Success in the feedlot starts at the very beginning of the beef cycle — the cow-calf producer. In order for cattle to adapt and perform well in the feedyard, they must be prepared for the new environment. This process relies heavily on communication between the rancher and feedlot.
TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods Vice President of Animal Agriculture Calvin Booker, DVM, says the first step for the cow-calf producer is defining their objectives. This includes identifying the feeding process the calf will progress through, whether that’s on grass in a grower program or directly to the feedlot on a finishing diet.
Building Immunity and Limiting Stress
Once the feeding process is determined, building a health program to build immunity is next. He first recommends evaluating the location they’re in and prevalent diseases for the area.
“That’s going to include respiratory disease in pretty much every part of the world that we work in,” Booker says. “We have the privilege of working across North America and other places globally with feedlots, and respiratory disease is still the No. 1 thing.”
Bovine respiratory disease (BRD), sometimes referred to as shipping fever, is seen many times as an outcome of stress. Booker says the goal is to prime the calf’s immune system so that when they are under stress from things like weaning or transportation, those pathogens aren’t as challenging to their immune system. The second goal is to limit the stressors.
“Weaning is a really stressful event in the calf’s life,” he says. “Then if [the feedlot] is the first time a calf has seen water and a bunk, we’re really not setting the calf up for success.”
TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods Director of Operations, Nutrition Services Matt Quinn, Ph.D., recommends a weaning program that meets nutrient requirements and prepares calves for a new environment.
“So at the ranch level, certainly at a minimum, is having some kind of supplemental mineral available both to the cows as well as the calves in some cases,” Quinn says. “Then if we are preparing them to go into a feedlot or into a backgrounding situation or some period where they’re going to be confined, having a weaning program where we can introduce them to a feed bunk, introduce them to water so that they’re familiar with those things when they arrive.”
Transportation and co-mingling with a new group is also a stressor. Cattle can get dehydrated and may not eat for a couple of days after they arrive and Quinn says the nutrition program prior to this event can predict how well they respond to stress.
“The better condition they’re in when they arrive at the feedlot, the easier it’s going to be for the feedlot to get them up on feed and get them going,” Quinn explains.
Quinn says ranchers should have a good nutrition program, make sure cattle are well hydrated prior to transport and have an appropriate vaccination protocol at weaning. He also recommends working with a veterinarian to evaluate their health program.
“If they’ve had issues with things like coccidiosis, then potentially including some type of coccidiostat in the feed to help prevent coccidiosis from occurring or occurring shortly after they arrive in the feedlot would be beneficial,” he adds.
Data, Feedback and Information
Having flexibility with a mindset of limiting stress also helps set calves up for success when they arrive at a feedlot.
“Quite often at the cow-calf level, we’ve picked a date when we’re going to wean the calves, or when we’re going to ship the calves and we do it regardless of what the weather and everything else. If there’s a storm coming in, and we’re like, ‘let’s get rid of these calves and get them on a truck,’ and actually that storm hits the feedlot at the time when they arrive, we haven’t really set those calves up for success,” Booker explains.
For him, communication goes both ways and helps get the best results for everyone. Feedback from the feedlot allows cow-calf producers to make changes that will benefit both parties involved.
“Once that line of communication is open, then [the feedlot] can say, ‘let’s talk about your health program prior to those calves arriving; we’re struggling with them from a health perspective, or we struggle to get them on feed when they first arrive,’” Quinn says.
Quinn adds that research has helped track different issues and create solutions based on timely and accurate data.
“Having the ability at the feedyard level to track specific animals, utilizing that data to give feedback to the cow-calf producer is really important,” he says. “Being able to accurately assess the health performance of different groups of calves from different origins and different sources can help give the appropriate feedback to the producer so that they can work on whatever deficits there may be prior to arriving at the feedlot.”
Record keeping at the feedlot is another tool Booker finds to be helpful when navigating cattle that don’t transition well.
“If the feedlot has really good records, it might be able to narrow it down to some specific subgroups like the ones with the biggest health challenges. It may not be the whole group,” Booker says. “If we can communicate that information back to the cow-calf producer and work with their veterinarian, then we can focus in on the area where we might make a difference, making it a collaborative thing.”
On the producer’s side, communicating things like drought or infectious disease, anything that could be happening in their area, with the feedlot ahead of time can help them prepare for that group differently.
“If you say, ‘part of the reason we weaned early is because we’ve been having a respiratory outbreak in the calves on the ranch,’ then they can tailor what they might do at arrival very specific to a group that’s already undergoing the disease outbreak,” Booker explains.
Both Quinn and Booker confirm that if the cow-calf producer wants to continue to be a supplier to a feedlot, having that open communication between the two is essential.
“The feedlot can give them feedback and the cow-calf producer can give as much information to the feedlot ahead of those calves arriving; I think is crucial, and probably lends itself to developing a longer-term relationship,” Quinn concludes.
