Don't shoot the messenger

Are you tired of being a price taker?

by Karen Emilson

Times are a changin’ and if you are in the cow-calf business you might want to listen to what Harold Unrau has to say.

Harold and his brother Norm run a feedlot in southern Manitoba. They like to buy 500 wt calves straight off the cow, and background them to 800-850 lbs.

The problem is they are sick and tired of having to pay less for the calves they buy.
That’s right. Read that sentence again. The Unrau brothers are willing to pay you a premium for calves above what they are paying right now, but they want you to read this article first.

There are three types of producers
Producers fall into three basic categories: Good managers who do most things right; the misinformed/those who make honest mistakes while trying to save a few dollars; and the guy who purposely misrepresents his calves.

Which one are you?
If you are a good manager then Harold wants you to know that your cattle are probably being discounted if you are not marketing them directly to the feedlot as properly castrated, pre-vaccinated calves. That’s because buyers apply across the board discounts to help cover the feedlot operator’s expenses associated with pulls and death loss, because so many cattle are being misrepresented both privately and in the sale ring.

And he is asking, “Why should you get discounted because your neighbour is doing it wrong?”

Why vaccinating matters
“Since BSE we’ve noticed a trend that people are cutting corners by not vaccinating, but what they don’t realize is that more than the cost to do the job is coming directly out of their pocket,” Harold said. He estimates that only 15-20% of producers are vaccinating cows and calves properly.

“Blackleg shots are not enough,” he said. “When the feedlot operator asks if your calves have been vaccinated and you say yes, we expect they have been needled in the spring with a modified live 4-way vaccine, boostered in the fall and given a vitamin pack.”

Harold says cattle vaccinations are like flu shots for humans. They are given to those most likely to get sick. Freshly weaned calves that have been sorted on the farm and moved onto trucks are put under a tremendous amount of stress. Being off feed and water and then transported again to the feedlot, ups the stress level two more notches.

One difference between human and cattle vaccines is that children are vaccinated to built their immunity in the event of a disease outbreak or exposure to bacterial infection. Vaccination programs have pretty much eradicated most of the killer diseases in North America. But when it comes to cattle, the diseases and viruses they are susceptible to are actively present in many cattle herds and those bugs move around the country on people’s shoes, in cattle trailers, between auction marts and feedlots.

Calves that have not been vaccinated have no immunity to the diseases they are exposed to enroute to the feedlot. Exposure to all the disease and viruses at the auction mart pretty much guarantee they are going to get sick if they haven’t been vaccianted.

“Even if they look good going through the sale ring, within a week they can be dead,” he said.

Every calf is processed as quickly as possible after arriving at their feedlot. Harold says it is a catch-22 situation. If he doesn’t vaccinate every animal, the unvaccinated calves will get sick and die.

He knows for a fact which ones weren’t vaccinated on the farm after he runs them through their chute because those calves get sick from the live vaccine. It takes two weeks before they start to recover.

Harold would prefer to not re-vaccinate the 15-20% of calves that have been properly done on the farm, but has no way of knowing for sure which ones they are.
“Because people either lie or don’t know what vaccinating means,” he said.

Everyone pays the price
Harold says some producers choose not to vaccinate because of old fashioned thinking and some shun the practise in an effort to save money. The most common explanation he hears is that: they have a small herd, don’t bring in any outside cattle and believe that there is no disease on their farm.

“Let’s assume they are right, those calves are still going to get sick when they get to the feedlot.”

Some calves selling through the ring at the auction mart are being sold as vaccinated, but Harold knows within a week after buying those calves that the producer has lied, because half of them end up in the sick pen.

Harold buys calves for himself, but he also buys for investors. It is his job to purchase healthy cattle that are going to turn a profit for his customer. He explains that when the investor looks back at the previous year’s expenses and sees an average of $20-$30 per head extra for medical bills, they take that off the price they are willing to pay the following year.

Harold says that he knows for a fact that proper vaccinating makes a difference. He keeps meticulous records that show of the cattle he buys privately that he knows are vaccinated, there is a 19% pull rate and a 0% death loss.

Of the cattle he buys anonymously, there is a 51% pull rate and a 2% death loss.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the auction marts because I know this isn’t their fault,” he said. “But we need to get this message out there and the responsible producers and auction marts need to start working together. Everyone is losing money except the drug companies.”

And Harold admits that sometimes he’ll buy cattle privately and still run into problems.

“If I buy a load of one-owner cattle, scan all the tags and then have to re-treat 40%, I know the animals haven’t been vaccinated. If they are otherwise good calves and that fellow phones me the following year, I’ll knock at least 5 cents off the price because I know I’m going to have to treat them all again.”

There is the perception that a live calf on pasture is a healthy calf, but Harold says that is not necessarily the case.

“Cattle can seem fine but be disease carriers and I know which ones they are when they turn up at the feedlot,” he said. “What producers need to know is that better gains on pasture are seen with vaccinated calves.”

He says it is a real shame that there are producers who have pretty decent genetics, but won’t spend the extra $9 a head to vaccinate their cows and calves.

“That decision is costing them around $35 a calf,” he said. “And that’s not even taking into consideration the pounds left on pasture.”

Belly nuts are bad for business
For Harold and the crew that work at their feedlot, the only thing they hate more than castrating a calf that has been improperly banded, is castrating one that has been improperly banded on purpose.

“If you can’t count to two, don’t use a bander,” Harold says, knowing full well he risks offending good managers. He says the guys who band correctly would be shocked if they knew how many guys purposely force either one or both testicles up into the calf’s groin, with hopes of getting better gains.

“They think they are fooling everyone because the buyers can’t tell, but it gets found out at the feedlot. We run all the tag numbers through our reader and while we don’t know who the producer is, we can see the calves all came from one farm and we know what auction mart we bought them from.” He says given the choice, he’d never buy that producer’s calves again.

“We have to castrate every single one that comes in like that and I’m telling you it’s a miserable job. 100% of those calves end up in the sick pen and in the end, that’s reflected in the price I pay for calves. The good managers are being penalized, too, because I have to recover those costs somehow.”

And if you’ve decided to stop reading here, chances are you’re part of the problem. If not, then read on. Now Harold wants to explain what you need to do to get that premium you’ve been expecting for years.

The first step towards being a price maker
The worst job on the feedlot is castrating and treating sick calves. Owners like the Unraus who have been in the business a long time, will gladly pay more for calves they know will stay out of the sick pen.

The say that producers who want to earn top dollar in both high and low markets, need to buy good bulls and pay attention to their herd genetics by implementing a good crossbreeding program. Cull the cows that produce thin topped, short ribbed, pointy-assed calves. Implement a good herd health program that includes proper castrating and vaccinating. These are the cattle that gain well in the feedlot and investors are willing to pay for them.

“I’d rather pay the cow-calf guy for cattle that I know are going to do well than give the money to a drug company,” he said. “I pay pretty good premiums for reputation cattle that I know have been vaccinated.”

The challenge he says is finding them.

“So when you sit in the stands at the auction mart and wonder why you do all the above and don’t get a premium for it, this article is the reason why,” he said. “Now what we need you to do is let a buyer or feedlot operator know who you are. Once we trust that what you’re telling us is the truth, you’ll be getting paid more for your calves.”

It’s not too late to start
If you’ve never vaccinated your cattle before and you’d like to start, talk to your veterinarian. But if you’re curious what it involves, Harold outlines the process here:
1. Vaccinate the cows in the spring before breeding with a modified live 4-way vaccine that protects against BRSV, IBR, BVD and PI3.

2. Two weeks later, run the cows through the chute and give them a booster. Now they can go out with the bulls. (Calves born to these cows the following spring will have six weeks worth of immunity through the colostrum).

3. Needle the calves at foot once in the spring and then return them to their mothers on pasture. In the fall at weaning, needle them again.

4. Heifers that are kept as replacements will need a booster again in the spring before being put on pasture with the bull.

A word of caution: Harold says if this is the first time your cows have been vaccinated, it may be hard on the calves.

“You might have some dopey calves or lose a few the first year,” he cautioned. “We use Bovishield at the feedlot because it works for the bigger calves, but we’ve found it is harder on young cattle. Our brother who is a cow-calf producer, switched to Express 5 and since then he hasn’t had any problems with the younger calves, especially those born on pasture.”

Again, the best thing you can do is to seek the advice of your veterinarian because he or she will understand best the needs of your farm and be current on label and usage updates.

- Editorial note: I’d love to hear your opinion on this article. If you are a cow-calf operator, auction mart owner, feedlot operator, buyer or veterinarian I’d like to print your feedback in the next issue of Cattle Country.
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