All the health improvement efforts in the feedlots are directed at keeping calves healthy and out of the sick pen. Yet the records show a death loss of near two percent, according to Dr. Ron Hale, Ph.D Kansas State University Research Extension Specialist, Livestock Production, out of Garden City, Kansas.

In looking at records from 1990 through 2004, the surprising feature is the continual rise in the death loss rate from 1993 through 2004. The preliminary figures for 2005, January through June are higher than the average for 2002-2004. Why do the figures look the way they do if we are doing a better job with health improvement?
In making inquiries it was suggested to me by a cattle buyer with years of experience Dwight (Porky) Stanley, “that it is because feedlots are feeding younger cattle.” If this is true then the death loss may be occurring in the feedlots now as opposed to stocker operation in the past.

Depending on how the cost is figured, a near two percent death loss comes out to about $20.00 per animal on a pen of cattle, again depending at what point in the feeding cycle the animal dies. This does not include medications, wages and yardage, just death loss. From an investment stand point, over the years a $20.00 profit per animal may be about what is expected on the average depending on a variety of factors. Is a death loss of approximately two percent acceptable? If not, what can be done to help change it?

A lot of businesses have a loss at one point or another, such as unusable lumber in a lumber yard, spoilage, unusable merchandise and shoplifting, etc. For instance, if you buy the cheapest lumber available you may get just what you pay for. If you purchase the best quality available for a given type of lumber there should be very little loss. So there are standards that mean something. Maybe the standards aren’t what they “used to be” but still there are standards.

In the cattle industry, some of these standards are in the form of “sale barn” calves, “ranch” calves, preconditioned calves, etc.

However, cattle are not like the lumber industry. With calves it’s not “what you see is what you get.” You really may not know the complete history. When did they get shots or did they get them?

Most feedlots obtain cattle from a reliable source to have confidence in what they are buying.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. To meet the need of quality, preconditioned cattle that feedyards desire, a variety of Value Added programs have grown in popularity. There are a variety of these programs, such as the Ranch to Rail, Merial’s Sure Health™, and Pfizer Animal Health’s SelectVac to name a few. Cattle breed associations and state cattle associations such as Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association are also jumping on the Value Added band wagon to help ensure the health of their calves.

Hopefully, as more of these calves come on the market, death loss statistics will take a downward trend. ©