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November 3, 2006 NDSU Center Seeking Calves for Feedout Project North Dakota State University’s Carrington Research Extension Center is looking for cattle producers to participate in the 2006 Eastern North Dakota Feedout. Producers can consign their calves to the center’s feedlot, where the animals will be fed until they’re ready for harvest. Center staff will give the producers periodic reports on their calves’ feedlot performance. The staff also will provide producers with carcass data after the calves are harvested. The project helps producers understand the value of their herd’s genetics in a feedlot situation, according to Karl Hoppe, an NDSU Extension Service livestock specialist at the center. The program is open to producers from eastern North Dakota and surrounding regions. The deadline to enroll is Nov. 15. Cattle should be delivered to Lake Region Livestock in Devils Lake on Nov. 30. Producers can consign one or more groups of six spring-born steer calves. Calves should be vaccinated for BVD, IBR, P13 and BRSV and with a seven-way clostridial two weeks before being delivered. The calves will be revaccinated, dewormed, deliced, weighed and ear tagged before being moved to the center feedlot. Two to three weeks after they reach the center, feedlot staff will place them on a high-grain diet. The target for harvesting the cattle is when they reach 0.5 inch backfat and choice marbling. Producers retain ownership of the calves during the feeding period, and they’re responsible for the feeding costs. The costs are deducted from the proceeds of the carcass sales. The rest of the money goes to the producers. The previous feedout’s harvest was in May. The calves, which were on feed for 183 days, averaged 656 pounds at delivery. They gained 3.39 pounds per day, converted feed at 6.3 pounds of dry matter per pound of live gain, averaged 1,276 pounds at slaughter, and had feed-plus-yardage cost-per-pound gain of 33.7 cents and a breakeven of $85.16 per hundredweight. “Feedout projects allow producers to benchmark their herds,” Hoppe says. “This allows the owners to compare their cattle’s feedlot and carcass performance under similar feed and management conditions. Then they can adjust their breeding decisions accordingly. Also, these projects allow for an introduction into retained-ownership programs.” For more information or to enter the project, contact Hoppe at (701) 652-2951 or khoppe@ndsuext.nodak.edu. ### Source: Karl
Hoppe, (701) 652-2951, khoppe@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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