

Woods was encouraged by the interest the sale had drawn, even from as far away as Ontario and Quebec, after the flyers went out in late August.

He is available any time to take calls and potential buyers are welcome to make arrangements to view the cows at home starting a couple of weeks before the sales. He and Ken will be Continued on page 24 Cattlemen / November 2012 23

Continued from page 23

trucking the cattle themselves and attending the sales, as well.

Woods is more than willing to help buyers with the logistics of getting the cattle home. An option that may be of interest to buyers east of Saskatchewan is assembling loads from the sale for return to Westwood until trucking farther east can be arranged.

Westwood has the feed and facilities to custom winter the cows and carry them through calving and pasture if need be for buyers who want to participate in the sale but can’t take immediate delivery because of drought or some other reason.

All sales start at 1 p.m. sharp local time and will be broadcast live over the Internet at www.dlms.com with online and phone-in bids welcome. Pictures of the cows are posted at www.westwoodlandandcattle.com, and www.nbinc.com.

For more information, contact Woods at 306-435-7313, or call the markets hosting the sales.

C — Debbie Furber

The farm will sell its 3,600 cows at four locations from Nov. 26 to Dec. 12.

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1 Endoparasite control, L.R. Ballweber, Veterinary Clinics Food Animal, 2006, 22:451-461. 2Economic analysis of pharmaceutical technologies in modern beef production, J.D. Lawrence and M.A. Ibarburu, Iowa State University, 2007. 3Pasture deworming and (or) subsequent feedlot deworming with fenbendazole I. Effects of grazing performance, feedlot performance and carcass traits of yearling steers, R. Smith, et al., The Bovine Practitioner, 2000, 34:104-114. 4A fenbendazole oral drench in addition to an ivermectin pour-on reduces parasite burden and improves feedlot and carcass performance of finishing heifers compared with endectocides alone, C.D. Reinhardt, J.P. Hutcheson and W.T. Nichols, Journal of Animal Science, 2006, 84:2243-2250.

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disease

What does besnoitiosis have in store for North America?

B

ovine besnoitiosis, caused by a cyst-forming protozoan parasite called Besnoitia besnoiti (B. besnoiti), is widespread in Africa, Asia, southern Europe and South America. Where present it causes decreased milk production in cows, infertility in bulls, unthriftiness and mortality. Carcass trim and condemnation at slaughter would be a major issue under Canadian and U.S. meat inspection systems.

Although a form of the disease is common in caribou, reindeer and muskoxen (B. tarandii) in Canada, bovine besnoitiosis has not been reported in North America.

Might that change?

Over the last 10 years, B. besnoiti has spread from pockets where it traditionally occurred into new areas within Spain and France. Suddenly it was diagnosed in Germany and most recently in Switzerland and Italy. Animal health officials have expressed concern that the parasite is becoming established in areas where it has never existed before. Recent epidemiological data confirm an increased number of cases and geographic expansion of besnoitiosis in cattle herds in EU member states.

With development of better diagnostic tools, scientists are keeping a close watch on the creep of subclinical disease in beef and dairy herds across Europe. Animal health officials in the U.K. are concerned about the potential introduction of besnoitiosis there. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently issued a paper suggesting that bovine besnoitiosis should be considered an emerging disease in the EU. Because many aspects of the epidemiology of besnoitiosis remain uncertain, including information on the prevalence and incidence of infection, routes of transmission and risk factors associated with the disease, the paper highlights the urgent need for research programs to improve efficient and sustainable control methods.

In chronic cases skin can become dr y and thickened.

Clinical signs Besnoitiosis is a disease that primarily affects the skin and subcutaneous tissues below the skin. Cysts are commonly found in the conjunctiva surrounding the eye and in the lining of the throat and external reproductive tract (vulva). Through early stages of the disease, fluid (edema) often collects along lower portions of the body associated with disruption of small blood vessels. Eye and nasal irritation is common.

During more chronic stages of the disease, a multitude of tiny skin cysts create very noticeable lesions. Skin nodules form and the skin becomes dry, thickened and hairless, sometimes described as elephant skin. As the disease progresses, animals become emaciated and have difficulty moving. At this point, their welfare is compromised. Cysts are hard and have a slight roughness that gives connective tissue below the skin the appearance of being sprinkled with “cornmeal.�

The severity of the disease may vary between mild and severe. Seriously affected animals can die. Many infected animals remain asymptomatic, the only sign of disease being the Continued on page 28

26 Cattlemen / november 2012

Hard cysts below the skin look like sprinkled cornmeal. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Continued from page 26

presence of cysts in conjunctiva around the eye, or in the lining of the vulva in cows and nasal passages of all cattle.

The testes of bulls can degenerate and atrophy, rendering them sterile.

Although mortality is low (less than 10 per cent), convalescence is slow in severe cases. Affected animals remain carriers for life. Up to 50 per cent of animals in a herd can be infected with most infected animals showing no, or only mild, clinical signs. Herd productivity suffers.

Transmission The complete life cycle of the B. besnoiti remains unclear. Several routes of infection are probably involved.

The bovine is considered an intermediate host, capable of spreading infection through direct contact with herd mates. Wild carnivores, dogs and perhaps cats act as definitive hosts capable of contaminating pastures and feedstuffs with infective stages of B. besnoiti. Wild ruminants and probably

rodents should not be disregarded as reservoirs of the parasite and a potential source of parasites to carnivores.

Transmission between intermediate hosts independent of definitive hosts may occur through biting insects.

Up to half the animals in herds can be infected with most showing few signs The seasonal pattern of besnoitiosis in beef cattle on summer pasture suggests transmission by direct contact between cattle (including natural mating) may be one possible route of transmission. The mechanical transmission of parasites by biting insects like horseflies and deer flies is considered another way parasites are transmitted between infected and non-infected cattle. At present, bovine besnoitiosis has not been reported to infect humans.

Diagnosis A common diagnostic finding is the appearance of cysts in the scleral conjunctiva at the junction of “white and colour” of each eye and in the nasal mucosa. The crescent-shaped organisms can be found in skin scrapings, skin biopsies, and conjunctival scrapings. Blood and PCR tests are also used. In some countries, cattle are immunized with a live, tissue-culture-adapted vaccine. There are no effective drugs or vaccines available in North America at present. Oxytetracycline may have some therapeutic value if given early in the course of the disease.

The future The big question is, could bovine besnoitiosis become a new disease threat in North America? Like many other diseases that started elsewhere only to emerge on North American soil, besnoitiosis needs to be watched. The important ingredients are here.

C — Dr. Ron Clarke, DVM

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disease

Mycoplasma Beats up on Bison It acts differently in bison than in cattle

O

ccasional outbreaks of respiratory disease in bison caused by Mycoplasma bovis have occurred in North America, but a recent study of farmed bison in Alberta has identified this pathogen as a primary cause of respiratory disease, and a cause of significant economic loss on the affected bison operations.

Dr. Pat Burrage, a veterinarian in west-central Alberta (northwest of Red Deer), has a mixed practice that includes bison. After his involvement over the past dozen years with bison cow-calf producers and feedlots, Burrage felt there was a need to extract more information from these animals, since there was not much to be found in the scientific literature on the causes of death in bison.

“Bison are not like cattle that you can handle on a regular basis. A one-time contact with a bison is almost too much, so a friend suggested that we just do a mortality study to get a rough idea about the diseases that kill bison,” says Burrage.

“We began in late 2010. Our goal was to collect 100 different cases and determine cause of death. In the beginning we thought we’d find a garden variety group of organisms common to cattle and bison — pathogens that potentially cause similar types of disease conditions,” he says.

“In our study, our target animal was the feeder animal — under 30 months of age. About 71 of our cases were under 30 months and 32 were older. I’m in a cow-calf area and if any of my clients’ animals died we checked them also,” Burrage says.

In the end, 60 per cent of the animals included in the study died of respiratory disease. “That was not unexpected, especially in the under-30-month-old animals, because respiratory disease is a significant cause of death loss in feeder cattle as well. The alarming and unexpected discovery was that Mycoplasma bovis played a significant role in the death of these bison,” he says.

A number of conclusions came out of this study. One was that respiratory disease was the leading cause of death in bison, and second was that Mycoplasma bovis was the leading cause of respiratory disease in bison. “This was something we didn’t expect. This pathogen in cattle is usually a secondary invader,” he explains.

“It can be a frustration for cattle feedlots but it usually comes into play only after a pen or an individual animal goes through respiratory disease; this pathogen is hanging around, waiting for an opportunity to invade. It usually ends up in the joints and causes chronic lameness in feeder animals, and eventual termination of that animal because it’s so crippling,” says Burrage.

In bison, however, M. bovis is a significant respiratory pathogen. “It moves to other parts of the body, but the lung is the primary target organ. It starts high in the respiratory tract but moves into the lung and from there it can travel to any organ of the body. We found it in kidneys, lymph nodes, uterus, etc. In cow herds we found that this pathogen is a primary cause of abortion in bison, and it can be significant economically — both in death loss in the cow herds, and in the abortion rate it can create,” he says.

Signs of illness in individual bison included weight loss, reluctance to move, progressing to coughing, difficulty 30 Cattlemen / November 2012

Bison symptoms are weight loss, coughing, lethargy. breathing, lethargy, exercise intolerance, and isolation from the herd.

Dr. Claire Windeyer, a professor at the University of Calgary, became involved in the investigation after Dr. Burrage contacted the university about these findings. “Our faculty asked questions to try to determine why this was happening and how widespread this might be. We had several meetings, bringing interested parties together,” she says.

Burrage then had followup discussions with veterinarians and producers in Canada and the U.S. including Dr. Dave Hunter in Bozeman, Montana who has been working with Ted Turner’s bison ranches in the U.S. “Dave stated that M. bovis has been a problem in three of the Turner herds. He was very interested in getting to the bottom of this problem, so he organized meetings with producer groups, including the Canadian Bison Association, National Bison Association in the U.S. and researchers from the University of Saskatchewan, University of Calgary, Montana State University and Florida State University,” says Burrage.

Dr. Hunter has seen a couple of what he calls “die-offs” in Turner’s herds, starting several years ago. “These were similar to what we have recently seen in Alberta,” says Windeyer.

“We had a meeting in Denver with leaders of the various bison associations, veterinarians, epidemiologists, mycoplasma researchers, molecular biologists, etc. and out of this evolved a number of research questions,” says Windeyer.

“We now have a grant proposal submitted for a project addressing some of these questions.”

No one had seen anything like this before in cattle, and there are very few published reports of this disease in bison.

“In cattle, this pathogen is typically an opportunistic secondary invader and is known to cause pneumonia and polyarthritis syndrome (CPPS) in stressed feedlot calves that have been treated for respiratory disease multiple times. They become chronically ill, thin and lame. We open them up and see classic Continued on page 32 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Survey of numbers

The pathogen

mycoplasma lesions and we can culture the bacteria from these,” she explains.

“However, it seems that M. bovis behaves differently in bison. It can be the only organism we find in these cases, it is much more aggressive, and it affects mature animals that wouldn’t typically be at risk,” she says.

“We now know that M. bovis will kill a bison, but usually just debilitates cattle and is not likely to kill them,” says Burrage. “We’ve had 25 to 30 per cent death loss in bison cow herds as a result of M. bovis. We are also battling a three to five per cent death loss in feeder animals,” he says.

Producers who have dealt with this problem indicate that it affects the herd for two to eight months and then goes away. “We need to find out why it happens,” says Windeyer. “Is it because that herd is a naive population that hasn’t been exposed before?

Or are there stressors that occur, that cause the disease to become active in the herd?” she asks.

Cattle producers might wonder if this is a risk to the cattle industry. Could bison pass it to cattle or did cattle pass it to bison? It seems the bison are more susceptible to the harmful effects of M. bovis than are cattle, but the routes of transmission are still uncertain.

There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that the bison immune system may respond more aggressively to challenges. “If you give bison a modifiedlive vaccine, it tends to be much harder on them than on cattle. They get much sicker in reaction to vaccination. So we wonder if their immune responses are different or if they are just naive to this pathogen,” says Windeyer.

Another possibility — the worstcase scenario — would be that this pathogen has changed and become more virulent.

“This is one of the questions we want to address in our research proposal — to look at the virulence traits and genetics of the pathogen. Are these bugs different from the ones we see in cattle or is it the bison that are different? So far, most of the evidence suggests it’s the bison, but we want to make sure we can rule out any changes in the pathogen,” Windeyer says.

The researchers also hope to test a number of bison herds to see if some have been exposed and are immune.

“We don’t know yet what might be tip-

In a collaboration with the Canadian Bison Association, National Bison Association (U.S.), Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Western College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Calgary facility of veterinary medicine, surveyed producers attending some of the provincial and state bison producer meetings, to get an idea about how many herds are affected and how widespread this issue might be. Of the 83 survey respondents 26.5 per cent reported having a disease outbreak that resembled the case definition of a mycoplasma outbreak. The earliest outbreaks reported date back to 2003.

According to Dr. Murray Woodbury, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, M. bovis is a bacteria-like organism lacking a cell wall. It was first reported as a cattle pathogen in the 1960s as a cause of mastitis in dairy cows. It also causes middle ear infections, arthritis, reproductive disorders and respiratory disease and plays a major role in chronic pneumonia. By 2000, M. bovis infection in cattle was common, especially in feedlot animals. In a 2006 study this pathogen was present in 85 per cent of cases with acute fibrinous pneumonia and 98 per cent of cattle with chronic pneumonia.

The organism takes up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, but during an active infection can also be found in other body sites. Chronic infection without disease symptoms is possible, with occasional shedding of the organism.

Mycoplasma organisms do not have a cell wall and are therefore not affected by antimicrobial drugs such as penicillin that target the cell wall.

They are susceptible, however, to the tetracyclines, ciprofloxacin and Nuflor.

In cattle, treatment is generally only effective if started in the early stages of the disease and continued for an extended period of time. “In bison, this principle also applies, but the nature of bison and the difficulty handling bison both on pasture and in the feedlot can make regular treatment impractical,” says Woodbury.

Draxxin is convenient, because in cattle one dose provides seven to 14 days of therapeutic drug levels against mycoplasma and other bacterial causes of respiratory disease.

With bison, however, treatment may be rewarding at first but relapses are common and treatment must be continued over several weeks.

32 Cattlemen / November 2012

ping the balance in some of these herds.

Most of the herds that have reported this issue indicated that they had new animal introduction a couple months prior to each outbreak,” she says.

“Some people brought in new animals and think that those animals brought the disease to the herd. In other instances, producers had new animals die after they were brought into the herd, and they think the pathogen was in the herd and the home animals were immune but transmitted it to the new animals. We think there are naive groups and exposed groups, and when you mix them you get trouble.

We are trying to come up with the best recommendations for producers to protect their herd or to deal with it once it’s there,” says Windeyer.

Implementing a quarantine period for new animals seems like an appropriate strategy. “However, one of the affected herds had a disease outbreak two months after introducing new animals, even after a six-month quarantine period. We suspect that the new animals were carrying the pathogen and were not themselves affected, but passed it to the home herd. We suspect that some animals may be long-term asymptomatic carriers of the pathogen,” she says.

Traditional control strategies such as quarantine, vaccination and antibiotic treatment may or may not be effective in controlling or preventing M. bovis in bison herds. “Some producers have treated the herd with antibiotics like Nuflor and Draxxin. This helps for a while but a couple weeks later the outbreak starts up again,” Windeyer says.

“Regarding mycoplasma in bison, it’s difficult to make evidence-based recommendations since we are still trying to understand the disease and why it is having such severe impacts in the bison industry. What we can advise producers is to practise good management in terms of nutrition, biosecurity, vaccination, and all the general principles of good health care,” she says.

C — Heather Smith Thomas www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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grazing

“Wasted Feed”

O

nce September is over we shift into high gear to get our bale grazing set up for the winter. The race each fall for me is to get the bales in and placed before the twines freeze down.

Pulling twine is so much easier in the fall than it is in January.

Bale grazing is a form of winter feeding but with one big difference. We use a grazing mentality. We place all of our winter hay supply out in a pasture in a checkerboard pattern. We remove all the twines, and ration off the feed throughout the winter with an electric wire. There is a huge cost savings behind bale grazing that most people are unable to see because we have been trained all our life to improve on efficiencies. And I know our industry is good at being efficient. Too bad we are not as good at being profitable.

The big issue for most producers is getting over the issue of “wasted feed” left on the ground. My advice to you is to get over it! I would rather waste 10 or 15 cents per head per day on “wasted feed” than I would burn up 50 cents per head per day in machinery and labour costs. I have had many producers come up to me and thank me for introducing them to bale grazing.

They had heard me speak at a conference or a seminar and tried it. And it worked. The most common remark is, “I will never go back to traditional feeding.”

36 Cattlemen / November 2012

Bale grazing works. It is low labour.

It is low capital. And it is a very economical way to feed livestock during the winter months. But, make sure you keep it economical. I know of producers who try to reproduce bale grazing without understanding the economics of it, and it proves not to be economical. Why does it work?

Better to waste 10 or 15 cents per head per day on “wasted feed” than 50 cents in machinery and labour Low labour: Most of the labour is done in the fall when the weather is nice and the job is easy. All the twines are removed before they are frozen to the bale or the ground. I can pull twine at 40 bales an hour in the fall compared to maybe 15 or 20 bales an hour in the winter. Getting this work done in the fall, saves us a lot of time throughout the winter. Instead of going out with a tractor and feeding for an hour every day in the winter, I spend about an hour a week moving an electric fence on foot. I might take a vehicle out to the bale-grazing site, but it is usually shut off during the fence move.

Low capital: You do not need much in the way of equipment to feed this way. In fact, you do not even need to own a tractor. I don’t. If you have a self-unloading bale truck deliver the hay to your pasture, all you need is something to tip the bales over with.

I own a bale truck so I can grab the bales and place them.

Now one of the important factors in keeping this economical is how many times you touch the bales with a piece of equipment. I only touch them once, if that. The bales need to be delivered to the pasture and ideally spread and placed as they are unloaded. Only touch the bales once with a piece of equipment if you have to at all. Some years I hire the farmer to deliver the bales to me with his tractor and wagon.

In this scenario, I never touch the bales with a piece of equipment. Other times they will unload them in the pasture and I will have to spread them out into rows and tip them over.

Here is what not to do. Don’t have the bales delivered to the hay yard.

Don’t unload the truck and put them in stacks. Don’t load them up and haul them out to the pasture. Don’t place the bales. Finally, don’t use a tractor to pick them up allowing someone to remove the twine or net wrapping.

How many times didn’t you touch each bale with a piece of equipment? Only touch the bales once!

Economical: It is a very economical way of feeding because it reduces the labour and equipment cost compared to traditional feeding. I have lowered my yardage costs associated www.canadiancattlemen.ca

with feeding cattle to less than 10 cents per head per day compared to a traditional yardage from 45 to 75 cents per head per day. Yardage is only the costs associated with feeding the animals. This does not include the cost of the feed. It is the labour and equipment costs in the act of feeding. That is a pretty good cost savings over a winter. Even add in the “wasted feed” to that cost. Another 15 cents per head per day and it is still more economical to bale graze than to start a tractor every day.

Have you been wondering why I refer to the “wasted feed” in quotations every time? This is because

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

this mentality of “wasted feed” is ridiculous. Any extra residue left on the ground in the right place adds a great deal of fertility to the soil. It also improves water-holding capacity, reduces erosion, protects the soil from compaction and many other beneficial bonuses. So this 15 cents per head per day of “wasted grass” is not a waste at all. It is a tremendous soil improvement that continues to pay you back for years to come.

Look at it as a long-term investment to your soil. I can double the production of a piece of land by bale grazing on it. The growth the following year is incredible.

Bale grazing saves me time, money and wear and tear on my equipment.

It also improves my pastures, which in turn increases my profit. If you have to winter feed, bale grazing is a nobrainer. Learn about it, try it, get good at it and maybe you will be the one saying, “I will never go back to traditional feeding” And stop stressing over “wasted feed!”

C — Steve Kenyon Steve Kenyon runs Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. in Busby, Alta., www. greenerpasturesranching.com, 780-3076500, email skenyon@greenerpasturesranching.com.

Cattlemen / November 2012 37

* Huang R.A., et al. (2009) J. vet. Pharmacol. Therap. 33, 227-237. Menge M., et al. (2011) J. vet. Pharmacol. Therap. Nowakowski M.A., et al. Veterinary Therapeutics, vol. 5, no. 1, Spring 2004.

TM

Trademark of Intervet International B.V. Used under license.

Merck Animal Health, operating in Canada as Intervet Canada Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA. MERCK is a trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA. Copyright Š 2012 Intervet International B.V., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA. All rights reserved.

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equipment

What do you do with the manure from 3,000 sows?

The answer: Cattle and rotational grazing

W

h e n h o g p r o d u c e r, HyLife Ltd. decided to get into the cattle business in 2001 with 550 grass calves, they had an unending supply of free fertilizer for their pasture and hay land, but figuring out how to apply it effectively and safely turned out to be a complex task that eventually turned into a unique scientific collaboration with the University of Manitoba (see sidebar).

JV Ranch near La Broquerie in southeast Manitoba now rotationally grazes around 750 to 800 cows and backgrounds an additional 750 feeders per year. The cattle rotate through a number of paddocks where hog manure is applied at various rates according to its nutrient content. The ranch also produces around 7,000 round bales of hay a year.

HyLife Ranch spreads its 5,000 acres of hay and pasture land, some of which it also uses to custom graze

40 Cattlemen / november 2012

another 350 cow-calf pairs, with manure from different sources; the sow barns, nursery barns and feeder barns, all of which have a different nutrient content and so, are applied at different rates. Manure from the nursery barn, for example, is much more liquid than manure from the other sources and does not have as high a concentration of phosphorus (P), so it is applied at a higher rate than manure from the feeder barn, which has more solids and more phosphorus and nitrogen (N) content.

The manure is applied with a 30-foot, AerWay manure applicator, at rates which try to maintain a target of 110 lbs./acre of available N on pasture and 120 lbs./acre of available N on hay land minus residual N. The applicator injects most of the manure into the soil to a depth of six inches, so seepage at the surface is minimized

La Broquerie project findings A four-year study (2004-07) on 160 acres of land owned by HyLife Ltd. near La Broquerie, Man. explored the impact of hog manure on forage yield, quality, cattle performance, soil and water quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) production. The study involved HyLife and the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment at the University of Manitoba.

Some highlights of the study are: • Hog manure applied to forage land resulted in a threefold increase in forage yield and animal productivity.

• Crude protein content of the forage increased by 30 per cent.

• P and N did not appear to move into the groundwater.

• Salmonella and E. coli were present in the hog manure but were not transferred to grazing cattle.

• The value of increased forage yield due to manure application was $84$92/acre.

• The value of increased live weight gain of the cattle due to manure application was $175-$191/acre.

• GHG emissions were higher on land where manure was applied compared to where it was not applied, but increases in root growth in manured plots more than offset the increased emissions (although stability of the carbon captured in the root growth is not known).

Continued on page 42 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Continued from page 40

to try and prevent leaching or run-off.

Achieving those target rates isn’t always easy because fertilizing with manure just isn’t a precise science.

“Manure changes so much as you are applying it based on so many factors,” says Matt Reimer, HyLife’s nutrient management specialist.

“Travel speed and topography can have a big effect and the manure itself can be very variable in terms of its P and N content, which is why we do intensive grid sampling using GPS to try and get a better idea of what’s happening in the field.”

As a general guideline, about 4,000-6,000 imperial gallons per acre of feeder manure and 10,000-15,000 imperial gallons per acre of nursery manure are applied to try and achieve the target fertilization rates, says Reimer. This translates into about 10 pounds of available nitrogen per 1,000 imperial gallons before losses in nursery manure.

Different types of manure appli-

With hay land the P removal rate is higher because the crop is being taken off, but it can build up on pasture which is being grazed higher because the crop is being taken off, but it can build up on the pasture land which is being grazed. So to try and avoid that one year we might apply solid manure to a field, which has a higher P concentration, and the next year nothing, then the following

TIPS & TALES

We need your...

cations from different sources are rotated around the fields to try and maintain the fertility but not build up too much P in the soil. “There are issues of P accumulation, particularly in the pastures,” says Reimer. “With the hay land the P removal rate is

CALVING

Friends and neighbours, we are once again looking for your best calving tips and tales for CATTLEMEN’S expanded January 2013 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.

42 Cattlemen / november 2012

year a liquid manure, with a lower P concentration and the next year nothing again.”

Phosphorus content is of particular concern as new manure-spreading regulations that determine the amount that can be spread based upon P content will be introduced in 2014. The highest concentrations of P occur in the solid components of manure. The liquid contains very little. HyLife is currently working on a project to separate the solid and liquid manure components.

At its manure treatment centre the company is experimenting with a Livestock Water Recycling (LWR) Manure Treatment System to try and separate the manure into four different streams — one solid, one sludge and two liquid. Although the system still needs some tweaking, the idea is to eventually end up with concentrated fertilizer products with a high P and N concentration that can easily be transported and sold for cropland use. C — Angela Lovell

Enter before November 30, 2012

YOUR REWARD,

a limited edition

CANADIAN CATTLEMEN cap

Send your CALVING TIPS & TALES (and your address) to:

CANADIAN CATTLEMEN

1666 Dublin Avenue Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1 Email: gren@fbcpublishing.com Fax: 1-866-399-5710

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

N u t r i t i o n

by John McKinnon John.mckinnon@usask.ca

Understanding feed energy values John McKinnon is a beef cattle nutritionist at the University of Saskatchewan

O

ne of the questions I get from cowcalf producers relates to interpreting feed test results, particularly energy values. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that in a given report, you are liable to receive up to five different measures of feed energy. These include total digestible nutrients (TDN), digestible energy (DE) and net energy (NE), the latter can be partitioned into net energy for maintenance (NEm), gain (NEg) and lactation (NEl).

To understand these values and which is most applicable to your feeding program, it is important to understand the concept of energy and how it is used by the animal’s body. Energy is stored at varying levels within the chemical bonds of a feedstuff including carbohydrates, fats and protein. This energy can be released when these bonds are broken during digestion and metabolism and used by the animal for maintenance or productive purposes. A considerable portion of consumed energy is also wasted. This includes energy excreted in feces (i.e. undigested feed) and urine as well as energy lost as gas (i.e. methane) and heat. This heat loss is termed the heat increment and is not a total loss as it can help offset the effects of cold weather on the animal.

Energy values listed on a feed test reflect the chemical energy stored in feedstuffs and how an animal digests and metabolizes that energy.

Total digestible nutrients (TDN) is reported as a percentage of dry matter and represents the sum of digestible nutrients in a feed including protein, fibre, carbohydrate and fat. This system is one many beef producers are comfortable with.

Digestible energy represents the energy in a feedstuff that is apparently available to the animal. It is determined experimentally by taking the difference between total energy consumed and that excreted in the feces. Digestible energy is reported as mega calories (Mcal) per pound or kilogram of dry matter.

There is no great advantage to the use of TDN relative to DE. In fact both are interchangeable and are used for formulating diets for beef cattle, particularly the breeding herd.

Both however have limitations to their use. For example, they tend to overestimate the energy content of high-fibre feeds.

The NE system attempts to account for all energy losses during digestion and metabolism and separates the remaining available energy into uses for maintenance (survival) and produc-

44 Cattlemen / November 2012

tive purposes (gain, lactation). The NE system is particularly valuable when predicting the performance of feeder cattle.

Feed test laboratories are not able to measure feed energy directly using animal feeding trials, rather they use equations that relate energy content to a measured component of the feed such as its acid (ADF) or neutral (NDF) detergent fibre content. For example, ADF is a measure of the cellulose and lignin content of the plant. Lignin and the complexes it forms with other carbohydrates such as cellulose tend to be indigestible. Since the ADF content of a plant generally increases with advancing maturity, it can be used as an indirect measure of digestibility. Typically, the higher the ADF value, the lower the digestibility and the lower the TDN or DE value.

Other approaches to estimating energy content include the “Weiss approach” which involves a number of chemical analysis that are used to sum up the “truly digestible nutrients” and arrive at a more accurate estimate of TDN. Reported net energy values generally are not measured directly, rather they are converted from TDN or DE values using appropriate equations.

To give an example of the use of these energy values consider feeding a 1,400-pound cow, three months in calf. Your feed test indicates that your forage is 55 per cent TDN (dry matter basis). It also lists DE and NEm values of 1.1 and 0.52 Mcal per pound of dry matter, respectively. Your first step is to determine the animal’s daily energy requirement. This can be done using Alberta Agriculture’s Cowbytes program, which for this animal gives a daily requirement of 12.5 pounds of TDN. In order to meet this requirement, she needs to consume 23 pounds (i.e.

12.5/.55) of forage dry matter. If we were using the DE system, Cowbytes would indicate that her DE requirement is 25 Mcal per day. To meet this need she would still have to consume 23 pounds of dry matter (i.e. 25/1.1). A similar calculation can be made using an NEm requirement of 11.7 Mcal per day.

Regardless of the system used, if your forage tested higher or lower in energy content, you would need to adjust dry matter intake in order to prevent the animal from gaining or losing condition. Further adjustments will be required as she advances through pregnancy and when the animal is cold stressed. This ability to target nutrient requirements and subsequently feed allocation is one of the true values of a feed test. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Stromsmoe Herefords and Black Angus Video Sale!

Come early to view the cattle

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Expect better udders — We don’t milk out cows — You won’t have to either.

Expect better feet — We have never trimmed feet on our cows.

Expect safe, friendly, easy-to-work-with cattle — your kids will be able to work alongside you in the corral again.

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We will deliver your bull and will visit you at your ranch next fall too.

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at the ranch 1-1/2 miles south of Etzikom on Highway 885 Featuring 65 bulls — sons of thick high performance herd sires! • 5 commercial Hereford 4-year-old cows bred A.I. • 11 commercial Black 4-year-old cows bred A.I. Hereford • 38 RWF or BBF commercial heifers bred A.I. Black Free delivery within 250 miles on all cattle. All bulls are halter broke and have quiet dispositions. Each bull selling into a commercial herd will be guaranteed unconditionally for 3 full breeding seasons. We would be pleased to winter bulls at cost. All commercial females are guaranteed to wean an excellent calf. Complimentary lunch prior to the sale. Phone for sale DVD and catalogue.

Stromsmoe Herefords and Black Angus Nyle & Vicki

Clint

Ph (403) 666-3957 Cell (403) 878-3957 E-mail: nstromsmoe@yahoo.ca Box 505, Etzikom, AB T0K 0W0

Ph/Fax (403) 666-2186 Cell (403) 647-6088 Box 618, Etzikom, AB T0K 0W0

VET ADVICE

Selling the value of simple things

F

or years we have missed marketing pre-arrival management of calves into Canadian feedlots.

Practices important to feedlots are commonsense things most producers follow as they prepare calves for fall markets and yet producers still have difficulty extracting value for their efforts. Does the system for marketing calves need to change?

U.S. feedlot owners and managers — participants in the 2011 National Animal Health Surveillance (NAHMS) feedlot study — sanctioned key pre-arrival management practices that help reduce death loss and sickness in feedlots. It turns out that management practices most likely to improve resistance of calves to infectious disease during early stages of the production process in many cases happen before calves arrive at the feedlots.

The NAHMS study included on-site visits at feedlots with at least 1,000 head and telephone interviews of owners or managers of feedlots with less than 1,000 head. Twenty cattle-feeding states were involved in the study. Large feedlots, representing 2.8 per cent of U.S. feedlots accounted for 82.1 per cent of the January 1, 2011, inventory of feedlot cattle in the U.S. Topping the list of on-ranch practices most beneficial to feedlot-bound calves were castrating and dehorning at least four weeks prior to shipment. Over 90 per cent of those polled agreed that this practice was extremely to very beneficial.

Vaccination against respiratory diseases was next on the list of practices considered highly beneficial. The application of respiratory vaccines to calves two weeks prior to weaning was considered important to 85 per cent of feedlots participating in the study. Vaccination given at weaning was considered highly beneficial by 80 per cent of feedlots.

Eighty-one per cent of feedlots considered introduction of calves to a feed bunk an important part of preparations for entry into a feedlot. Exposure to a feed bunk ranked just ahead of the benefit seen in calves being weaned four weeks prior to shipping at 79 per cent.

Treatment of calves for parasites prior to being shipped to feedlots rounded out the list of top six practices considered highly beneficial by major feedlots receiving calves. Seventy-one per cent of feedlots considered parasite control highly beneficial.

The six pre-arrival management practices deemed to be extremely or very effective received a nod from at least 71.0 per cent of the feedlots surveyed. The results of the NAHMS survey, last conducted in 1999 and repeated in 2011, showed in both instances that prearrival practices were considered important by feedlots when purchasing replacements. The ranking of importance did vary by feedlot, which emphasizes the importance of understanding what your customers want.

Although feedlot operators believed that pre-arrival management practices were crucial to the health of animals, information on pre-arrival processing was fre-

46 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

quently unavailable to operators. Only about one-third of U.S. feedlots (34 per cent) consistently obtained prearrival information.

With animal identification and traceability initiatives in full swing, supplemented by the networks established through programs like Quality Starts Here and Verified Beef Production, the situation in Canada should be better. Recently published codes of practice for cow-calf producers and feedlots will take the exchange of information between producers and feedlots to another level.

Having the technical ability to deliver information up and down the supply chain in a way that benefits producers, processors and consumers is close at hand for the Canadian industry.

The holes that still exist reflect the challenge of moving data and information between sectors of a highly fragmented industry. The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute’s (CAPI) September 2012 report on Canada’s beef food system highlights that the industry suffers from a minimal amount of collaboration among its stakeholders. The problem is magnified when many smaller groups of cattle are involved. There is also the reality that when price discovery for calves depends on traditional marketing systems based on “averages” rather than “quality,” that the cost of adding value and transmitting data may be higher than the cost differential between those with and without special pre-arrival management.

Increasing the percentage of feedlots that always have pre-arrival information available should be a rallying point for the cow-calf sector. Working with the different groups involved in marketing channels to improve communication and consistency is one way we can improve the situation. Developing a more systematic method of transferring data as ownership of cattle moves from supplier to feedlot will help. It may start with a simple document endorsed by a veterinarian, certifying that key practices have been completed.

Is a durable fix easy? Certainly not. Many recognize that change is required; that the beef sector suffers from a minimal amount of collaboration among stakeholders; and that a long-term strategy that brings players together is missing. Knowing where calves go, what the customer wants and ensuring conditions are satisfied seems simple enough. What is more difficult is galvanizing the many voices that speak for the beef sector, coupled with a new brand of leadership that will help align the transition toward change.

For now, knowing what pre-arrival practices are most important to feedlot operators will help producers adopt practices that are most beneficial and provide options to market them in a way that can be financially rewarding.

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).

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

SAV Iron Mountain 8066

Peak Dot Ranch Ltd.

This sale will again feature a large number of progeny from SAV Iron Mountain 8066.

Fall Bull and Female Sale Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012

At the Ranch, Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan

Selling 150 Bulls and 25 Heifer Calves Selling 300 Bred Commercial Heifers Friday Dec. 7, 2012. At 11:00 a.m. C.S.T

Online at www.teamauctionsales.com

View videos and photos of Commercial Heifers at www.peakdotranch.com or phone Carson Moneo 306-266-4414 for more information.

Peak Dot Bold 617Y

Peak Dot Iron Mountain 151Y

Peak Dot Iron Mountain 307Y

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SAV Iron Mountain 8066 X SAV 004 Predominant 4438 BW: +2.8 WW: +52 YW: +97 M: +19 BW: 80 205 WT: 815 365 WT: 1302

SAV Iron Mountain 8066 XHF Power Up 72N BW: +6.2 WW: +51 YW: +94 M: +20 BW: 98 205 WT: 814 365 WT: 1276

Peak Dot Bold 298Y

Peak Dot Iron Mountain 172Y

Peak Dot Bold 204U X Stevenson Bruno 6371 BW: +3.8 WW: +47 YW: +91 M: +22 BW: 89 205 WT: 854 365 WT: 1300

Peak Dot Bold 204U X SAV 004 Capacity 5234 BW: +2.5 WW: +58 YW: +101 M: +17 BW: 86 205 WT: 789 365 WT: 1295

Peak Dot Iron Grasslands 426Y

Sandy Bar Grasslands 94T X SAV 004 Predominant 4438 BW: +3.1 WW: +42 YW: +80 M: +13 BW: 80 205 WT: 742 365 WT: 1292

Peak Dot Bold 298Y

Peak Dot Iron Mountain 302Y

Peak Dot Grasslands 409Y

Peak Dot Bold 204U X Double AA Reto 287 BW: +4.6 WW: +43 YW: +87 M: +16 BW: 82 205 WT: 721 365 WT: 1196

SAV Iron Mountain 8066 X SAV Saugahatchee 9374 BW: +4.3 WW: +50 YW: +90 M: +18 BW: 89 205 WT: 775 365 WT: 1245

Sandy Bar Grasslands 94T X SAV 004 Predominant 4438 BW: +5.5 WW: +40 YW: +79 M: +15 BW: 94 205 WT: 739 365 WT: 1278

Peak Dot Iron Mountain 306Y

Peak Dot Bold 104Y

Peak Dot Bold 204U X SAV 004 Capacity 5234 BW: +2.5 WW: +58 YW: +101 M: +17 BW: 86 205 WT: 789 365 WT: 1295

SAV Iron Mountain 8066 X Basin Prime Cut 354K BW: +3.5 WW: +49 YW: +90 M: +20 BW: 90 205 WT: 805 365 WT: 1268

Peak Dot Iron Grasslands 405Y

Sandy Bar Grasslands 94T X SAV 004 Predominant 4438 BW: +4.9 WW: +48 YW: +89 M: +16 BW: 94 205 WT: 765 365 WT: 1314

View Sale Book and Sale Cattle Photo Gallery at www.peakdotranch.com or phone Carson Moneo 306-266-4414 Clay Moneo 306-266-4411 Email:peakdot@gmail.com

HOLISTIC RANCHING

I

Looking ahead

want to build this month’s article around comments that appeared in the August 2012 issue of CANADIAN CATTLEMEN. The first comment is from Travis and Kara Eklund, Wineglass Ranch, Cochrane, Alta. In a letter to the editor they point out that “feeder cattle prices are NOT high.” I agree with this comment. It is a fact that feeder prices are strong and much higher than they have been since 2002. However comparing 2002 prices and adjusting for inflation quickly shows that today’s feeder prices are definitely not high.

One of the challenges facing the cattle industry is market power. For many years now we have seen the packer and feedlot industry become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. The same concentration has also occurred at the retail level. The number of cowcalf producers has declined but the imbalance between the primary producer and others in the chain has never been so lopsided. I think that the primary producer has less market power today than at any previous time. It is simple economics that as you reduce the number of players you increase the power each segment holds. The ideal market is to have an equal number of sellers and buyers. As you change the balance the market power also changes. We currently have thousands of cow-calf producers, hundreds of backgrounders, fewer finishing feedlots and only two main packers. Schematically it looks something like this.

POWER Packers Feedlots Backgrounders NUMBERS

Cow-Calf

If we want to have a strong beef industry we need to have some mechanism to balance the market power among the different sectors. I don’t have an answer to this but I think it must be addressed. All segments of the industry are important. The cow-calf segment is vital and essential for all the other segments to operate. There has to be some means to provide profit to the cow-calf sector if we are to have a healthy industry.

Charlie Gracey had an excellent article in the August CATTLEMEN. It was titled “Our cow herd has been decimated.” His comment that intrigued me most was, “I have begun to wonder if all the players in the industry are reading from the same book, let alone the same page.” I think Charlie is right. There is no industry strategy. As an industry we are very fragmented with each segment operating independently and for its own

48 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

benefit. It would be great to see Charlie write another article expressing his thoughts about how we might all get on the same page.

A good example of this fragmentation is occurring right now. Primary producers have reduced cow numbers by about 20 per cent as a result of BSE and low feeder prices. Basically cow-calf production has not been profitable. The reduction in cow numbers is an attempt to reduce beef supplies and raise feeder prices thereby returning profitability to the cow-calf segment.

The feedlots and packers have responded by increasing carcass weights. This leads to an increased beef supply and lower prices, which sends a signal to the cow-calf producer to reduce numbers even more. Is that really what we want or need to have a viable industry?

Charlie also touched on our increased market access around the world and questions whether it will be possible to meet our commitments with our reduced herd.

It remains to be seen “whether we can become reliable suppliers and fully exploit these export opportunities.”

He also points out that we currently export over 40 per cent of our beef production to the U.S., which allows the U.S. to export beef to higher-priced world markets. “We probably should not be in any doubt that there are higher-priced markets for our high-quality beef than the U.S.” As a producer I have to wonder what is preventing us from keeping our cattle in Canada and exporting to higher-priced markets thereby benefiting our entire industry? Are Canadian packers unwilling or unable to do this?

This brings me to another article in the August CATTLEMEN. It was by Martin Unrau, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. A good portion of his article was dedicated to reporting how CCA is spending producer dollars to gain more market access to various countries. While market access may be a good thing for the packers the benefits to the primary producer are small or non-existent. Since market power is concentrated at the packer level there is no mechanism to transfer additional dollars gained from market access back to the primary producer. Perhaps the CCA should be working on balancing market power so that primary producers actually benefit from increased trade opportunities. Can the CCA do something to address these concerns?

I hope my comments will stimulate some discussion.

We need to look ahead and develop a strategy that will see a strong, viable industry. Each segment of the industry needs to be profitable. I believe we have wonderful opportunities ahead. Having an industry strategy would benefit all segments of the business. I invite you to share your ideas with CCA or your provincial association.

Happy trails.

— Don Campbell Don Campbell ranches with his family at Meadow Lake, Sask., and teaches Holistic Management courses. He can be reached at 306-236-6088 or doncampbell@sasktel.net.

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Sale Management

Ted & Mina Serhienko • Chris Poley P: 306-933-4200 • F: 306-934-0744 Ted’s Cell: 306-221-2711 Chris’ Cell: 306-220-5006 info@tbarc.com • www.tbarc.com

Catalogue online at www.buyagro.com

Real time bidding available at

Jill Mader: 403-990-9187

Mick & Debbie Trefiak Kurt, Shannon, Matthew, Ryan & Casey, Mark & Kristi RR 1, Edgerton, AB T0B 1K0 P: 780-755-2224 F: 780-755-2223 C: 780-842-8835 mick@mjt.ca kurt@mjt.ca www.mjt.ca 14 miles East of Wainright and 11.5 miles North on Range Road 4-3

MJT_fall2012.indd 1

10/3/2012 3:21:06 PM

RESEARCH

On-farm E. coli O157:H7 control?

E. coli 0157:H7 has raised its ugly head again with the unfortunate illnesses and massive cross-Canada beef recall. E. coli bacteria are naturally found in the digestive tract of all warm-blooded animals. There are many strains of E. coli. Most strains are harmless and some may have health benefits. But E. coli strains that produce Shiga toxins can be very dangerous. When humans absorb Shiga toxins they can experience severe abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. Recovery can take over a week. Consequences can be more severe or even fatal in patients who are very young, very old, or have weak immune systems. E. coli 0157:H7 does not cause illness in cattle because cattle do not have receptors for Shiga toxins.

Packing plants have implemented very effective interventions to reduce E. coli 0157:H7 from the hide or gut contents that will contaminate beef. However, recalls sometimes raise questions about whether on-farm practices may have prevented the problem. This article summarizes some on-farm E. coli 0157:H7 control approaches that have been tested.

Replacing grain with forage: This approach is based on the theory that E. coli 0157:H7 may be more acid tolerant than other microbes. When high-starch (grain) diets are fed, some starch escapes fermentation in the rumen and is fermented by microbes in the hind-gut.

The fermentation produces volatile fatty acids that make the hind-gut more acidic. Acid-tolerant microbes like E. coli 0157:H7 may survive, compete and proliferate better than other microbes in that environment. Because forages have less starch, less acid is produced when they are digested, and E. coli 0157:H7 might be less likely to proliferate. However, forage feeding doesn’t consistently reduce E. coli 0157:H7. A 2009 article by Dr. Megan Jacob, Todd Callaway and T.G. Nagaraja in FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE reviewed 10 studies that compared E. coli 0157:H7 in animals fed forage-based and grain-based diets. Three studies showed that E. coli 0157:H7 shedding was increased in forage-based diets.

Four showed no difference. The other three observed higher rates of E. coli shedding in grain-fed cattle, but E. coli 0157:H7 numbers were not specifically reported.

Direct-fed microbials (probiotics): Some bacteria (particularly Lactobacillus and Propionibacterium) may be able to outcompete and inhibit E. coli 0157:H7 in the digestive tract of cattle. Some trials have shown encouraging results, but a trial conducted by researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) and Feedlot Health Management Services found that a direct-fed microbial containing Lactobacillus and a yeast did not reduce E. coli 0157:H7 prevalence on the hide or in feces. This variability may be because it is difficult to ensure that each animal consumes the right amount of probiotic every day.

Vaccines: A made-in-Canada vaccine is licensed

50 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

as an aid to reduce E. coli 0157:H7 shedding when three doses are given, three weeks apart, followed by a 60-day withdrawal period. Effects on shedding have varied among trials, and the vaccine does not have a food safety claim. A competing U.S. vaccine is not registered in Canada.

Other approaches (like phages, seaweed supplements, and antibiotics) have also shown inconsistent results. Some reduce the numbers of bacteria shed, or the duration of shedding, but none of them completely eliminate E. coli 0157:H7. None of these approaches work consistently in all animals, so E. coli 0157:H7 can still be spread to other herd mates. It is not known whether these strategies will reduce the E. coli 0157:H7 load in live cattle enough to make the in-plant food safety interventions more effective. Very little research has been done in this regard.

Interventions not only need to work, they also need to be used. The challenges facing on-farm E. coli 0157:H7 interventions are similar to those that have stymied genetic improvement or preconditioning programs. The cattle production and marketing system is so complex it is often impossible to know whether a pre-harvest E. coli intervention has been used (or used correctly) by a previous owner.

Another complication comes from the fact that E. coli 0157:H7 is not the only harmful serotype of E. coli; there are at least six others (026, 045, 0103, 0111, 0121, and 0145). Interventions specific for E. coli 0157:H7 may not provide cross-protection to any or all of these other six strains.

A number of other potential foodborne pathogens are occasionally found in cattle, including campylobacter, enterococcus, listeria, and salmonella. Effective food safety interventions will prevent any of these pathogens from moving from the hide or gut contents onto the carcass, and eliminate any pathogens that do contact the beef. At present, the packing plant is the best place to effectively combat the full range of foodborne pathogens. Efforts to improve on-farm interventions will continue, but may not replace food safety measures implemented at packing plants.

Visit www.beefresearch.ca for more information about Beef Cattle Research Council activities funded through the national checkoff.

The Beef Research Cluster is funded by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 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.

— Reynold Bergen Reynold Bergen is the science director for the Beef Cattle Research Council. A portion of the national checkoff is directed to the BCRC to fund research and development activities to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of Canada’s beef industry.

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Sale broadcasting live with

Ted & Mina Serhienko Chris Poley

Ted: 306-221-2711 Chris: 306-220-5006 info@tbarc.com | www.tbarc.com

John, Rosemarie & Anita Perrot P/F: 306-874-5496

Collin & Kimberly Martin

Phone: 306-874-2186 perrotmartincharolais@sasktel.net www.perrotmartincharolais.com

Contact Jill Mader : 403-990-9187

P r i m e

c u t s

by Steve Kay

Herd keeps shrinking A North American view of the meat industry.

Steve Kay is publisher and editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly

T

he U.S. cattle herd continues to shrink that the number of heifers entering the cow at an alarming rate, threatening to herd remains historically low, he says. put feedlots and packing plants out Robb’s analysis suggests U.S. producers are of business. Total cattle numbers have in no mood to expand their herds, and why declined 12 out of the last 15 years and look set should they? Many struggled this year to keep to fall again in 2012. Yet there’s little evidence their herds intact amidst the most widespread that numbers will start growing again. drought in 58 years. Producers face record-high An initial estimate of 2012’s decline in numfeed costs this winter and there’s no certainty bers comes from the highly respected Livestock that grass conditions will improve dramatiMarketing Information Center (LMIC). It forecally next spring. Calf and feeder cattle prices casts that the January 1, 2013, herd inventory are on the rise due to the shrinking cattle supmight total 89 million head, down about 1.725 ply. The number of calves and feeder cattle million head from last January’s 90.769 million outside feedlots on October 1 was estimated head. This would be the second two per cent to be down about 550,000 head from the same decline in successive years and the lowest U.S. date last year. But cattle-feeding losses are large cattle population in 58 years. and forced cattle feeders to sharply reduce their The decline in the U.S. beef cow herd in placement of cattle into feedlots in both August 2012 will be at a slower and September. rate than in 2011, says Cattle feeders will LMIC. So it expects remain under severe beef cow numbers next pressure to find catThe Livestock Marketing January to be about tle to fill pens. They Information Centre forecasts supplemented their 29.4 million head. This would represent an in 2011 and Jan. 1, 2013 herd inventory numbers annual drop of 475,000 through part of 2012 to 500,000 head (-1.6 with cattle forced to at 89 million head… the per cent). But all major move due to drought, lowest U.S. cattle population both in the U.S. and categories reported by USDA, such as dairy northern Mexico. Up in 58 years cows and the calf crop, to 1.2 million young should also post yearMexican feeder cattle on-year declines, it says. It expects dairy cow are expected to come north this year. But this numbers to fall by one per cent or 105,000 means far fewer will be exported in 2013. head and the 2012 calf crop to decline by 2.4 This and the loss of 948,000 beef cows in per cent or more than 800,000 head.

Texas and Oklahoma in 2011 will put considerHow much the beef cow herd and total able pressure on Southern Plains feedlots’ and inventory will be down will depend mostly on packing plants’ ability to operate efficiently. beef cow slaughter levels this fall quarter, says Total U.S. cattle slaughter for the year to OctoLMIC’s Jim Robb. Drought, high feed costs and ber 12 was estimated at 25.530 million head. other factors will continue to influence deciThis was down 2.0 per cent or 1.118 million sions made by cattle producers. LMIC considers head from the same period in 2011. This decline other relationship factors and data into its estiis the equivalent of the annual throughput of a mates of cow herd changes, says Robb. These large packing plant. A similar decline in 2013 include slaughter of Canadian cows in the U.S. could put a plant out of business. and how many heifers become cows during the year. Importantly, as of July 1, USDA reported Cattle Buyers Weekly covers the North American meat that heifers held for beef cow replacement purand livestock industry. For subscription information, poses were at the same low drought-induced contact Steve Kay at P.O. Box 2533, Petaluma, Calif. 94953, or at 707-765-1725, or go to www. level as in 2011 and were the lowest since the cattlebuyersweekly.com. survey began in 1973. These statistics indicate

52 Cattlemen / November 2012

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

STRAIGHT FROM THE HIP

Slow down and wait for your soul

A

s an Albertan, I can connect with this little phrase.

Certainly in history, such as during the Roman Empire, regions and nations had periods of exponential growth. China is the fastest-growing nation on earth today in terms of domestic spending and development. Internally the saying, “China, please slow down to wait for your soul,” resounds among traditionalists.

As China emerges as a consumer of goods it is important to understand the population dynamic. The consuming public in China can be broken down into three subsets. The 18 per cent of people who were part of the Cultural Revolution are frugal in their spending and unlikely to change. They remember government control and old traditions. And like the small, elderly subset, the “open door “generation remembers Mao and respects direct connections to the past. They are however very much enjoying the present and have real spending power. As an example, the growth in car sales is the result of spending by the open door population. The third group is the free spirit population which represents 43 per cent of the spending population. Their parents are largely urban and they are very class sensitive. They also tend to spend wildly without consideration of the long-term financial responsibility.

The free spirit population also has access to education outside of China and is taking advantage of this opportunity. Today, 450,000 students experience international education and over 100 million will take vacations outside of China. These highly communicative Chinese are very Internet dependent and use social media as a way of verifying product credibility. They are not interested in government jobs and that is seen in the trend away from public-sector employment as only two per cent of the people work directly for government compared to 87.3 per cent just 30 years ago.

The fact that the current leader has not appointed a successor is an indication that the Chinese political system is changing. The current political strategic plan is the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) and leans toward the need to balance a domestic demand-led service economy which is uncharted for the Chinese government. The slowing of the world economy and the infrastructure needs within China will temper growth but the Chinese remain committed to the market-based economy that began in 1978.

In 1978 the per capita income was under US$100.

By 2003 it had moved to $1,024. Since then per capita income has increased to $4,200. This has resulted in a buying power never seen before in China and has allowed for a surge in the middle class and more domestic and international investment. Average wages have also appreciated from 50 cents per hour in 2000 to $4.50 per hour today. Even with the wage increase

54 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

China remains competitive in manufacturing when you compare it to Canada where the average hourly wage is now $22.

The urbanization of China continues. Seventy per cent of the population of 1.3 billion will be living in cities by the year 2015. This has huge implications for retail, trade and food logistics as more than 122 cities house over one million people. Retail is often owned by foreign companies such as RT-Mart out of Taiwan with $9.8 billion in sales, Carrefour from France with $7.0 billion and Walmart, U.S. that captured $6.1 billion in sales last year. The consuming public is split between high-end and discount. High-end goods such as those carried by the LVMH group are sought by both the open door and free spirit generations. Not only are the Chinese looking to trade up in life they are looking for quality goods and high-end brands.

China is now challenged to connect with its own people. As students travel overseas and then return home, they are ready to start and grow private businesses. This is new to the Chinese government, which cannot keep up with the pace of commerce. Food inspection and food quality control can be non-existent and inspection is handled by the army that must respond to over 400,000 food processors. Access to information, technology and travel is now governing China as the Internet makes for a borderless shopping experience.

For the average Chinese, Canada is seen as an inexpensive place to live, buy goods, visit or invest. They have interests in many Canadian resources including food, land, water and oil and cannot identify roadblocks of any significance. They also see Canadian product — both raw and value added as cheap goods and that includes beef. How we respond to this as an industry and capture the open door and free spirit population is a challenge.

The Chinese are in a rush to climb the global social ladder and they show their intent through brand buying. Brands are the gig in China. In less than 10 years over 600 Starbucks have opened in 62 cities. Highend brands like Louis Vuitton sell out in hours and more luxury cars will be introduced into China than anywhere else on earth. It is clear that the Chinese are not slowing down to wait for their soul as they are captivated by their buying power. Capturing the open door and free spirit generations will require both “face value” and high-end technology to successfully do business in China.

— Brenda Schoepp Brenda Schoepp is a market analyst and the owner and author of BEEFLINK, a national beef cattle market newsletter. A professional speaker and industry market and research consultant, she ranches near Rimbey, Alta. Contact her at brenda.schoepp@cciwireless.ca or visit www.brendaschoepp. com. All rights reserved 2012.

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

WELSH BLACK SELECT FEMALE SALE

NOVEMBER 24,2012 1:00 PM OLDS AUCTION MART, OLDS, AB.

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• Arlin Strohschein

403.442.4372

• Tyson Mitchell

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403.556.3655 306.421.0145 403.443.8492

BEEF WATCH A service for cattle producers from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and CATTLEMEN magazine

56 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

CANADIAN CATTLE INVENTORIES July 1 (1,000 head) 2011 2012

12 vs 11

12 vs 05

226.5

228.6

0.9%

-21.5%

Beef Cows

3,954.20

3,957.90

0.1%

-27.2%

Dairy Cows

958.6

953.8

-0.5%

-7.0%

Dairy Heifers

475.3

478.1

0.6%

-5.8%

Beef Heifers (brdng.)

640

662.2

3.5%

-21.3%

Beef Heifers (sltr.)

1,210.30

1,201.40

-0.7%

-8.0%

Steers

1,631.60

1,614.70

-1.0%

-2.6%

Calves

4,433.50

4,423.30

-0.2%

-23.9%

Total

13,530.00

13,520.00

-0.1%

-19.9%

Bulls

Canadian Beef Heifers (Breeding) July 1 1.10

1.00

0.90

0.80

0.70

12

09

06

03

00

97

94

91

88

85

0.50

82

0.60

79

Total cattle inventories on July 1 were down 0.1 per cent at 13.52 million head. There were significant revisions to inventories over the last five years as they were brought in line with the 2011 Agriculture Census. Beef cow numbers were up 0.1 per cent from 2011 at 3.96 million head to be 27 per cent below the 2005 peak.

Beef cows in British Columbia were up 0.2 per cent in 2012 to 196,700 head. B.C. inventories are now the smallest on record in that province (series started in 1976). Alberta was steady at 1.57 million head, similar to 1994 levels. Saskatchewan was up 1.1 per cent in 2012 at 1.18 million head, similar to levels in 2000. Saskatchewan had previously been thought to have been impacted the least during the liquidation and while that is still the case the decline is much larger than originally thought. Manitoba was down 0.6 per cent to 493,700 head, with inventories now similar to 1995 levels.

Ontario was up 0.1 per cent to 285,100 head; like B.C. this is the smallest on record for Ontario. Quebec was down 4.7 per cent in 2012 to 180,400 head. This is the smallest beef cow inventory in Quebec since 1990.

Provinces that continue to see declines in beef inventories include: Quebec (-4.7 per cent), Manitoba (-0.6 per cent) and the Atlantic provinces (-0.2 per cent). Provinces that are stable or increasing include: Saskatchewan (+1.1 per cent), B.C. (+0.2 per cent), Ontario (+0.1 per cent) and Alberta (zero per cent).

Beef breeding heifers were up 3.5 per cent at 662,200 head. This is still 11 per cent below the long-term average of 747,000 head. Right now breeding heifer numbers are still only large enough to offset the regular culling of cows. As with beef cow numbers, increases in breeding heifers tell a mixed story with some provinces replacing cows with heifers to stay stable and others taking the first small steps towards expansion. In descending order: Saskatchewan (+6 per cent), Manitoba (+4.6 per cent), Quebec (+5.4 per cent), Alberta (+2.4 per cent), B.C. (+2.3 per cent), Atlantic (+1.4 per cent) and Ontario (-1.4 per cent).

The 2012 calf crop was down 0.2 per cent after a 1.5 per cent decline in 2011, 3.1 per cent decline in 2010, and 6.1 per cent decline in 2009. A relatively stable calf crop should mean only moderate declines in fed cattle numbers as we move into 2013.

While calf numbers are down 23.9 per cent from 2005, steers (>1 yr.) are down only 2.6 per cent and heifers (both breeding and for slaughter) are down only 13.2 per cent from 2005. While there should be a difference, it should actually be the opposite direction with the decline in steers and heifers being larger than the decline in calf numbers.

76

Canadian herd stable

This would be caused by feeder exports, which were zero in the first half of 2005 as the border was closed, but have resumed since then and were 104,000 head in the first half of 2012. This skews the feeder supply outside of feedlots (beef only), which is up 0.7 per cent from 2011 and down only 19 per cent from 2005. Calf numbers would imply a smaller number would be more appropriate. Look for adjustments in the January numbers with fewer cattle on feed.

The Canadian cattle industry is now in what is considered the consolidation phase of the cattle cycle. This is a phase where national inventories are stable for two to three years before expansion occurs. Things commonly seen during this phase are producers continuing to leave the business, while other producers start to expand their herd. This all depends on the situation with individual operations, regional feed availability and available financing. Given what the industry has been through over the last 10 years and current factors, including significantly higher and more volatile feed costs and higher breeding heifer prices that require more equity from young producers looking to expand, this consolidation phase is expected to be longer than in other cycles potentially lasting four years.

Million Head

The July 1 cattle inventory reports showed a stable Canadian herd but no indication that expansion was on the horizon. Look for inventories to be stable again in 2013.

With the drought in the U.S. spreading from the south to the Corn Belt, impacting the majority of the country, cow-calf producers are struggling to prevent further reductions in their beef engine.

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

NOV E MBE R 2012 U.S. herd still contracting

U.S. Beef Replacement Heifer Inventory

Total Cattle All Cows Beef Cows Dairy Cows Heifers >500 lbs.

Beef rep. heifers Dairy rep. heifers Other heifers Steers >500 lbs.

Bulls >500 lbs.

Calves <500 lbs.

Calf crop Cattle on Feed

4,200 4,100 7,400 14,000 1,900 26,500 34,500 12,300

Source: USDA

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

4,200 4,200 7,600 14,200 2,000 27,200 35,313 12,200

8000 7500 7000 6500 6000 5500 5000 4500 4000 3500

73

76

79

82

85

88

91

94

97

00

03

06

09

12

CYCLE INDICATORS Cow-culling rate steady in 2012 Cow slaughter was down nine per cent in 2012, seven per cent in the East and 10 per cent in the West. Cows as a percentage of total slaughter at 17.2 per cent is steady with 2011 (17.5 per cent). During the expansion phase from 1999 to 2005 cows made up less than 15 per cent of total slaughter. In order to see expansion with current levels of cow slaughter, heifer retention will have to increase significantly and would need to be above the long-term average.

Exports of cows to the U.S. are projected to end 2012 up 16 per cent around 130,500 head with larger volumes being exported from Eastern Canada following the closure of the Levinoff/Colbex cow plant in Quebec. Cow marketings for 2012 are projected to be down 2.2 per cent at 640,000 head.

The beef cow-culling rate is projected to be 9.35 per cent in 2012 down only slightly from 9.57 per cent in 2011 as the herd remains steady.

Canadian Beef Cow-Culling Rate 18% 20-yr. avg. = 10%

16% 14% 12%

U.S. CATTLE INVENTORIES July 1, 2012 (1,000 head) 2012 2011 97,800 100,000 39,700 40,600 30,500 31,400 9,200 9,200 15,700 16,000

July 1 8500

Thousand Head

The USDA reported total cattle inventories on July 1 at 97.8 million head, down two per cent from a year ago. This is the smallest U.S. inventory since reporting began in 1973. Smaller numbers were expected following the drought in southern states last year being followed by drought this summer in the Corn Belt and other regions that received the cattle. Beef cow numbers were down 2.9 per cent from last year to a record low 30.5 million and have shrunk eight per cent in the last five years. Dairy cow numbers were steady with a year ago, but have actually increased a modest 0.5 per cent over the last five years. Overall, cow slaughter in the U.S. is down four per cent with beef cow slaughter in 2012 down four per cent, while dairy cow slaughter is up six per cent as the dairy industry has been hard hit by higher feed costs. Slaughter numbers this summer wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t show up until the next inventory report, expectations are for steady to smaller numbers on January 1, 2013.

Replacement beef heifers were even with a year ago at 4.2 million, but remain record small with no indication producers are looking to stabilize the national herd. Given shrinking cow numbers and smaller calf crops, it is interesting to note the only category that was actually larger than a year ago was the total cattle-on-feed inventory. Drought spread throughout the U.S. in 2012, severely impacting the Corn Belt states.

Consequently cattle are coming off of pasture early as conditions deteriorate, and early weaning is occurring.

Calves and feeders outside of feedlots are down approximately 3.3 per cent from a year ago, and down 7.8 per cent from five years ago. A lack of heifer retention has kept this change in feeders from being more dramatic. In 2007, there were 4.7 million beef heifers being retained, and if we had seen this same retention level this year, calves and feeders outside of feedlots would be down over 4.6 per cent from a year ago and nine per cent from five years ago. With the ongoing drought in the U.S. and the most current report indicating no meaningful level of heifer retention, herd expansion in the U.S. will be put off for at least another year. This combined with strong cow slaughter implies that calf supplies will continue to decrease for another two to three years; and potentially longer as beef cow numbers search for a bottom in the U.S.

10%

% of Year ago 98% 98% 97% 100% 98% 100% 98% 97% 99% 95% 97% 98% 101%

8% 6% 4% 2% 0%

80

83

86

89

92

95

98

01

04

07

10

Cow prices have been strong in 2012, trading above yearago levels for most of the year. Prices dropped sharply from around $80/cwt in August to $63/cwt in September. By the beginning of October E. coli concerns had consumers shying away from ground beef and packers backing off demand for cows. Food safety concerns tend to have a lasting impact with reduced volumes sold at lower prices. How long it lasts varies with every case. Cow prices last fall averaged $67/cwt Continued on page 58 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012 57

BEEF WATCH

REPLACEMENT RATIOS

Continued from page 57

with the low of $63/cwt coming in early November. Despite tracking above year ago for most of 2012, we are expected to be below 2011 prices in the fourth quarter with a potential of reaching the mid-$50s.

Heifer retention Heifer slaughter is down four per cent in 2012, 12 per cent in the East and two per cent in the West. Heifer exports are down eight per cent, the same as steer exports with heifers continuing to make up 41 per cent of fed cattle exports. Heifer marketings are projected to come in at 1.1 million head in 2012 down 5.5 per cent from year ago while steer marketings are projected to be down 3.7 per cent at 1.7 million head.

The heifer slaughter ratio provides the number of heifers slaughtered for every 100 steers. At 67 in 2012 this is steady with 2011 and similar to 1996. The heifer slaughter ratio ranged between 63 and 69 from 2002 to 2005. The herd can expand with high levels of heifer slaughter if cow marketings are lower yet. The female-to-male disposal ratio (slaughter + exports - imports of all classes of cattle) gives a good indication on this combined ratio. With the long-term average of one female being slaughtered for every male, up slightly from the 0.99 in 2011, this indicates the Canadian herd is steady in 2012 with no growth occurring.

Replacement ratios show how much higher feeder cattle are per pound of fed cattle. The lower the ratio the fewer the dollars are feedlot needs to replace an animal. Conversely a higher ratio implies the feedlot must pay more per pound to replace an animal. Consequently a higher ratio has negative implications on feedlot profitability. It should be noted that the replacement ratio does not take into account changes in feed costs, which has a significant impact on a willingness of a feedlot to pay for replacement cattle.

While all categories had higher replacement ratios compared to last year steer calves were up the least at 1.46 and heifer calves at 1.41 were up the most. The western yearling steer replacement ratio in third-quarter 2012 was 1.30, up from 1.28 last year. Yearling heifers at 1.27 were up from 1.24 last year.

Replacement Price Ratio

(Replacement cattle price divided by slaughter price)

YEAR QUARTER 2009

Canadian Female-to-Male Disposal Ratio Slaughter + Exports - Imports (All Classes)

1.3

2010

1.2

20-yr. average = 1.00

1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8

2011

0.7 0.6 75

79

83

87

91

95

99

03

07

11

Bred heifer trade has been thin in 2012 with prices cooling off in some areas but could move to more reasonable levels this fall as calf prices are expected to be closer to last year than original estimates suggested. The overall average estimated price for breeding cattle is higher this year than last as optimism is still present in the industry.

Prices and profitability The feeder market dropped sharply in the beginning of July as concerns about the U.S. drought and its impact on feed grain prices sent corn rocketing higher. Alberta 550-lb. steer calf prices averaged $4.80/cwt higher than 2011 in August and September at $155/cwt. Last fall fourth-quarter calf prices averaged $7-$8/cwt higher than the August-September average; this fall prices will struggle to stay steady if the XL Lakeside plant remains closed for any length of time.

If calf prices are able to stay steady with the August-September level this would still put producers solidly in the black around $125-$135/cow up from $70-$80 in 2011.

While the price of calves may be only modestly higher, lower break-evens are supporting margins. Lower hay prices 58 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

2012

Q1 EAST WEST Q2 EAST WEST Q3 EAST WEST Q4 EAST WEST Q1 EAST WEST Q2 EAST WEST Q3 EAST WEST Q4 EAST WEST Q1 EAST WEST Q2 EAST WEST Q3 EAST WEST Q4 EAST WEST Q1 EAST WEST Q2 EAST WEST Q3 EAST WEST

Heifer calves

Steer calves

Yearling Yearling Shortkeep heifers steers steers

(400500 lb.)

(500600 lb.)

(600700 lb.)

(700800 lb.)

(800900 lb.)

1.04 1.12 1.14 1.22 1.23 1.27 1.26 1.22 1.20 1.24 1.16 1.21 1.23 1.30 1.35* 1.35 1.32 1.36 1.22 1.35 1.26 1.39 1.32 1.37 1.28 1.48* 1.35 1.47 1.34 1.41

1.15 1.27 1.21 1.32 1.27 1.34 1.33 1.34 1.32 1.38 1.27 1.33 1.29 1.37 1.39 1.39 1.40 1.43 1.31 1.44 1.31 1.45 1.35 1.40 1.37 1.57* 1.43* 1.56 1.40 1.46

1.02 1.06 1.10 1.13 1.13 1.18 1.13 1.12 1.11 1.14 1.12 1.13 1.16 1.20 1.20 1.18 1.20 1.19 1.15 1.22 1.17 1.24 1.16 1.17 1.19 1.27 1.25* 1.29* 1.24 1.27

1.04 1.13 1.12 1.18 1.16 1.24 1.17 1.21 1.15 1.21 1.15 1.16 1.18 1.25 1.21 1.23 1.22 1.20 1.18 1.23 1.18 1.28 1.17 1.23 1.21 1.31 1.27* 1.32* 1.24 1.30

1.01 1.08 1.07 1.10 1.15 1.18 1.14 1.16 1.11 1.15 1.10 1.09 1.14 1.18 1.15 1.17 1.16 1.14 1.11 1.13 1.16 1.21 1.16 1.17 1.15 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.24* 1.23*

*Record highs, East and West

last fall reduced average cow winter feeding costs by six to seven per cent and consequently the break-evens for calves this fall. Although profitability has improved, cow-calf profits are still lower than initially expected because of the higher grain prices and a challenging demand situation following the largest beef recall in Canadian history. Even this modest profit is expected to rebuild equity to the point where producers will be more interested in retaining heifers next summer. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Beef Watch is prepared by the staff of Canfax and Canfax Research Services, divisions of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association

Looking forward, winter feed costs this fall will depend on local hay prices. While hay has been abundant in most western regions, trucks are moving south to drought-stricken areas of the U.S. Alberta Cow-Calf Accumulated Equity

2005, beef production is only down 16 per cent. Productivity gains have been significant with carcass weights up 40 lbs. over that time, replacing over 150,000 head. If domestic and international demand does not strengthen to support higher cattle prices further reductions in inventories could occur.

$700

% of Beef Production Exported

■ 1,200 lb. Cow ■ 1,500 lb. Cow

$600

(including live slaughter cattle exports)

$500

70%

$400 60%

$300 $200

57% 50%

49% 49%

50% 40% 41%

43%

43%

45%

47%

48% 45%

44%

39% 39%

40% 36%

$0 - $10

50%

49%

48%

47%

$100

58%

30% 91

93

95

97

99

01

03

05

07

09

26% 26%

11 19% 20%

20% 15%

Production and implications on future trade Inventories are a proxy for the cattle cycle. It is total supplies of beef that actually drive the cattle cycle. This means despite a 27 per cent decline in beef cow inventories since

10%

0%

7% 5%

80

83

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2 1 Nutrition Comment Research Special features 5 4 3 2 1 Newsmakers Letters Calving Issue (Jan.) CCA Reports Custom Feedlot Guide (Sep.) Prime Cuts Stock Buyers’ Guide (Aug.) Straight From The Hip Animal Health Special (Sep.) Holistic Ranching Beef Watch (May & Nov.) What would you like to see? __________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ How much time do you and your family spend reading 1666 Dublin Avenue Canadian Cattlemen?  Under 2 hours  Over 2 hours Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1

CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012 59

C C A

T Martin Unrau is president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association

r e p o r t s

he temporary closure of the XL Foods Inc. processing facility due to E. coli 0157:H7 has had a significant impact on Canada’s beef cattle industry. The level of uncertainty cattle producers faced while XL and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) doggedly went through their process, coming as it did at the worst possible time for the industry, tempered a lot of the optimism out there for a gainful fall calf run. Still, cattle producers are a resilient bunch and most adjusted fairly quickly to the unexpected market conditions, with a nearly threefold increase in western Canadian exports heading south in recent weeks. While this adjustment, along with Cargill responding by ramping up production at its plant in High River, chipped away at the backlog of cattle, cattle producers were still smarting over the larger issue of what happens to the market when a plant responsible for 30 to 40 per cent of Canadian slaughter capacity is idled by operational issues. During this period of uncertainty, producers weren’t so much focused on who owned the plant; what mattered most was that the plant get up and running and return to producing safe, high-quality Canadian beef.

This is why the entry of JBS USA into the Canadian marketplace is such good news for producers. JBS USA has the experience, depth and resources to effectively manage a large facility. Their sophisticated knowledge of modern beef-harvesting management as well as extensive worldwide beef-marketing network will be a valuable asset for the entire Canadian beef sector.

Once the XL facility is relicensed and operational, it will have the capacity to process 4,000 head of cattle per day. If that isn’t closure to the XL ordeal, I don’t know what is.

JBS USA took over management of the beefharvesting and -processing operations at Brooks, Alta., in mid-October. Under the deal it struck with XL Foods, JBS USA was granted an exclusive option to purchase the Canadian and U.S. operations of XL Foods. If JBS USA exercises its option and buys the bulk of XL’s operations, the Canadian cattle industry is heading into some interesting new territory.

While some might say that we’re right back in the same scenario we were before, with two multinational corporations running two large plants in Western Canada, few within the industry would suggest that the recent difficulties we saw with the XL closure around a backlog of cattle is due to a lack of slaughter capacity. Large scale plants like those at Brooks longago made the business decision to make the substantial investment in worldclass food safety systems, a cost many smaller processors found so prohibitive that they opted to get out of the business instead of modernizing their plants.

Options and opportunity are important ele-

60 Cattlemen / November 2012

by Martin Unrau

ments of the industry. During the temporary closure of the XL plant, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) was active behind the scenes pursuing a number of options and opportunities regarding the movement of live cattle.

The CCA actively engaged with processors in Canada and in the U.S. regarding their ability to take more Canadian cattle. In addition to the expansion at Cargill High River, across Canada the CCA saw opportunity for increased domestic processing capacity.

In the U.S., the CCA pursued discussions with processors about their ability to accommodate an increase in processing and, where applicable, the logistics of processing Canadian cattle.

With more cattle heading south, and the potential to send more yet, transportation logistics became a critical component to manage. The CCA worked with industry partners to identify ways to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is available.

The CCA worked with Canada Beef Inc., the Canadian Meat Council and other industry stakeholders on a communications response plan to monitor consumer confidence due to the E. coli issue at XL. Early polling indicated that consumers were understandably concerned about food safety but that their concern was not impacting their decision to buy beef. Retail partners indicated that they weren’t seeing any pushback at the meat counter — but that consumers were asking a lot of questions. Most consumers understood the role that proper food handling and cooking play in safeguarding against this common pathogen that can be present in raw meat, poultry, unpasteurized milk and fruit juices, raw greens and vegetables, and contaminated water.

On behalf of the CCA, I would like to thank consumers for their continued support of Canadian beef as the industry moves forward from this event. Cattle producers strongly support the ultimate objective of reducing, and if possible eliminating, E. coli related illness associated with beef. This includes providing financial support for research into types of interventions which can be used at slaughter facilities.

Interestingly, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) notes that in recent years, an average of about 440 cases of a certain type of E. coli infection was reported annually in Canada. The number of total cases of E. coli 0157 in 2011 was half that reported in 2006 (the 2011 incident rate was 1.39 per 100,000; in 2006 it was 2.99 per 100,000). The 2012 data is undergoing validation but indicates a continued downward trend.

Canada has an excellent food safety record and the incident at XL Foods demonstrates a commitment by industry to ensure food safety remains paramount as we move forward. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

BUILDING TRUST IN CANADIAN BEEF

Standards drive this expanding national beef operation Jim Martin gets a window on innovative approaches on Ontario’s Manitoulin Island This is cattle country. At least in Jim Martin’s view that’s what the numbers would tell you about Ontario’s Manitoulin Island. While Ontario’s overall numbers have varied substantially with land prices, droughts and feed grain prices, the Island cattle numbers have held fairly firm.

Martin, the cattle manager at a new enterprise in the region, the Blue Goose Cattle Company, is a longtime resident and big-time believer in the Island cattle economy. The arrival of Blue Goose and a new abattoir about to open are two reasons for even more enthusiasm for the region.

Blue Goose is a B.C.-based operation based on strict production standards producing what the company describes as a “clean protein.” The product is organic with a focus on environmental and animal-care practices. The pasture-to-plate production process culminates in a branded beef product.

Growth plan The plan for the northern Ontario operation was to have 400 cows and finishing all the offspring, says Martin. But it is more likely the program will be much larger, perhaps as many as 1,000 cows. Product would be moved mainly to the Greater Toronto Area.

A new abattoir is a key part of the puzzle. Built as a not-forprofit corporation by 50-plus local producers, it is designed to Ontario’s Jim Mar tin is head- handle about 20 head ing up a value chain geared for a day at maximum Toronto markets, using VBP as a capacity but more likely will see about base for production standards.

40 head a week. Financial support also came from the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food’s Rural Economic Development program, FedNor, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, several local municipalities, and one First Nation.

For so many years we have had to move cattle off the Island to process them, says Martin. “Now we can process the cattle locally and we are not that far away from a market of five million people.”

VBP role All of this, says Martin, fits well with Canada’s Verified Beef Production Program (VBP). On farm, Blue Goose has a cattle identification system that tracks all vaccinations and health records. VBP complements the organic process, he’s found.

“Most organic certification programs have some specific audit standards, but the VBP program fits well,” he says.

While some organic certification starts when a calf reaches finishing period, VBP goes right from day one of an animal’s life.

“When you are VBP audited you can say to potential consumers we’ve done the highest standards we can do on farm voluntarily. VBP says it’s on paper, and in our case, every staff member has participated in a VBP workshop.”

With four staff, communications is important. The operation uses handwritten records, and staff are trained in their responsibilities. “We review things bimonthly with everybody and with some of them monthly,” he says. “One of the best things about the VBP program is that it is so user friendly. It’s not that it is too simple, just that it is in cattle-friendly terms.”

Consumer first Martin believes most producers understand that the consumer expects us to be doing these things.

“It’s not something we need to be paid extra for. Producers know when they shop themselves that they expect certain things have been done, that the product is brought to the retail as safe as possible.”

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NEWS ROUNDUP SEEDSTOCK CANADIAN ANGUS OFFERS ENHANCED EPD The Canadian Angus Association (CAA), which maintains the registry for Black and Red Angus cattle, is introducing genomically enhanced expected progeny differences (EPDs) in Canada.

CAA breed development director Kajal Devani confirmed in mid-October that agreements were in place with Pfizer Animal Genomics and the Red Angus Association of America to offer the 50K high-density Red Angus panel for $139 per animal.

The same arrangement is in place to offer the Pfizer 50K high-density Black Angus panel as well as with Igenity to offer the 386 Angus-specific panel for Black Angus for $85, pending approval from the American Angus Association.

The Red Angus Association of America runs the EPDs for Red Angus cattle registered with the CAA, while the American Angus Association runs the EPDs for CAA members’ Black Angus cattle.

For a limited time, from November 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013, CAA members can take advantage of special pricing to get two tests for the price of one. This offer has been made possible with funding secured by the CAA and Livestock Gentec from the Agriculture Innovates Program.

“This will give members an opportunity to test the value of using genomically enhanced EPDs in their own herds and demonstrate to Cana-

dian beef leaders that having access to more accurate information will allow breeders to reach breed improvement goals faster,” Devani explains.

EPDs predict how the future progeny of an animal will perform relative to the progeny of other animals in the same breed. They are based on an animal’s own performance and performance records of parents, half-sibs, sibs and progeny compared to other animals within a contemporary group.

EPDs are then calculated using complex statistical procedures twice a year.

Adding genomic information to the performance and pedigree information will increase the accuracy of EPDs for young sires by approximately 30 per cent. This is the equivalent of approximately 10 progeny before one is even on the ground.

The CAA has been watching with interest since the American Angus Association introduced genomically enhanced EPDs almost four years ago and is now confident that they will be of value to its own members.

IDENTIFICATION CATTLE TRACKING DATABASE UPDATED FOR DISEASE TRACEBACK The process of registering a cattle operation for a premises ID number has changed in several provinces after the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) updated its livestock tracking system’s traceback capability.

The CCIA described the update

to its Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) database as a “significant” development, designed to help producers and food safety officials contain and eradicate outbreaks of animal disease.

The update is designed to address each province’s and territory’s position on managing and generating premises ID numbers for livestock operators and agribusinesses that commingle animals.

The industry’s implementation plan calls for CCIA to enhance the CLTS database to accept, integrate and validate all premises ID numbers regardless of where it originated before Dec. 31, 2013.

As of October 12 producers and businesses that commingle cattle in British Columbia, the Yukon, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island will need to get a provincial/territorial premises identification number (PID) from the appropriate provincial authority in order to register their operation in the CLTS database.

Alberta producers are already required to get a provincial PID to register their premises in the CLTS database, so there is no change for them.

Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut don’t require a provincial PID so the CLTS database will continue to generate PIDs for users in those regions.

CCIA’s general manager Brian Caney said in a release the updates were made “with the understanding that a strong and credible livestock Continued on page 64

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traceability system is essential to ensure Canada remains a leading producer and marketer of beef domestically and internationally.”

policy ten Sask. community pastures to be turned over in late 2013 Cattle producers now using 10 federally operated community pastures in Saskatchewan will need to be ready to run them in 2014, while a community pasture in southern Alberta will be returned to the army.

The federal government has listed the first 10 Saskatchewan community pastures to be transferred to the provincial government at the end of the 2013 grazing season in November next year to become “patron-controlled” operations in 2014.

Listed for transfer are the Excel, Keywest and Estevan-Cambria pastures in the Weyburn district; the Wolverine and McCraney pastures in the Watrous district; the Fairview and Newcombe pastures in the Rosetown district; the Park pasture (North Battleford district); Lone Tree pasture (Swift Current); and Ituna Bon Accord pasture (Foam Lake district).

STAMPEDE By Jerry Palen

“Lady, I could fix everything like new and it’d still be a wreck.”

64 Cattlemen / November 2012

The initial list of 10 pastures stems from the federal government’s plans, in its April 2012 budget, to divest all 87 of its community pasture sites (61 in Saskatchewan, 24 in Manitoba, two in Alberta) by 2018.

The community pasture on Canadian Forces Base Suffield, northwest of Medicine Hat, Alta., will be closed in 2014 and revert to the control of the Department of National Defence.

The first 10 sites in Saskatchewan were picked mainly because of the interest expressed in keeping them open by local patrons. Land titles and oil and gas activity were also considered by the province in putting together the list.

Patrons will have an opportunity to own or lease the pastures, and the province said it will work with Farm Credit Canada “to develop workable financing options for patron groups interested in purchasing their pasture.”

“Patrons have had cattle grazing these pastures for years; they know this land better than anyone else; they are our best environmental stewards; and they will continue to have access to these lands which are important to their businesses,” said provincial Ag Minister Lyle Stewart.

The province’s recommended principles for transferring the land calls for each pasture to be maintained as a block. Any sales would be based on market value and any sale of native prairie land would be subject to no-break and no-drain conservation easements.

“In addition, the federal Species At Risk Act is enforced on both privately and publicly owned land and will continue to be in effect on these pastures,” the province noted.

All that said, the Agriculture Union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents staff at several federal ag operations, argued the announcement “raises more questions than answers.”

“For example, the release from the provincial government says patrons will be able to lease the land, but fails to say from whom,” union regional vice-president Milton Dyck said in a separate release.

Furthermore, he said of the province’s aim to sell the land based on market value, the pastures “will command something approaching $1 billion at market rates. That’s a price tag that no rancher I know can afford.”

Other users of the pastures, such as hunters, riders and naturalists, are also “concerned about continued access to the pastures. No one wants them sold,” Dyck said.

Aaron Ivey, chair of the patron advisory committee for the Ituna Bon Accord site, said in the province’s release he believes ranchers “will welcome the opportunity to take more control of their pastures at a local level. This transition can ensure they have access to the grazing into the future.”

The community pastures across the West had been the federal Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration’s (PFRA) biggest and longest-running soil conservation program on the Prairies, set up in the 1930s to reclaim badly eroded soils.

They now cover over 2.2 million acres of rangeland, used each summer by about 3,100 producers, who pay fees to graze about 220,000 head of livestock.

The pasture program “has achieved its original goal,” the federal government said, in having returned almost 360,000 acres of “poor-quality cultivated lands” to grass cover.

But Fabian Murphy, first executive vice-president with the Agriculture Union-PSAC described Ottawa’s divestiture of the pastures as “a classic case of the federal government thumbing its nose at the province by handing off responsibility for these lands that have been under federal management for decades without meaningful consultation or regard for their significance to users or Canadians.”

feed Masterfeeds and Feed-Rite merge In mid-October Masterfeeds and Ridley Inc. agreed to merge their commercial livestock and poultry feed and nutrition businesses in Canada. The new firm will be based at London, Ont. under the name Masterfeeds LP. Ridley’s Canadian business operates under the Feed-Rite brand.

Terms of the deal, which are expected to be completed this month subject to regulators’ approval, call for the two companies to contribute “essentially all” their Canadian feed operating assets in exchange for relative shareholdings in Masterfeeds LP. In Feed-Rite’s case, those assets include plants at Winnipeg, Brandon and Grunthal in Manitoba, Saskatoon and Humboldt in Saskatchewan, and Fort Macleod and Linden in Alberta, Continued on page 66 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Find a better cellphone deal Instead of spending hours searching the web for the best cellphone deal and accepting one of the dealer’s packages and rates so you can get on with your own business, go to www.mycellphonemyterms.com and let the wireless dealers come to you.

It’s as easy as following the guidelines and tips on the myCELLmyTERMS (mCmT) website to create a proposal outlining the features you need and how much you are willing to pay for your wireless service, then the people behind mCmT shop it around to their dealer network.

That said, your expectations have to be within reason if you’re serious about getting bids. There’s a “help me choose” link on the website to give you an idea of hot deals that have been accepted in the past.

The dealers’ bids or counteroffers are received by mCmT, which ranks them side by side to compare each offer’s value to you. For example, one dealer might be willing to meet all of the requirements in your proposal,

while another could offer expanded services for only a little more than your ideal monthly fee.

There is no obligation to accept any of the offers and you have the option of placing a counteroffer, however, the expectation is that you will follow through if you do accept. Only after making your choice is your contact and personal information shared with the dealer and vice versa. The dealer will contact you to close the contract.

“So we’re like brokers or aggregators of all of the dealers’ offers,” says Ish Nabhan of Toronto, one of the co-founders of the web-based company.

MCmT receives a finders fee from the dealers for customers it brings their way, so it doesn’t cost a thing for individuals, families and businesses to create a proposal and have mCmT put it out there for offers. The participating dealers win because it’s an inexpensive way to expand their reach.

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MCmT does charge a fee to small- and medium-size business clients who want mCmT to take care of everything starting with a consultation and review of recent wireless service bills to create a customized proposal, to managing the bids and negotiating with the dealers, to evaluating the offers and making sure they get the best price or solution out there.

They’ve also added peace-of-mind plan for businesses that offers bill analysis to hold down costs, reductions in your bill as better plans come to market and avoidance of bill shock caused by unexpected charges that you thought were covered by your plan.

If it sounds like something from the TV show “Dragons’ Den,” you’re right. After pitching their idea on the show in October, 2009, dragons Arlene Dickinson and Brett Wilson made an offer to purchase 35 per cent of the company for cash and in-kind services.

To date, dealers for the major carriers in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are on board. It’s not yet available in Saskatchewan, Manitoba or the Atlantic provinces, “but we’re working on that,” says Nabhan.

While you’re checking out the details on the website, visit the cellphone blog to find answers to everything you ever wanted to know about Canadian wireless industry news, views and technology, along with reviews of the latest mobile devices.

Nabhan says November and December are the best months to get cellphone deals as the dealers have year-end targets to meet and are more likely to throw in some freebies. It’s a busy time for dealers, but the business volume gives them some leeway in pricing. That’s not as likely to happen during the slower summer months.

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Food safety

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New scanner reveals poor cleanup of bacteria A new technology being introduced into the Canadian food-processing industry may offer help in the battle to provide less cross-contamination of harmful bacteria. Called Bactiscan, it is a portable light source that can be used to scan food-processing equipment surfaces and show instantly areas where cleaning was not effective.

The device is marketed by Easytesters, an international technology company with Canadian operations headquartered in Calgary.

“The technology uses light in various wavebands which cause unclean surfaces to fluoresce somewhat,” says Easytesters spokesperson, Bob Holland. “Viewed in a neardark environment, it’s like the unclean area glows. It’s very easy to see where the cleaning has not been effective. Digital photographs can be used to document and compare the unclean surface before proper treatment and after.”

Currently, food-processing facilities use the internationally recognized Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedures to develop safe cleaning and reporting standards for their food-processing facilities, says Holland.

HACCP is a system that directs plant procedures for identifying chemical and biological foodborne concerns. Under HACCP, manufacturers’ procedures directly require staff to correct deficiencies.

The company says it has contracted the University of Alberta’s Agri-Food Discovery Place (AFDP) in Edmonton to test specific known substances on stainless steel surfaces to see how they appear under the Bactiscan light bands.

C www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Cattlemen / November 2012 67

purely purebred Suggestions are always welcome.

My phone number is 403-325-1695 Email: deb.wilson@ fbcpublishing.com

Deborah WILSON ◆ Gordon Stephenson of the Canadian Hereford Association, Rob Smith of the Canadian Angus Association, Anne Brunet-Burgess, Canadian Limousin Association and Doris Rempel of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council visited Russia and Kazakhstan in October to promote Canadian beef genetics, attend the Moscow Fall Show, government functions, livestock operations and visit with producers in both of those countries. ◆ After 11 years, Neil Gillies is no

longer with the Canadian Charolais Association as general manager, and has gone on to pursue other opportunities. As of press time no further information was available.

◆ The Canadian Beef Breeds Council

participated in the official opening of Livestock Consultative Centre, Orenburg, Russia in October. CBBC vicepresident, David Bolduc presented an overview of the Beef Value Chain in Canada and the role of the Canadian purebred cattle producers in this chain.

Also presenting were Gordon Stephenson, Canadian Hereford Association (CHA) and Dr. Roger Davis of DavisRairdan Embryos International. The CHA signed agreements of co-operation with the Russian National Kazakh White-Headed Breeders Association and the Russian National Hereford Breeders Association, and Xports International of Clearwater, Man., signed a contract with LLC Orenburg Ivolga for the delivery of genetics. The meetings included presentations by Yury Berg, government of Orenburg Oblast; Fred Gorrell, the deputy minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Fedorov Nicolay, minister of agriculture of the Russian Federation; Valery Kalashnikov, academic secretary for the department of zooltechny at the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Academician;

68 Cattlemen / November 2012

◆ The Old-timers picture for this issue is a group of show people. Can you tell who any of them are, where it is or approximately what year?

In the December issue I will let you know who was in the photos in our October super-size issue and this issue.

Sergey Miroshnikov, director of the AllRussia Research Institute of Beef Cattle Breeding, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Colin Jeffares, Alberta’s assistant deputy minister of agriculture and Sergey Solovyov, minister of agriculture, Food and Processing Industry of Orenburg Oblast. The meetings were followed by tours of ranches raising Kalmyk and Hereford cattle.

◆ While accompanying the CBBC

group in Russia and Kazakhstan, Canadian Angus Association director of field services Brian Good continued to keep his CEO, Rob Smith, abreast of happenings in Canada such as the record-setting dispersal sale by Soo-Line cattle company, the $3,200 average at the Prairieland dispersal in Manitoba, one of Canada’s very few 75+-year operations, and the $5,577 average at the Six Mile “Focus on Female” sale held by Clayton, Corinne, Callie, Cade and Coy Gibson at Fir Mountain, Sask.

◆ Rob Guildford, Xports Interna-

tional, and Garner Deobold, Hawkeye Land and Livestock will be travelling to Kazahkstan the end of November with some 280 head of Charolais cattle. There are 300 head in quarantine right now at Clearwater, Man. When the Kazahkstan delegation is in Canada for Canadian Western Agribition they will make their final selections for the shipment.

◆ The Canadian Beef Breeds Council

has named the chairs of five working committees and a Task Team to provide input and strategic direction for the council. The committees and chairs are; task force — Doug Fee; communications ­­— Rob Smith; member services — Neil Gillies; fundraising — Bruce Holmquist; strategic alliances — Byron Templeton; domestic and export marketing — David Bolduc.

◆ Olds Agricultural

Society’s 2012 Industry Leadership Award was presented at the Olds Fall Classic to Flewelling Cattle Co. of Bowden, Alta. Olds Agricultural Society also extended its congratulations to Mabel Hamilton Alberta Agriculture’s Hall of Fame Inductee Mabel Hamilton of Bowden, Alta.

◆ The Canadian Gelbvieh Association is gearing up for its 40th Anniversary celebrations at Canadian Western Agribition this month. This will also be the location of its national show for 2012 and its 40th Anniversary banquet on Nov. 21. ◆ The Olds College School of Business is pleased to announce that the Student Chapter of the Canadian Agri Marketing Association has been www.canadiancattlemen.ca

reconstituted at the college. The current executive is: president, Hilary Duenk (Agribusiness Degree Program); vicepresident, Colin Verbeek (Ag Management Program Y2); treasurer, Joanne Solverson (Agribusiness Degree Program).

Good to see that one of our Cattlemen’s Young Leaders, Joanne Solverson, is involved with the group.

◆ The Canadian Beef Breeds Council will be working with Agriteam Canada to develop an updated domestic and export development marketing plan. The plan is to be submitted to Canadian Cattlemen Market Development Council (CCMDC) in early January and will cover the period from April 1, 2013 to March 2014. CCMDC has approved a grant to the CBBC that will enable it to complete the plan.

It must be submitted by January 14, 2013.

The CCMDC administers the $80-million fund set up by the federal and Alberta government in 2005 to support longterm market development over a 10-year period. It is matched by the national and provincial checkoffs paid by producers. ◆ Erin Zatylny has resigned as communications co-ordinator of the Canadian Hereford Association (CHA) after nearly five years to take a position with a leading agricultural marketing and communications firm in Calgary. She was instrumental in the design and layout of The Canadian Hereford Digest purchased by the CHA in 2009 and is to be commended for developing the Digest into the magazine you see today. We wish her all the best in her new endeavours. ◆ Bova-Tech Ltd. (BTL), an internationally recognized embryo transplant company based in Airdrie, Alta., has been purchased by Dr. Andres Arteaga. Dr. Arteaga, who is from Mexico, has been involved in the Canadian embryo transfer industry since 2003 after he received a masters in veterinary science degree, specializing in Theriogenology, from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. BTL offers the beef and dairy industries in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba complete commercial embryo transplant services along with international export market opportunities. In-clinic care of donor and recipient cows will also be available from Earl and Jonathan Scott who recently opened Scott Stock Farm Bull and Heifer Development Centre near Crossfield, and Duncan Fleming and Justin Pittman of Fleming Stock Farms near Granum.

◆ Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Fall Forum:

On Oct. 18 and 19, the Fall Forum was held for the CYL group. Twelve CYL participants attended along with three guests, as well as Jolene Noble the new Cattlemen’s Young Leaders co-ordinator, Jill Harvie, assistant policy analyst for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and the force behind the creation of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program, Tricia Meaud of Alberta Livestock Meat Agency (ALMA), one of the foundation sponsors of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders, and myself. The forum kicked off the first day at the CCA offices in Calgary, with talks by CCA general manager of operations, Rob McNabb; Canada Beef’s stakeholder communications manager, Annemarie Pedersen; ALMA CEO, Gordon Cove; Beef Cattle Research Council science director, Reynold Bergen; Canfax manageranalyst, Brian Perrilat and Canadian Beef Grading Agency manager, Cindy Delaloye.

The group then loaded on a bus provided by the Alberta Continued on page 70

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Cattlemen / November 2012 69

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Cattle Feeders, and headed to the Cargill plant at High River. It was suggested that as an industry we should stop referring to it as a “kill plant” and start calling it a harvesting facility. Cargill is another one of the foundation sponsors of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program and served a fabulous lunch. Then it was on with the hard hats, steel-toed rubber boots and smocks to tour the facility. This tour couldn’t have been more timely in view of the E. coli shutdown of the XL plant at Brooks. The Young Leaders were told of the scientifically approved protocol followed by the workers at the Cargill plant when slaughtering and dealing with the carcasses on the production line. We saw workers who take pride in what they do and witnessed the detailed procedures they follow to assure the safety of our beef supply. Slaughtering animals will never be pretty or even pleasant work, but this is done at the Cargill plant in a humane fashion as efficiently and quickly as possible. The plant is amazing and our group was honoured to be allowed to tour the facility followed by an interactive presentation with some of the Cargill management.

The group spent the night in Lethbridge and hit the road at 8 a.m. the next morning, for the Lethbridge Research Center where we were fortunate to have four researchers speak to us about their work on carcass composting, genomics, BRD, livestock transportation, feed additives, E. coli prevention and animal care. That was followed by a visit to the Cargill Feed Mill in Lethbridge, and in the afternoon by a visit to the Kasko Feedlot and the KFL Farms Ltd. (Kolk Feedlot) near Picture Butte, Alta.

The group loaded back on the bus for the trip back to Calgary, where we were invited to the AdFarm offices for dinner and a presentation by Kim McConnell, an ALMA board member and founder of AdFarm. Kim spoke to us about the role communication companies such as his fills in the agriculture industry and his personal views on the future of agriculture in Canada. He talked about the importance of mentorship programs like the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders, the quality of mentors in this particular program and how to get the most out of the experience.

The Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program is under the administration of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, but funding is provided by foundation partners Alberta Livestock Meat Agency, Cargill and United Farmers of Alberta. Various other organizations also contribute in other ways, like Alberta Cattle Feeders providing the bus, AdFarm providing dinner and Cattlemen magazine featuring the participants in the program.

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The markets 669,886 head, seven per cent under a year ago and the smallest October 1 on record. Good fall grass conditions led to smaller placements in September, totalling 227,401 head, 11 per cent below 2011.

Market Summary debbie mcmillin Fed Cattle The XL Foods situation dragged down prices over several weeks to an average $106.80/cwt by the third week in October, a full $2.60/cwt under a year ago. All prices fell in October and the cash-to-cash basis widened by more than $4/cwt to an average -18.29/cwt by the end of the third week.

With little choice feedlots looked south and exports in the first week of October hit 10,800 head, the first time since April weekly fed exports were larger than 10,000 head. Year-to-date fed cattle export total is 293,595 head in 2012, which is still down seven per cent from last year. Domestic slaughter of fed cattle through much of 2012 has been off three per cent year to year, but the recent slump in slaughter numbers put steer slaughter for 2012 at 1,119,314 head, down five per cent and heifer kill at 689,564 head, down six per cent.

Cattle on feed on October 1 in Alberta and Saskatchewan totalled

Debâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Outlook

Feeder Cattle Western Canadian auction market volumes dropped off in the weeks following the XL closing, as producers took a wait-and-see approach. Volumes picked up to a more normal seasonal level in the third week of October as buyer demand improved, especially for lightweight calves. Alberta 550-lb. steers averaged $153.10 in the third week, $7 less than they brought in 2011. Slight pressure was noted on heavier calves, with 850-lb. feeders trading at $127.53/cwt, $5.25 under their end-of-September average and $5 off the 2011 price. The 850-lb. feeder basis widened nearly $9/cwt in the past four weeks, to average $17.36/cwt under the U.S. at press time.

Feeder exports are considerably larger this year compared to last. U.S. feedlots are looking at their very small beef cow herd and actively seeking out Canadian feeder calves to fill their pens.

The current wide basis and softer Canadian dollar support feeder exports.

Non-Fed Cattle Shaken consumer confidence to grinding products coupled with smaller ing Canadian dollar will continue to support the fed cattle market.

Fed Cattle

Feeder Cattle

News of JBS assuming the management and possible purchase of the XL Foods plant at Brooks provided some positive news for the fed market last month but at press time the plant was still closed and cattle were starting to back up in feedlots. Seasonally the demand for middle meats picks up heading into the fourth quarter and particularly late November through the end of the year as buyers look to stock up for the U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Supplies in Canada should still be small through the end of the year. That and a soften-

Feeder volumes will pick up as winter weather hits and producers pull calves out of fall pastures, but the smaller calf crop will keep buyers competitive. High grain prices and ample forage in some areas has cow-calf producers thinking about backgrounding their calves which will spread out the fall run into winter and new year sales. Forward sales of feeder cattle continue to be encouraging. As well, the optimism among buyers for lighter calves remains intact as feedlots look at the smaller cow herd and expectations of a strong demand for beef next spring.

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

kill numbers pressured non-fed markets lower in October.

The temporary closure of XL Foods severely impacted the D1,2 cow market. At the end of September average D1,2 prices dipped below $70/cwt for the first time since January. By the third week in October cows had fallen an additional $6/cwt. At press time D1,2 cows averaged $63.63/cwt, which is down $3.48 from the same week a year ago. This was a sharp reversal from the past several months when Canadian D1, D2 cows were trading at a premium to U.S. utility cows. In three short weeks the market dropped to a discount to the U.S. Domestic cow slaughter has also declined. The first week of October weekly cow kill was 46 per cent smaller than the same week last year. To date 2012 cow slaughter is running 13 per cent below a year ago while bull slaughter is down 27 per cent.

Exports of cows and bulls picked up as producers searched for better prices and in total for the year were running 13 per cent larger than a year ago.

Butcher bull prices continued down over the past few weeks to an average $76.96 by the third week of October.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Debbie McMillin

Debbie McMillin is a market analyst who ranches at Hanna, Alta.

More marketsâ&#x17E;¤ Prices will vary with quality and type but in the main should trade steady to sideways in the coming months.

Non-Fed Cattle Prices for cows and bulls fell quickly with the closing of the XL plant and exports increased with some help from a dollar moving closer to par. Once the plant has reopened the continuing strong demand for grinding product will come into play. Once things stabilize prices should be steady to slightly stronger heading into December and the new year. In addition to demand for grinding and trim there is room to narrow the spread that has grown between the U.S. and Canadian cow market in favour of Canadian prices.

Cattlemen / november 2012 71

Break-even Prices on A-Grade Steers 130

ALBERTA

170

110

90 80

Steer Calves (500-600 lb.)

180

120

100

Market Prices

190

160

western Market Summary

150 140

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

130

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

95

145

ONTARIO

135

D1,2 Cows

85

125

75

115

65

105

55

95 85 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2012

Canfax weighted average price on A-Grade steers

45

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Ontario 2011 Market Ontario prices based on a 50/50 east/west mix Summary O ntario

2012

2011

A lberta

Break-even price

2012

for steers on date sold

2013

2012

Kevin Grier2011

Market Summary (to October 13)

October 2012 prices* Alber ta Yearling steers (850 lb.)............... $132.37/cwt Barley................................................. 5.88/bu.

Barley silage..................................... 73.50/ton Cost of gain (feed)........................... 78.65/cwt Cost of gain (all costs)................... 103.30/cwt Fed steers...................................... 107.62/cwt Break-even (February 2013).......... 121.95/cwt Ontario Yearling steers (850 lb.)............... $142.35/cwt Corn silage....................................... 62.16/ton Grain corn........................................... 7.52/bu.

Cost of gain (feed)......................... 112.41/cwt Cost of gain (all costs)................... 138.39/cwt Fed steers...................................... 109.97/cwt Break-even (April 2013)................. 140.71/cwt *Mid-month to mid-month prices Breakevens East: end wt 1,450, 183 days West end wt 1,325 lb., 125 days

72 Cattlemen / november 2012

2012 Total Canadian federally inspected slaughter............. 2,139,679 Average steer carcass weight............................................ 876 lb.

Total U.S. slaughter.................................................... 25,530,000

2011 2,293,621 849 lb.

26,648,000

Trade Summary EXPORTS 2012 Fed cattle to U.S. (to Oct. 6).......................................... 293,595 Feeder cattle and calves to U.S. (to Oct. 6)................... 111,183 Dressed beef to U.S. (to August)........................... 337.05 mil.lbs Total dressed beef (to August).............................. 451.64 mil.lbs

2011 316,495 65,940 382.05 mil.lbs 491.57 mil.lbs

IMPORTS 2012 Slaughter cattle from U.S. (to August) ...................................... 0 *Dressed beef from U.S. (to August).................... 230.48 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from Australia (to August)................. 18.14 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from New Zealand (to August)............ 34.97 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from Uruguay (to August)............... 17.21 mil.lbs

2011 0 244.16 mil.lbs 12.53 mil.lbs 43.74 mil.lbs 9.38 mil.lbs

Canadian Grades (to October 20) % of A grades AAA AA A Prime Total

EAST WEST

+59% 18.9 27.7 1.9 0.1 48.6 Total graded 473,212 1,631,018

Yield â&#x20AC;&#x201C;53% Total 12.8 54.3 3.1 40.8 0.0 2.0 0.6 1.1 16.5 Total A grade 98.2% Total ungraded % carcass basis 70,283 68.3% 88 82.6%

54-58% 22.6 10.0 0.1 0.4 33.1

Only federally inspected plants

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

market talk with Gerald Klassen

Feeder cattle outlook

I

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve received many inquiries from ranchers over the past couple weeks in regards to the feeder cattle price outlook. Producers have been hearing of tight calf supplies and lower beef production longer term but the market is currently contending with other issues. Negative feedlot margins and rising barley prices have set a negative tone for the feeder cattle market and the temporary closure of the XL plant has many cattle buyers on the defensive. The world will have the tightest corn supplies on record at the end of the 2012-13 crop year and the feed grains complex cannot afford a weather problem in South America. The two main factors influencing feeder cattle prices are the price of feed grains and the expected selling price at the end of the feeding period. In this issue, I will briefly discuss these factors and hopefully cow-calf producers can have a good understanding of the feeder cattle market environment moving into late fall and winter.

At the time of writing this article, cash barley prices in southern Alberta were trading at $276/mt which is up over $15/mt from a month earlier. On their September survey, Statistics Canada estimated the barley crop at 8.6 million mt, which was down from the August survey of 9.5 million mt. Given the lower production, the function of the barley market is to ration demand which suggests that prices have to move high enough to slow export movement or encourage the usage of alternate feed grains domestically. Last year, we saw a considerable amount of wheat used domestically but in 2012-13, the Canadian wheat crop was higher quality so there will be limited volumes of wheat used in the feed industry. Barley prices will continue to be volatile throughout the winter period as exports to the U.S. have potential to be up sharply over last year. There will also be greater demand from the Middle East for Canadian feed barley given the lower production of cereal grains in the Black Sea region. Without going into detail, I expect feed barley prices could strengthen by an additional $25/mt quite easily. Farmers have been reluctant sellers after harvest and feedlots are having to pay higher prices for larger volumes. I have heard of cattle feeders paying upwards of $300/mt in the nonmajor feeding areas which is indicative of where the market will head over the winter in southern Alberta.

At the time of writing this article, fed cattle prices in Alberta were in the range of $106/cwt to $108/cwt. For November and December, break-even selling prices for feedlots are in the range of $120/cwt to $123/cwt. If feedlots have no hedging program or risk management on their feed grains the break-even may even be higher. The December live cattle futures have been trading at a $2 premium to the October contract; therefore, the upside in Alberta fed cattle prices is likely in the range of $110 to $115/cwt during November and December. The stronger Canadian dollar has been pressuring the Canadian basis levels for fed cattle. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Feedlot margins will continue to struggle in red ink into January and this will keep the feeder market on the defensive.

U.S. beef production for the fourth quarter of 2012 may come in larger than expected. Cattle-on-feed numbers have been running similar to year-ago levels and average U.S. carcass weights are nearing all-time record high. Notice that 2013 first-quarter beef production is only marginally lower than 2009, 2010, and 2012. Therefore, we need to see consumer demand increase over the next six months to sustain higher prices in the fed market.

U.S. quarterly beef production (million pounds) Quarter

2009

2010

2011

Est. 2012

Est. 2013

1

6,248

6,251

6,411

6,283

6,150

2

6,602

6,547

6,559

6,475

6,330

3

6,690

6,768

6,737

6,575

6,320

4

6,426

6,741

6,492

6,260

5,830

Total

25,966

26,307

26,199

25,593

24,630

Consumer expenditures on food, which is the largest factor influencing beef demand, has improved over the past year as retail beef prices remain near record highs. However, we need additional increases in consumer income in order to see higher beef prices. The increase in disposable income has not kept up with the increase in beef prices. Consumers are spending more money on food and receiving less. Improving restaurant demand has been one bright spot for beef prices this past year. Looking forward, there is the very slow period in January and February, which is followed by seasonally strong demand in March. The U.S. election has also caused a fair amount of economic uncertainty in the short term. Consumer confidence remains rather weak and with unemployment at higher levels, people are hesitant to spend additional money on specialty items, such as beef tenderloin.

In conclusion, higher barley prices, negative feedlot margins and stagnant fed cattle prices will cause the feeder cattle market to be quite volatile through the fall period. There is potential for periods of weakness given the current environment. In the previous issue, I mentioned that cow-calf producers should try to sell increments of their calves over a longer time frame and this is probably the best advice given all the risks at this time. Be careful focusing on supply fundamentals alone because this can result in a false or halfway view of the market.

Gerald Klassen analyzes markets in Winnipeg and also maintains an interest in the family feedlot in southern Alberta. He can be reached at jkci@mymts.net or 204-287-8268.

Cattlemen / november 2012 73

SALES AND EVENTS EVENTS November

10-16—North American International Exposition, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky 13-14—Canfax Cattle Market Forum, Deerfoot Inn, Calgary, Alta.

15—Best of Canadian Agri-marketing Association Awards, Delta Bessborough, Saskatoon, Sask., www.bestofcama.com, www.cama.org 19—“Cut Waste, Grow Profit: How to reduce food waste, Maple Leaf ThinkFOOD Centre, Mississauga, Ont. 19-24—Canadian Western Agribition, Evraz Place, Regina, Sask., www.agribition.com 27-28—Manitoba Ranchers’ Forum 2012, Victoria Inn, Brandon, Man., www. mbforagecouncil.mb.ca 27-29—Canadian Beef School, Olds College, Olds, Alta., www.oldscollege.ca/ beefschool 28-29—Western Canadian Grazing Confer-

AD INDEX Page Agriculture for Life 41 Beef Improvement Ontario 66 Canadian Angus Assoc.

IFC Canadian Charolais Assoc.

OBC Canadian Gelbvieh Assoc.

66 Canadian Hereford Assoc.

66 Canadian Limousin Assoc.

66 Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society 66 Canadian Shorthorn Assoc.

37 Canadian Simmental Assoc.

66 Canadian Welsh Black Society 55, 66 Canadian Young Farmers 67 Case-IH 16, 17 Cudlobe 43 Direct Livestock Marketing 69 Farm Credit Canada 27 General Motors 19 Greener Pastures 12 Hill 70 Quantock Ranch 9 International Stock Foods 66 John Deere Ag Marketing Center 7 Lakeland Group/Northstar 22 a-p MC Quantock Livestock 5 MJT Cattle Co. Ltd. 49 Merck Animal Health 11, 25, 38, 39, 61 Merial 29 New Holland IBC Norheim Ranching 66 Novartis Animal Health Canada 20, 21, 33 Optimal Bovines Inc. 53 Peak Dot Ranch 47 Perrot-Martin Charolais Farm 51 Pfizer Animal Health 14, 15, 63, 65 Pioneer Hi-Bred Ltd. 34, 35 Real Industries 62 Ridley Block Ops-Crystalyx 6 Salers Assoc. of Canada 66 Saskatchewan Beef Industry 28 Stromsmoe Herefords and Black Angus 45 Tru-Test Inc. 12 Vermeer Corporation 31 Woodruff Sweitzer 13 XL Foods 69

74 CATTLEMEN / NOVEMBER 2012

ence and Trade Show, Sheraton Hotel, Red Deer, Alta.

December

4-6—Alltech’s Global 500, Lexington, Kentucky, www.alltech.com/global500 5—Advocates for Agriculture Communications Workshop, Saskatoon Inn, Saskatoon, Sask., www.facs.sk.ca 5-6—Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan AGM, “Fence Lines to Corporate Board Rooms,” Saskatoon Inn, Saskatoon, Sask., www.facs.sk.ca 10-12—Canadian Forest and Grassland AGM and Conference, “Innovation in the Forage and Grassland Sector,” Radisson Plaza Mississauga, Toronto, Ont.

January 2013

3-22—107th National Western Stock Show, National Western Complex, Denver, Colorado 23-25—Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference, Saskatoon Inn, Saskatoon, Sask.

29—Alberta Cattle Feeders AGM, Memorial Centre, Lacombe, Alta.

February

7-8—Manitoba Beef Producers AGM, Victoria Inn, Brandon, Man. 13—Alltech’s North American Lecture Tour 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Canad Inns Club Regent, Winnipeg, Man. 14—Alltech’s North American Lecture Tour 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Sheraton Hotel, Red Deer, Alta.

15—Alltech’s North American Lecture Tour 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Lethbridge Lodge, Lethbridge, Alta.

20-22—10th Annual Alberta Beef Industry Conference, Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, Alta.

20-21—Ontario Cattlemen’s Association AGM and Conference, Doubletree Inn, Toronto, Ont.

Bred Females, Nilsson Bros. Livestock, Vermilion, Alta.

12—Westwood Land and Cattle Sale #4 — Bred Females, Provost Livestock Exchange, Provost, Alta.

13-14—Geis Angus Dispersal Sale — 700 head on offer, Nilsson Bros. Inc., Clyde, Alta., www.cattlemanagement.ca 15—Perrot-Martin Charolais Complete Herd Dispersal, at the farm, Niacam, Sask.

January 2013

26—MC Quantock Bull Sale, at the ranch, Lloydminster, Sask.

26—Lazy S Ranch Bull Power Sale plus Females, at the ranch, Mayerthorpe, Alta.

February

2—Hill 70 Quantock Ranch Bull Sale, at the ranch, Lloydminster, Sask.

4—Lazy RC Ranch Red and Black Angus Long Yearling Bull Sale, at the ranch, Beechy, Sask.

9—Soderglen Ranch Bull Sale, at the ranch, Airdrie, Alta.

March

2—Davidson Gelbvieh and Lonesome Dove Ranch 24th Annual Bull Sale, at their bull yards, Ponteix, Sask.

April

3—Peak Dot Ranch Spring Bull and Female Sale, at the ranch, Wood Mountain, Sask.  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

STAMPEDE

By Jerry Palen

SALES November

24—Canadian Welsh Black Cattle Society Select Female Sale, Olds Auction Mart, Olds, Alta.

26—Westwood Land and Cattle Sale #1 — Bred Females, Heartland Livestock Services, Swift Current, Sask.

29—Westwood Land and Cattle Sale #2 — Bred Females, Balog Auction, Lethbridge, Alta.

December

4—MJT Cattle Co. Ltd. — Hereford and Angus Dispersal, at the ranch, Edgerton, Alta.

5—13th Annual Cudlobe Bull Sale — Over 100 Angus Bulls, VJV Foothills Livestock, Stavely, Alta.

6—Peak Dot Ranch Fall Bull and Female Sale, at the ranch, Wood Mountain, Sask.

8—Westwood Land and Cattle Sale #3 —

“Slow down Elmo! This load of hay is worth more than you!” www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Nothing but blue skies and blue fields ahead.

These are exciting times at New Holland! First we asked dealers and customers what they wanted most from their equipment. Now we’re applying that blue-sky thinking to fields across North America. Take a new look at New Holland and you’ll find exceptional technologies, products and resources. Now like never before, we’ve got exactly what you need to get the job done right.

The “Value Bonanza” sales event is here!

Visit your New Holland Dealer today for great deals. www.NewHolland.com/NA

©2012 CNH America LLC. New Holland is a registered trademark of CNH America LLC.

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