Experts speak to cattlemen at KNID Agrifest Farm & Ranch Forum
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KNID Agrifest.
ENID, Okla. — Several experts from the cattle industry spoke Saturday evening at the Farm & Ranch Forum, a new addition to the annual KNID AgriFest.
Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey was the first of three experts to speak to local ranchers and operators about the issues, current and upcoming, facing the industry.
“The issues are complicated and they change all the time,” Kelsey told those in attendance.
He spoke first about issues at the federal level that could impact the entire cattle industry.
The first issue was proposed federal nutritional guidelines, determined by a taskforce to decide what constitutes a healthy diet for Americans.
“It has become, image this, a very political process,” he said. “The latest proposal encouraged Americans not to consume any red meat. A healthy diet excludes red meat. We are gearing up to fight this pretty hard.”
Kelsey said data suggests Americans could increase their red meat consumption and still maintain a healthy diet. While most Americans may ignore government nutritional guidelines, there are those who do not.
“Schools do. Hospitals. What you might call institutional food services does,” he said.
Kelsey said the cattle industry will also have to fight to extend tax credits beyond this year. He said another issue facing the industry is the use of antimicrobials and antibiotics.
“Animal agriculture is under extreme scrutiny over antimicrobials and antibiotics,” he said.
Kelsey said the consensus outside of the industry is that bacterial resistance is increasing and most outside of the industry believe neither antimicrobials and antibiotics should be used.
“That’s the mantra we’re given,” he said. “We do use antimicrobials. We think we do it on a very judicious basis, but nevertheless we’re under a lot of scrutiny for it.
“There are a whole lot of folks in Washington, D.C., they’re loud and they’re well funded and their idea differs very much, not only from us, but from common sense.”
On a state level, Kelsey said cattlemen will have to work with a lot of new legislators this term.
Issues facing cattle raisers on the state level include tax credits for wind and working to increase the penalties for cattle theft.
“We need to be very forthright in defending agriculture and promoting agriculture,” Kelsey said.
Trevor Mason, general manager and president of NW Stockyards and Northwest Cattle Feeders, spoke about the changes the cattle industry has undergone.
“This industry has changed,” he said. “It seems to be the last five years it’s totally different than it was 10, 15 years ago. It’s a total 180 from where it was. Cattle are not $1,500 a head and the dollars involved are absolutely critical.”
Mason said he wanted to change the mindset of cattle raisers on how they market their cattle.
He said about 85 percent of cattle are bought by livestock commissions or large-scale producers.
“It’s your job as producers to make sure your cattle are lipsticked, if you will, so those guys are attracted to them, buy them and not be scared of them,” he said.
Mason offered tips to cattle raisers to help increase their chances for better sales.
He recommended not branding cattle prior to sale, instead using ear tags or other means of marking. If someone asks if a calf has had a “round of shots,” they mean all their vaccinations.
Mason also suggested bringing cattle in for sale two to three days prior to the sale to put on some compensatory weight.
“I believe the sale barns are a good thing for that reason,” he said. “We can get weight back onto the cattle before the sale.”
As an example, Mason said on a per-head basis 10 pounds of feed can equate to $20 to $30 more per head, which in some cases covers the commission.
Cherokee Sale Barn owner and DMV Tim Starks spoke about cattle health concerns and handling the animals on the farm.
He said unlike other industries, such as the pork or poultry industry, if a problem is detected it takes years to see the correction.
“It takes us a minimum of three years to make any impact on our product,” he said. “That’s the major obstacle we have for our product is the production time.”
He suggested cattle produces do their best while the animal is in their care.
“Whenever that baby calf is born, from that point forward, your goal is to produce a protein rich, nutrient rich, juicy, tender, very tasteful product you would be way more than happy to put in front of your grandchildren and know is safe,” Starks said. “As long as you do all you can while it’s in your control, what we’re going to have is a high-quality product.”
Starks showed a slide stating the five key elements of herd health were: husbandry, nutrition, environmental influences, exposure to pathogens and vaccination status/immunity.
“Nutrition is No. 1 in my mind,” he said. “You’re going to have to keep your nutrition taken care of.”
He said the environment likely was the most difficult factor to control. Starks also noted the impact of the most recent drought years impacting raisers’ forage for their cattle.
Starks showed how cattle prices have tripled in the past 30 years, narrowing margins for cattlemen even slimmer.
“We’re a competitive bunch of folks, and we’re willing to work on a very narrow margin if we can handle the volume,” he said. “The economic dynamics of this thing have really, really changed.
“Now more than ever, attention to details at every phase of the production chain are critical to one’s success. Management is key.”