Page 9 - MWC 8-20-20s

The Midwest Cattleman · August 20, 2020 · P9
Adding Preconditioning

to your Marketing Plan By Eric Bailey, Assistant Professor, State
Beef Extension Specialist, University of
Missouri

Weaning is a challenging and the packing plant. Here are
time for cattle and their own- a couple of important details to
ers. Our management deci- note. All calves were dehorned,
sions affect calves’ response to and steer calves were castrat-
stress, which is a contributing ed before 60 days old. We sim-
factor to illness. ulated marketing stress in all
Bovine respiratory disease experiments by transporting
(BRD) is the costliest illness calves to a commercial auction
affecting feedlots in the U.S. market and holding them on
Despite many efforts to reduce the premises for 14 hours at
BRD, about 16% of calves en- the end of the preconditioning
tering feedlots are diagnosed phase.
with BRD. •Length of preconditioning
The concept of precondition- period: Preconditioning pro-
ing calves on the farm or ranch grams are commonly recom-
of origin has been advocated mended to be 30 to 60 days in
throughout the beef industry length. While extended precon-
for the past 50 years. Stan- ditioning periods may support
dard elements of precondition- greater weight gain and larger
ing programs include weaning calves for sale, costs are also
and retaining calves for 30 to increased. In 2007, 433 calves inarian and am not trying to est increase in BRD and drug
60 days, a vaccination program were weaned at convention- promote a specific vaccination therapy costs during precondi-
and deworming. Precondition- al ages and preconditioned for weaned calves. We vacci- tioning when calves were not
ing has been marketed as a zero, 15, 30, 45 or 60 days on nated calves zero, one, two, or vaccinated. However, we ob-
means of reducing feedlot mor- the ranch of origin before ship- three times during precondi- served no differences in feed-
bidity and mortality. However, ment to the feedlot. All calves tioning with a modified-live lot morbidity among various
data from the National Animal were shipped to the feedlot on product designed to protect vaccination protocols. Feedlot
Health Monitoring Service re- a common date; thus, weaning against viral BRD-causing
port that 50% of calves are date differed in each treat- pathogens. There was a mod- continued on page 26
marketed immediately follow- ment.
ing weaning. Why do more cat- Calves were weaned at ap-
tlemen not precondition calves proximately 190 days old. Mor-
before sale? bidity during receiving was 2.2
Two factors will limit the times more frequent among
implementation of precondi- non-preconditioned calves
tioning practices. Many small than preconditioned calves.
farms and ranches lack the There were no differences in
facilities to house calves and feedlot morbidity as precondi-
cows separately. Second, the op- tioning length increased from
erations lacking pre-weaning 15 to 60 days, suggesting that
calf management are likely to calves benefit from ranch-of-or- COMPRESSION
struggle to implement precon- igin preconditioning periods as WEE
ditioning. I consider precondi- short as 15 days. EARLY ANALGESIA
tioning the pinnacle of cow-calf Weaning calves two weeks CASTRATION
production. Operations lacking before selling may benefit the Tensioned Loop
a defined breeding season are calves but is not going to gener- for Newborns
likely to struggle with precon- ate premiums at auction or be SMART
ditioning. Another indicator is enough time for calves to gain
not castrating bull calves be- weight. Research by Dr. Mark DELAYED
fore weaning or implementing Hilton from Purdue demon- CASTRATION
Since 1991
a vaccine program. If increas- strated that two-thirds of
ing the value of your calves profit in preconditioned calves PRO
is a priority, ask first if your was earned from an additional DELAYED
pre-weaning management is pound of calf sold. In his data- CASTRATION
aligned with current recom- set, calves were preconditioned Built-in Cutter
mendations. for 11 years from a single farm. Self-locking Loop
If you are preconditioning The calves gained little weight
calves or are interested in im- during the first two weeks
plementing it, here are some after weaning. Extended pre-
recommendations based on conditioning periods may be
my Ph.D. research. We weaned necessary for producers who do Made In USA
3,000 calves across seven ex- not retain ownership of calves
periments, tracking their per- in the feedlot.
formance through weaning, •Vaccination protocols: First, 800-858-5974 CallicrateBanders.com
preconditioning, the feedlot a disclaimer. I am not a veter-