Feed Lot Magazine Online, Editor's Desk

Volume VIII Number 5

September/October 2000

Editor's Desk

by Bob Strong, Editor

Cut The Loss Where it Starts

The losses incurred between the healthy calf on the cow and the carcass hanging on the rail are, to the greatest extent, preventable.

Most of these losses start early in the process, but have lasting effects. The traits or problems that attribute to the lower value of a carcass are mostly traceable to health problems. To keep a calf healthy through a preventative health program makes the best sense. The problem is that the person providing the preventative health program needs to get paid for his efforts and expenses.

Buyers purchasing cattle in LMA barns will know if
the cattle participated in the LMA-VACC program,
and on what level.

The various beef quality assurance programs, whether they are state, organization, or alliance based, are good for the industry. They encourage preconditioning and vaccination programs that promote the health of the calf.

A big step in the right direction on a national level is the Livestock Marketing Association's (LMA) Vaccinated and Certified Calves program, or LMA-VACC. It is the first nationwide program of its kind. The program is compatible with all state and other Beef Quality Assurance programs.

It is a preventative health program that will help provide greater consistency and uniformity than exist in the industry today.

This is a good program for the LMA to be aligned and associated with. By maximizing the potential of all cattle, the benefits will be reaped by all.

According to the LMA, the LMA-VACC goals are:

To provide LMA member livestock markets with a calf vaccination/preventive health program that their consignors can use to help maximize the quality, health and value of their cattle.
To give buyers greater confidence in the vaccination status of the animals they purchase through livestock markets.
To develop an industry-wide, calf vaccination/preventive health program that will provide greater program uniformity from market-to-market.
To deter health problems as cattle are marketed and commingled.
To meet consumer demand for safe, wholesome meat products.

"The time has come for markets to rally producers behind a national, joint effort to improve health standards in the livestock industry -- and nobody is better suited to do that than LMA markets," says Jim Schaben, Jr., of Dunlap, Iowa, LMA immediate past president.

According to a recent report from the USDA, auction markets are the single largest source of cattle for feedlots, supplying over 46 percent of their cattle.

This is an inside program to the industry, one the consumer will never see. Ultimately, it will help benefit the consumer by providing better quality and consistent meat products, from the same raw material.

For more information on the LMA-VACC program, read the article on page 16-17 in this issue of Feed*Lot.

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