To make more money in the cow-calf business, the options are: wean more calves, wean heavier calves or add more value.
A partnership with a veterinarian could improve all three.
“They need to set up their herd health plan well in advance of the weaning time, so that they know what their goal is,” said Kevin Hill, Merck Animal Health technical service veterinarian, “and then they structure their vaccination program to meet that.
“They're very successful if they're done right, but if they're not,” Hill warned, “if they're not well thought-out and planned with their veterinarian, there's a lot of ways they could also fail.”
Hill says data from Superior Livestock Auction shows a distinct advantage for weaned calves.
“So what we're finding is typically that a VAC34 calf is worth around $20 more per head, and a VAC45 calf nearly $50 per head more than that calf that's not preconditioned,” Hill said. “So, that's a real important number when producers are trying to figure out, is it worth my investment in time and money to go ahead and meet those criteria for those health programs? And usually the answer is yes.”
But the bonus is not automatic…
“It's kind of like being in love,” Hill remarked. “If you never express that or communicate it, they don't know. Same way with our cattle programs. If we've truly gone through the steps that will add value, we've got to communicate that to potential buyers so that they know what those calves have already in place. Then they're ready to pay for that value, but that communication is difficult to do. We really haven't solved that problem in a lot of situations.”
That’s why Merck has developed a smart-phone app that helps producers monitor and record all categories of herd health protection from reproductive to respiratory.
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