Oklahoma Launches Its Beef Quality Network

by David Bowser

Oklahoma is establishing its Beef Quality Assurance program this fall beginning with a series of pre-conditioned calf sales.

Scott Dewald, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, said phase one of their program will become reality in October with the first of eight certified calf sales this year at participating sale barns across the state.

"We began efforts two years ago to develop a pre-conditioned calf program," said Ken Holloway, OCA president. "Since then, we have created a program that we believe will bring all sectors of the beef industry together."

Holloway said OCA is working with producers, sale facilities, veterinarians, feed suppliers, feeders and feedlots to produce better cattle one head at a time.

"This is just phase one of a multi-phase project that we're working on," Dewald said.

The first phase of the Oklahoma Quality Beef Network is the development of a certifiable health and nutrition protocol for calves. Network producers can use the protocols and beef quality assurance principles to provide healthier cattle to buyers and higher quality beef to consumers, Dewald said, but in order to reach that goal, the cow-calf producer has to work with the seed-stock producer and understand what the feeder needs and what the stocker wants.

Dewald said the Oklahoma Quality Beef Network's policies will be directed by the Oklahoma Cattlemen Association.

The program is expected to develop into a system providing source verified cattle in the market place.

All the cattle in this fall's sales will be weaned and meet OQBN health and nutrition standards. Some of the sales will include pre-sorting of commingled cattle into uniform lots.

"Many times, we've heard about this $150 to $190 that's being left on the table," said Ken Jordan of Jordan Livestock Auction in San Saba, Tex. "I think just in a weaning and marketing program, the producer can put $50 to $70 of that in his pocket."

Jordan, whose livestock auction pioneered certified pre-conditioned calf sales, said Oklahoma is ahead of other states in developing their own Beef Quality Assurance Program.

"I'm on the national Beef Quality Assurance Committee right now," Jordan says, "and we've got a lot of states out there trying to decide how they can benefit from a real good BQA program."

He says the steps that the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association have taken by forming the Oklahoma Quality Beef Network will benefit the state's cattlemen tremendously.

Jordan said that while such things as electronic identification may be novel, the idea of pre-conditioning cattle is not. "Preconditioning is nothing new to this country" Jordan said.

Jordan said that while a number of ranchers or stockers have tried pre-conditioning programs over the years, few of them felt they received any premium or benefit from it.

He said the other side of that story is that there are some cattle feeders that say they've been burned on calves that they were told had been pre-conditioned.

That lack of trust led Jordan two years ago to begin his pre-conditioned calf sales. In an effort to overcome the distrust, he set up a program certifying the pre-conditioning criteria that had been met. It's this system that the OQBN will follow. It is a system of verification.

"With the use of the electronic ear tag in our area, we were able to manage the cattle easier and also then send a document and information up the line to our other buyers of the cattle so they could see what had been done," Jordan said. In cases where cattle have gotten sick, Jordan said they've been able to track down the producer within minutes of notification and make adjustments.

Jordan said the important things about sales such as those the OCA is planning is that the calves went through a uniform health and nutrition program and have been weaned for about 45 days and can handle more stress without getting sick.

He said the added advantage of pre-sorting the co-mingled cattle makes it easier for cattle buyers to put together truck load lots.

Healthy, weaned calves helps eliminate the labor cost once those calves go on pasture or into the feedyard.

An associated problem is that cattle that haven't been pre-conditioned or properly weaned take a while to get straightened out which is a hidden cost to stockers or feeders.

"In the first 45 days to 60 days after they've bought these non-weaned calves, they are not performing," Jordan said.

"We're seeing that as a big, big plus on these lighter cattle," Jordan said.

He predicts that in the next four to five years, feedyards will not even bid on a calf that has not been properly weaned.