Raising beef cattle is a changing business. Today the buyers of feeder cattle are expecting data from the grower that show a weaning and vaccination program. If they don?t get it, there is a $10 to $12 reduction in price per hundred pounds. That may be the difference between profit and loss.
If you are not using the best management practices in your cattle operation, then you are falling behind. Oklahoma State University Beef Cattle Specialist Gant Mourer talked to Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays.
?Really all it boils down to, is quality genetics and quality management – that?s all value-added really is,? Mourer said. ?These well-managed cattle have become the norm and if you?re not managing your cattle to this standard, you?re actually receiving a discount.?
Depending on how you look at it, this premium or discount, could cost you up to $10 or $12 a head, he says. More often than not though, Mourer insists most producers are typically managing their cattle with, if nothing else, a VAC45 program. He believes you can add as much or as little value as you want through the various programs that could potentially be implemented on your place, but suggests you start by evaluating your existing management style and decide what programs fit best with your current operation.
?With these programs, we?re simply identifying those calves that have been managed well,? he said. ?That could be a genetics program, nutrition, vaccinations? whatever. A lot of producers are already doing that.?
