PRODUCTION CORNER - Get ready to pregnancy check early for better planning

by Kris Ringwall

This year, hay values are pricey. As a result, most ranchers are standing at a fork in the road. Do they buy hay or sell cows?
Producers need to review all of the options. The preferred alternative is trying to meet the nutritional needs of the cowherd with hay.
Hay prices definitely are forcing the review of other feed options. Purchasing feed based on a dollar cost per pound of energy and protein is more desirable than simply purchasing feed on bulk weight.

Yet, a more basic question needs to be asked: Are all the cows worth feeding?

Now is the time to use ultrasound technology to pregnancy check the cows. Most veterinarians can complete the check. The sooner one can determine next year’s calving projections, the more solid the plans will be.

At the Dickinson Research Extension Center, fetal age is determined during ultrasound pregnancy checking. To find the age of the fetuses, an excellent time to set up an ultrasound appointment is two to three months after the bulls are turned out.
Ultrasounding three months after bull turnout would make the oldest calf about 90 days old. If the bulls were pulled after 60 days of breeding, then the youngest fetus should be approximately 30 days old.

Even if the bulls still are in with the cows, ultrasounding can work. Cows that carry a fetus less than 30 days old are hard to pick up and would be candidates for the cull pen or, at a minimum, the recheck group for possible sale as bred cows.

Now is a good time to perform a “paper” presorting of the cows one would like to keep and invest with expensive feed. For example, the center gives all cows a pregnancy code.

An A1 cow is pregnant and conceived by artificial insemination. An N1 cow has conceived naturally during the first 21 days of the breeding season.
Cows that were predicted to have conceived during the second 21 days of the breeding season are coded as N2. Cows that were predicted to have conceived during the third 21 days are N3 cows.

The rest of the cows are open or late and, depending on the need, may be rechecked in the fall. Most likely, these cows will be sold as cull cows.

Last week, 48 cows in section 16 were pregnancy checked by ultrasound. Thirty-five were classified as A1 cows, 12 as N2 and only one open.

In terms of management, we now know that 35 cows will calve early and 12 will more than likely calve during the later part of the calving season. The open cow will be rechecked and sold.

The same procedure was used on heifers. Today, 96 heifers were evaluated for pregnancy. Nine heifers were open. One was pregnant, but wild. All 10 are being pulled off the short pastures and heading to town. There is no excuse for keeping open heifers. There is even less reason to keep a wild heifer.

After a day of working cattle, the sounds of silence are appreciated. During the day, the sound of a heifer’s leg kicking the chute or, worse yet, a person’s leg or any other anatomical reachable part is unacceptable.

I have watched enough heifers come through the chutes to know there are nice heifers and there are some not-so-nice heifers. Those not-so-nice heifers have inflicted enough damage through the years to earn a place in the harvest line.
That may sound harsh, but the truth is the truth. Temperament and expressed behavior are inherited and like begets like and mean begets mean.

Get ready to pregnancy check early for better planning.

May you find all your ear tags.

- By Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service. With permission from The Beef Blog. Read more!

BIC partnership grows beef sales

by Janet Kanters

The Beef Information Centre (BIC) has partnered with Macdonalds Consolidated to deliver an integrated merchandising and marketing program to independent grocers this summer.

Macdonalds Consolidated is a leading retail supplier to independent grocers across western Canada and western Ontario.

The spring/summer program promotes Canadian Beef Medallion steaks and Rotisserie Roasts through a comprehensive merchandising program that provides promotional and staff training support to the grocer. The BIC provided product photography for feature and flyer advertisements, and tools to help retailers merchandise their product. These tools included a technical cutting DVD for in-store meat cutter training, consumer culinary materials such as recipe booklets, customer engagement notes for meat counter personnel and product factsheets about the featured cuts.

Debbie Krieger, Macdonalds Consolidated meat coordinator, notes the promotional material received a lot of positive feedback from meat cutters.

“I think the DVDs were great for our stores and for new cutters especially, who indicated the DVDs are very easy to follow, and simple and to the point,” she says. “And the word has spread – we’ve had accounts that have called asking to get the promotional package.”

The promotional material supplied includes extensive information and tips on how best to cut, package and promote Beef Medallions and Rotisserie Roasts. Medallions are a creative new steak cut that are easier to cook to perfection. They can be cut from several different steak categories, including Top Sirloin, Rib Eye, Strip Loin, Inside Round and Sirloin Tip. Rotisserie roasts are custom-cut for barbecue roasting. They can be cut from several different roast categories, including Prime Rib, Top Sirloin, Inside Round, Outside Round, Cross Rib or Sirloin Tip.

According to Duane Ellard, BIC’s western channel development manager, the cuts featured in the Macdonalds Consolidated promotion align with BIC’s goal to help drive more value from the beef carcass.

“Steak Medallions allow retailers to better utilize heavy carcasses by giving the consumer a smaller, thicker cut steak that meets their preferred serving size, yet allows for better cooking control for preferred level of doneness,” he says. “The Rotisserie Roast for the barbecue provides a feature opportunity for a cut which is traditionally under-utilized in the summer.”

This promotion is an example of how BIC works with partners in the meat trade to provide business solutions in the areas of consumer promotion, product merchandising and staff training to increase opportunities for Canadian beef.

For more info, go to: WEBSITE
Read more!

COLUMN - The Bottom Line

by Rick Wright

Six weeks ago, those producers who asked me for price predictions for this fall were given a forecast of high feed prices, weak cattle prices and a general overall “bear” market. No one could have predicted the positive changes that have occurred since then.

It looks now that the fall cattle market will be much better than first predicted. Cattle producers are always optimists, but there is a real positive feeling in the industry. A number of the fundamentals that drive the cattle market have turned “bullish” in favour of the cattle business over the past few weeks.

Feed grain prices have dropped considerably. U.S. corn prices dropped from a high of $7.90 per bushel to a current cash price in mid-August of just around $5.00 per bushel. Western barley prices topped at $5.00 and dropped in early August to $4.10. With oil prices dropping, the ethanol driven floor price for corn has followed. Feed prices will be higher than last year, but the higher futures market for finished cattle in 2009 will offset some of the higher costs of gain.

The futures prices for finished cattle hit record prices this summer. Deferred cash futures were as high as $1.18. Commodity fund buyers that represent pension funds made both corn and cattle part of their investment portfolios. These are not the traditional investors who use the CME and CBOT for risk management programs. They are short term “profit takers” who enter and withdraw from the markets with little to no concern about the real cash market value at delivery time. These large investors have distorted the real futures prices and made it difficult for the smaller operators to take advantage of the top market prices.

For example, in the beef market when the futures were at $1.15, the average beef prices at the wholesale market would have to average $4.55 per pound to break even. The average price for the first six months of 2008 was $3.87. A price increase of that amount would certainly meet with consumer resistance. As much as we are told to believe that consumers are concerned about origin, animal welfare, production practises, and host of other popular issues, the majority of the blue collar workers make their purchase decisions based on price point compared to similar products. In meat industry, beef competes with pork and chicken. Even though prices for both chicken and pork have increased, they still lag far behind beef in the price department at the retail stores.

Those same Commodity Fund investors drove the corn prices over the top in June. When oil was at $140.00 per barrel, the corn price was approx. $7.00 per bushel. At that price, ethanol producers were losing about 38 cents per gallon in the U.S. At the most efficient plants, the corn would have to been bought at $6.22 per bushel to show any type of profit.

One of the main reasons for the better price predictions is that the United States is short of cattle. The July USDA on-feed report showed that feedlots in the United States were using only 62% of their capacity. Placements were down despite the large number of imports that arrived in the U.S. before the July 15th M-COOL deadline. Marketings were down compared to the same time last year by nearly 7%. The domestic cow kill was 10 –11 % higher in the U.S. Heifer retention for breeding was 2% less than expected. This means that the cattle numbers in the U.S. will not start to increase for the next three to five years.

The American feeding industry will be looking north for feeder cattle this fall. With age still a major factor on beef exports to the Asian rim and Korea, Americans will be looking for more age verified cattle from Canada and less from Mexico. They like our quality and our genetics.

The final interim rules for M-COOL were published and we await the results of the 60-day comment period. No one is sure what the final impact of M-COOL will be on the Canadian cattle. It is my feeling that if there are any major negative results for Canadians it will directed by the American packers. If the final interim rules are approved as is, they are very flexible compared to the 2002 version.

Canadian cattle fed and slaughtered in the U.S. will be labelled “Product of USA and Canada.” Finished cattle from Canada delivered directly to the plants for slaughter will be labelled “Product of Canada and the USA.” Meat products from cattle fed and slaughtered in Canada will be labelled “Product of Canada.” This means that it may be harder for Canadian finished cattle to be exported to some of the plants.

We also know the following: products used in the food services industry are exempt from COOL rules. This means that restaurants do not have to label or inform their customers as to the origin of their beef. Processed beef products are also exempt in most cases.

As for labelling in the stores, most the rules are covered under existing federal law. All types of labels currently being used are approved including “check box” labels. There are no hard rules on size, location, or type as long as the label is legible, conspicuous and easy for the consumer to read. Meat from different origins can be mixed in the coolers provided the store has signage advising consumers there could be multiple countries of origin products in the display case.

Canadian feeder cattle will still have to be branded with the “CAN” brand and have a National ID tag. Buyers and sellers of all products will have to have access to information agreements in the event of any audit. The new record keeping rules are much easier than the 2002 version. Paper work no longer has to follow the product through the entire ownership chain.

American feedlots are lining up to purchase Canadian feeder cattle. Alberta looks like they will be a contender again this year. Quebec looks to be aggressive buyers of some classes of Manitoba cattle.

In June I wondered if anyone would want cattle to feed this year but today, Aug. 15th, I feel pretty good about the fall run. I would expect prices to be very close to last year on most classes of cattle with a tighter spread between the steers and heifers this fall.

Until time, good luck and good marketing.
- Rick Read more!