Feedlot Inventory Inches Lower
by Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension
The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report pegs feedlot inventories on May 1 at 11.376 million head, down 1.5% year-over-year. This is the sixth consecutive monthly decrease year-over-year in feedlot numbers, though the decrease has been minimal thus far.
April feedlot placements were down 2.6% year-over-year, about as expected. Feedlot placements have been variable, down four of the last six months and down a total of 3.6% compared to the same period one year ago. April feedlot marketings were down 2.5% year-over-year, also close to expectations. Feedlot marketings were down three of the previous six months, compared to last year, and decreased just 1.6% in total during the same six-month period. The result is a slower turnover rate that allows feedlots to maintain higher inventory levels despite decreased placements.
Feedlots have maintained inventories primarily because of two factors: continued heifer feeding and increased days on feed. The April quarterly breakdown showed that the heifer percentage of feedlot inventories dropped to the lowest level in five years but remains above the average of the past 30 years. Data from Kansas feedlots shows that days on feed (DOF) increased in mid2023, with average DOF increasing by about ten days since. Heifer feeding and increased days on feed have masked declining feeder cattle numbers since mid-2023.
There are indications that heifer feeding will decline in the coming months as heifer retention increases. Additionally, days on feed have likely reached a maximum, meaning that no additional gains are likely from slowing the feedlot turnover rate. Both of these factors mean that it’s likely feedlots will see more rapid decreases in average inventories in the coming months.
Liver Abscesses Reduced with Beef-Cross Feeding Strategy
by Maureen Hanson, Bovine Veterinarian
As the dairy-beef crossbreeding phenomenon continues to evolve, there remain unsolved challenges to maximizing the performance and value of those animals.
We know those calves aren’t the same as fullblood, conventional beef animals. We know we can’t feed and raise them exactly the same. But can we get closer to matching the performance of their beef cousins, particularly related to challenges like their currently high incidence of liver abscesses?
A recent Iowa State University study sought to bring some clarity to the lifetime nutrition of beef-cross animals, and how it influences their performance and ultimate carcass quality. The study started with 120 day-old, dairy-beef cross steers and segmented them into four feeding groups:
• A high-starch starter ration for 60 days, followed by a highstarch pellet ration for 60 days.
• A high-starch starter ration for 60 days, followed by a forage-based TMR ration for 60 days.
• A low-starch starter ration for 60 days, followed by the highstarch pellet ration for 60 days.
• A low-starch starter ration for 60 days, followed by the forage-based TMR ration for 60 days.
All calves were weaned from a common liquid ration at 60 days. Following the 60-day postweaning experimental phase, the entire study group was fed a common grower TMR ration for 140 days, and a common finishing diet for another 200 days.
In the post-weaning receiving phase, the two groups that were fed the pellet ration had significantly higher feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), and ending weight. However, that disparity narrowed during the grower phase. By the end of the grower phase (~260 days), there was no significant difference in body weight among the four groups.
In the finishing phase, there was also no significant difference in feed intake or ADG, but the low starch/TMR group was unique in that it had a slightly different growth curve. Those calves continued steadily increasing in daily feed intake and growth as the other calves were slowing down.
“Some of this may be due to compensatory gain following the receiving phase, but we speculate some may also be due to a healthier rumen in the later finishing period,” said Iowa State Extension Beef Specialist Denise Schwab, primary investigator of the study.
Harvest data indicated no difference in the quality grade, yield grade, or carcass weights among the four groups, but the low starch/TMR group had slightly heavier carcass weights. Most telling was the disparity in the incidence of liver abscesses and condemned rumens. In total, the incidence of liver abscesses across all groups was 19%, which is well below current industry incidence for dairy-beef cross steers. The high starch/TMR group had more than 30% incidence of liver abscesses, while the low starch/TMR group had less than 5%.
Rumen condemnations were highest for the high starch/high starch pellet group, at 19%. Comparatively, the low starch/TMR group was the lowest, at just 4%. Overall, the low starch/TMR group had an average of 20% fewer liver abscesses and rumen condemnations compared to the other three groups.
In terms of numeric economic returns, the low starch/TMR group had the highest average carcass value, and the high starch/TMR group had the highest net economic returns.
The Upside of a Short Calving Season
by Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension
There are several benefits to a short calving season, including simplifying cow management, gaining efficiency of labor management, increasing weaning weight, and improving the uniformity and marketability of the calf crop. Collectively, all these advantages lead to one positive potential impact: improved profitability. CattleFax survey data of cow-calf operations sorts participants into three groups: high, average, and low profitability. The high profitability group had a shorter calving season with a higher percentage of cows calving in the first 45 days. The shorter calving season creates opportunities to gain efficiency in several areas of management; these operations were able to sell more pounds while keeping expenses down.
Obviously, more calves born earlier in the calving season equates to more pounds at weaning. What is the value of a single cow calving one heat cycle earlier? If calves gain about two pounds a day from birth to weaning, in the current market with a pound of weaning weight valued in excess of $3, the added 40 pounds of weaning weight is worth at least $120 per cow. The added benefit of uniformity also improves marketability of your calf crop. Calf buyers prefer to buy lots of uniform calves so they can be managed similarly. Calf crops with substantial weight variation will be discounted in the marketplace.
Address the following questions to achieve a shorter breeding season in 2025 and a shorter calving window next spring:
1. Do you have ample bull-to-female ratios in each breeding pasture?
2. What is the age of your bulls and the number of females they should be expected to cover?
3. Are you managing your two-year-old pairs separate from your mature cows to ensure proper development, body condition, and potential to breed back quickly?
4. Have all your bulls passed a breeding soundness exam prior to turnout?
5. Is your cow herd in adequate body condition? Is supplemental feed needed?
6. Have you considered an estrous synchronization protocol to tighten your breeding season?
12 Tips If You’re Feeling Isolated and Lonely
by Angie Stump Denton, Bovine Veterinarian
Mental health is not a luxury — it’s fundamental to every part of life, including showing up for family and friends, holding a job, getting through school, enjoying rest and relaxation, and simply being able to connect with others.
Rural Minds, a nonprofit organization that serves as the informed voice for mental health in rural America, encourages individuals to seek help during times of struggle with loneliness or isolation. If you are feeling lonely, here are some steps that can help you build social connection:
1. Understand the power of social connection and the consequences of social disconnection by learning how the vital components (structure, function, and quality) can impact your relationships, health, and well-being.
2. Invest time in nurturing your relationships through consistent, frequent, and high-quality engagement with others. Take time each day to reach out to a friend or family member.
3. Minimize distraction during conversation to increase the quality of the time you spend with others. For instance, don’t check your phone during meals with friends, important conversations, and family time.
4. Seek out opportunities to serve and support others, either by helping your family, coworkers, friends, or strangers in your community, or by participating in community service.
5. Be responsive, supportive, and practice gratitude. As we practice these behaviors, others are more likely to reciprocate, strengthening our social bonds, improving relationship satisfaction, and building social capital.
6. Actively engage with people of different backgrounds and experiences to expand your understanding of and relationships with others, given the benefits associated with diverse connections.
7. Participate in social and community groups such as fitness, religious, hobby, professional, and community service organizations to foster a sense of belonging, meaning, and purpose.
8. Reduce practices that lead to feelings of disconnection from others. These include harmful and excessive social media use, time spent in unhealthy relationships, and disproportionate time in front of screens instead of people.
9. Seek help during times of struggle with loneliness or isolation by reaching out to a family member, friend, counselor, health care provider, or the 988 crisis line.
10. Be open with your health care provider about significant social changes in your life, as this may help them understand potential health impacts and guide them to provide recommendations to mitigate health risks.
11. Make time for civic engagement. This could include being a positive and constructive participant in political discourse and gatherings (e.g., town halls, school board meetings, local government hearings).
12. Reflect the core values of connection in how you approach others in conversation and through the actions you take. Key questions to ask yourself when considering your interactions with others include: How might kindness change this situation? What would it look like to treat others with respect? How can I be of service? How can I reflect my concern for and commitment to others? .
