Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Beef Feedlot Industry Structure / Economics / Marketing / Husbandry / Management / etc.

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 2 How Cattle Feeding Developed Cattle drives 1860’s Beef feedlots are a post WWII development – Developed about grain production – Center pivot irrigation allowed grain production in arid areas with low human population density Packing plants moved to the cattle

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 3 Cattle Industry Structure ~ 89 million cattle – 9 million dairy cows – 28 million beef cows – 26 million finished fed Age when finished … < 30 mo. Average age when finished 24 mo.

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Acres of Cattle … ~50K

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 5 Mid Size Feedyard

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 6 Farmer Feeder

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 7 ~ 4 Million Fed Yearly

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 8 Feeder Cattle Source

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 9 Cattle Feedlots

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 10 70% 10% NOTE: These Are Grossly Simplified Proportional Estimates Average Herd Size < 50 Average Calf Crop <80 % Average Herd Size >250 Average Calf Crop >85 % Cow/Calf Concentations

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 11 75% 10% 5% NOTE: These Are Grossly Simplified Proportional Estimates Feedlot Concentrations

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 12 10% 70% 75% 10% 5% NOTE: These Are Grossly Simplified Proportional Estimates Avg. Distance From C/C to Feedlot

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 13 10% 70% 75% 10% 5% QUESTION: Move Cattle to Corn? Move Corn to Cattle? NOTE: These Are Grossly Simplified Proportional Estimates How Do Get The Pieces Together

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 14 10% 70% 75% 10% 5% QUESTION: Move Cattle to Corn? Move Corn to Cattle? Information: Feed / Gain ~ 1% Start Wt. NOTE: These Are Grossly Simplified Proportional Estimates Becomes a Cost of Freight Issue

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 15 NOTE: These Are Grossly Simplified Proportional Estimates Most Weaned Calves are Commingled At Auction Markets … A Semi-Load of 100 Can Have Cattle from Over 50 Farms, Over 20 Markets In 10 States Weaned Calves from Large Western Herds Generally Move In Groups With Less Commingling Between Herds Lack of Perpetration & Commingling

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 16 Select appropriate high quality products Most commonly, BRD has a head start in high-stressed young commingled cattle.

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 17 Breakeven w/o Intervention

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 18 Breakeven w/ Intervention

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 19 Cattle Feeding Economics It is all about cost of production!!! – Grain vs Forage … Feed/Gain (FE) – Traditional vs Natural … FE – Natural vs Organic … Questionable – The real deal may be health cost Time is an overhead cost

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 20 Cattle Feeding Economics Price Risk Management – The markets … – Breakeven (…BE.xls)(…BE.xls)

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Veterinarians Role In Feedyards

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 22 Production Management Decision Management – Science Based – Economic Based – Decision priorities Manage – Genetic … Nutrition … Health … Marketing Impact of decisions

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 23 Production Management … Multidiscipline Can’t manage what you don’t measure … Nutrition Selection Marketing Economics Financial Environmental RECORDS !!! But not for records sake Health – Treatment – Vaccinations – Biosecurity – Parasite Control – Quality Assurance – Animal Welfare

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 24 Value Added Services Provide Factual Reviews – Reproduction: Pg, BSE, Efficiency – Health: Management & Targeted … $ – Nutrition: BCS, resource mgnt – Genetic: Selection and Culling – Marketing / Business / Financial

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 25 Lungs Lungs … MOST will NOT be associated with condemnation Minor Adhesions Look Like … Spider Web Strands

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 26 Lungs Lungs … MOST will NOT be associated with condemnation Note the Skirt is adhered to the lung.

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 27 Lungs Lungs … MOST will NOT be associated with condemnation Note the Skirt is adhered to the lung. Note: Lung was condemned … this is good evidence there was an active infection (could also record as “Active LN”) Note: Most of both sides are missing. Note: Lung was condemned … this is good evidence there was an active infection (could also record as “Active LN”) Note: Part of Lung is still in the chest

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 28 Lungs Lungs … MOST will NOT be associated with condemnation Note: Lung was condemned … this is good evidence there was an active infection (could also record as “Active LN”) Note: Young Lesions are Bloody

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 29 Possible Management Areas Health Maintenance Management Medical Management – Treatment Protocols – Necropsy Nutrition … Focus on newly received cattle Data management & analysis Environmental Marketing … at least understand it! Quality Assurance … training & monitoring

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 30 Multiply Yourself Through People

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Special Areas Finding Sick Cattle Feeding Sick Cattle Tic if implant info

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 32 Processing Table Example

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 33 How Sick Cattle Eat Pull any new calf that is slow to come to the bunk Look for sick cattle shortly after putting out feed.

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 34 Sick: Intake vs. Temp

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Finding Sick Cattle Early … may be an impossible job

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 36 Durable Cure & DART The goal: – 1) A first-time treated animal is more likely to become a high-performing, profitable animal ; – 2) That animal stays with its group mates and does not suffer a disease relapse. D.A.R.T. – An acronym for four areas that MUST be thoroughly assessed and monitored, – especially high stress or high risk of disease. – Depression, Appetite, Respiratory index & Temperature.

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 37 Sick signs Depression Fill: shape & texture – Loose feces Stiffness Nasal discharge & Watery eyes Cough / breathing rate Rectal Temperature ??? Don’t let a thermometer do your thinkin’

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 38 Simply Put … It is all up to you. Involvement can be … As simple as providing on call service As complex as being part of a management team

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center 39 What You Need to Know &Think About When Selecting Antibiotics The objective will be to help folks better understand: 1) how antibiotics work … clinically 2) antibiotic classes … & what makes them different 3) how to think through developing treatment protocols 4) understand dose management & resistance development 5) how to select a proper antibiotic for different diseases 6) how the other things given sick cattle can influence an antibiotic's effectiveness 7) how to know when to switch 8) which antibiotic would make a better choice when a switch is need if an animal doesn't respond 9) when to quit 10) potential residue considerations & management