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Schumacher Livestock Day creates educational opportunity

Twenty-five livestock operators heard from an outstanding group of speakers for the annual Jim Schumacher Memorial Livestock Day on Monday, February 6. Dr. Rick Levesque spoke about the recent Tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Canada where 10,000 head of cattle were depopulated in 2016.

TB has many forms and people can get it from cattle and vice versa. During the 19th century, one out of every seven people in the world died of TB. Through this time frame in the US five-percent of the cattle were infected. Through effective eradication efforts by local, state, and federal authorities less than .0001-percent of the cattle in the US have TB today. Control is through slaughter surveillance. It contrasts internationally, Mexico has a 15-percent infections rate of TB in cattle. In Great Britain, they are experiencing a TB epidemic with over 300,000 head of cattle killed to control the disease since 2008. In this case, badgers, which are protected in Great Britain, also carry TB and are constantly re-infecting cattle.

Dr. Levesque cautioned that if we ever were to have an outbreak in the US or Phillips County it would be devastating. Producers need to be cautious when bringing new animals on to their place. Especially roping cattle that would originate from Mexico. It only takes one mistake to have a wreck.

Vaccination and disease resistance was the focus of the next speaker, Dr. Joseph Perrone, an internal medical doctor from Virginia. Dr. Perrone cautioned that Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance in humans is a serious issue. Human cells can modify cell wall protein, use enzymes to deactivate a drug or modify the drug target as examples of mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. However, when producers follow the label rule for vaccines called the, “withdrawal period," and avoid harvesting an animal before the vaccine has left no residue, in reality, all meat in the grocery store is antibiotic free. The most common way humans become antibiotic resistant is by over-prescription of drugs by physician’s or not completing the appropriate dose regiment by patients, according to Dr. Perrone.

Dr. Perrone cautioned that groups or food labels that claimed that “antibiotic-free meat” is healthier are not being truthful by scientific fact. He recommended that producers arm themselves with these facts and promote the truth through social media. Highlight that producers should be focused on honesty, ethical behavior, transparency, accountability, and positive outcomes in their message. Highlighting that a sick animal is a suffering animal and not fit for the food supply is also a good message for why producers use vaccines.

Curt Pate, a livestock handling specialist, identified that animal science replaced a lot of the earlier animal husbandry and reading of animals’ behavior that grandpa and grandma understood. He focused on how to correctly pressure animals to cause a desired response. The location you want an animal to go, like a dark barn door, may exhibit frontal pressure to the animal equal to the pressure you are placing from the side or behind. Allowing animals to be run though facilities without being caught in a head catch, so they become used to it is a worthy effort so when it is 2 a.m. during calving they have some experience to move in that direction. Also, Pate recommended that the facility (Bud box, or curved alleyway) works best when no more animals are placed in them than can fit in the lead up to a chute or loading dock. If you overload a tub or bud box with no place for the animals to go they will mill and jump over each other. If the lead-up holds 10 only bring up eight in the bud box or tub. Pate reminded the audience that people pay lots of money to come and work animals, which we get to do every day for free. Take advantage of the good work and be positive about the outcome.

Andy Roberts, Animal Scientist from the Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory of Miles City, focused on beef cow efficiency. At Fort Keogh, the scientist there have developed a composite herd of cattle consisting of half Red Angus, one-quarter Charolaise, and one-quarter Tarentaise. They are referenced as the Composite Gene Combination or CGC. With the three breed influence, scientists are trying to exhibit heterosis which is defined as the tendency of a crossbred individual to show qualities superior to those of both parents. Heterosis traits are best shown when an animal is under less than favorable conditions than when an animal is under “cushy” conditions.

Roberts was able to demonstrate how heifers raised in a range forage environment with only a protein supplement could do as well as heifers in a feedlot when comparing eventual weight gain, breed up and improved efficiency. Heifers in the feedlot were heavier, had higher resting heart rate, spent less time resting, ran fence line to fence line at turnout, and grew slower on pasture compared to the range supplemented heifers. The 5-month cost per head of the treatments were $167 for feedlot heifers, $130 for cake and range fed heifers, and $95 for protein supplement and range fed heifers.

The key to this research is scientists have selected heifers that will calve in a short, 45-day interval. This also provides the opportunity to market a heifer when she is open and falling out of the herd rather than if she fell out as a two, three, or four-year-old cow. She poses the highest value as an open heifer. Additionally, the CGC cattle have been selected to be a mature weight of 1,230 pounds. Producers should consider these two critical factors when trying to implement these supplement feeding strategies. The restricted or non-feed lot heifers received either four pounds of range cake per day or .25 to one pounds per day high protein with 50-percent as by-pass protein.

 

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