Annual profitability is almost always decided in the long, hot months of summer. As cattle try to beat the summer temperatures and still gain efficiently, the bottom line for producers is at stake. Take a look at these tips to ensure you are optimizing your feed efficiency for the second half of 2016.

1. Define “efficiency” appropriately

Choosing an exact and agreed upon definition for “efficiency” among producers is never easy. Should an efficient operation simply focus on increasing the output of carcass weight compared to days on feed? Or should metrics, such as overall cost of gain, feed conversion ratio or overall feed costs, play a more significant role in determining true profitability?  

Though there will be disagreement among producers, there are two appropriate features constant in defining an efficient operation. The first is determining what exactly is the total sum of inputs needed to drive a specific output, and if that could be done better (the most basic definition of efficiency). Unfortunately, many of these may be unseen or unknown by a producer, such as more efficient management techniques, new technologies to implement or unforeseen environmental concerns, among many others.

The second part of an efficient operation is to ensure that current practices promote a viable and profitable system for the foreseeable future. Producing “efficiently” with diminishing returns in the long run only hurts the industry as a whole.

2. Use technology to manage your diet

Using technology to promote efficiency is a constantly growing opportunity for producers. At Alltech, recent developments in regard to in vitro fermentation have yielded encouraging news. The Alltech® In Vitro Fermentation Model (IFM) is a diagnostic tool that simulates rumen fermentation and evaluates the nutritional value of a total mixed ration in terms of digestibility and end products of fermentation.

Recently, demonstrations have been done using IFM to test the nutritive quality of pasture grasses in Florida. Test samples of grass were sent to the Alltech IFM lab in Brookings, South Dakota, and were tested both with and without the Alltech® Feed Efficiency technology, Fibrozyme®. Fibrozyme is a unique hemicellulose-degrading enzyme that enhances the rate of digestion in the rumen of beef cattle. The enzyme technology in Fibrozyme holds the key to unlocking challenges associated with fiber digestibility.

Functionally, what the IFM shows is that, when used in a ration, Fibrozyme can immediately begin breaking down the cell wall fraction of plant fiber in the rumen environment. This quick action jump-starts fiber digestion by providing bacteria with both easily available nutrients and easier access to other plant structures. These types of technologies and feeding models can help producers drive efficiency for their operations.

3. Know what lies ahead

2017 will be marked as a year of major changes in the beef industry. On Jan. 1, 2017, the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) will be implemented in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration to apply veterinary oversight to a broad range of products used in animal feed, such as antibiotics. The VFD will be implemented to promote the judicious use of antibiotics in an effort to safeguard public health by limiting the development of antibiotic resistance. This will restrict any antibiotic use for growth promotion or feed efficiency. Once the changes are in full effect, it will be illegal to use medically important antibiotics without a veterinary prescription and they will only be available for use to prevent, control or treat a specifically identified disease.

This is important to efficiency because, as cattle are placed either in feedlots or on pasture-based programs, certain technologies during their feeding cycle may be removed and their diet will change. These changes could affect efficiency in a negative way. Producers need to plan ahead and begin to look at alternative production methods that promote profitable efficiency in line with the VFD regulations.

4. Get more for your efforts

Efficiency doesn’t just mean getting the most from your cattle; it also means finding markets and opportunities that help you get the highest return on your investment. Be selective in choosing the best suppliers and accreditations. Know the expected return on investment and aggressively pursue these premiums for your cattle.  Remember, feed represents up to 70 percent of your operations costs — make the most out of every dollar you spend.

Alltech recently partnered with Where Food Comes From, the parent company of IMI Global, and became their first Feed Verified partner. Fifteen Alltech technologies were verified through this program for clear, direct use in all verified natural, antibiotic-free, Non-Hormone Treated Cattle (NHTC), GAP certified and Non-GMO Project Verified programs. Producers using these technologies can now efficiently benefit from the premiums found from supplying cattle to the European Union or other specialty markets.

5. Continue to ask around!

Lastly, but certainly not least, continue to look around and ask questions on how production can be done better, especially in the hot summer heat when cattle stress is at its highest. At Alltech, we are taking these challenges head-on through a series of informative, free webinars for producers. Listen to a recording of our most recent webinar here, which focused on:

• Understanding how to spot the signs of heat stress in beef cattle.
• Learning how nutrition can impact heat stress.
• Implementing strategies to manage heat stress.
• Improving overall cattle performance.

For more information on these strategies, contact your Alltech representative or visit www.alltech.com/beef.

I want to learn more about nutrition for my beef cattle.

“Transparency, in the age of internet, is no longer an option; it’s essential,” said Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and vice president of corporate accounts, Alltech, during his talk about the Chipotle crisis at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference.

Chipotle has been a leading advocate of food chain transparency while also endeavoring to elevate the experience of fast food. The company embodies the “fast casual” definition – a step above fast food but not quite a sit-down restaurant.

“It sets the standard for the future, and specifically, a tremendous commitment to sustainability,” noted Connolly.

Yet, in 2015, Chipotle suffered a crushing food safety crisis when more than 500 customers reported being affected by E. coli, norovirus and Salmonella over a seven-month period from July to December in the United States. Food safety experts estimated that among 500 people that were affected, at least ten of the cases went undiagnosed.

Steve Ells, Chipotle’s founder and co-CEO, publicly apologized to everyone who’d fallen ill. Demonstrating remorse and resolution, he announced a more comprehensive food safety program and changes to the company’s supply chain. However, this should have been done after the first case was reported.

“When you have that crisis you need to demonstrate the usual three rules: (1) You have a clear person in charge, (2) you have a plan of action to address the problem and (3) the plan is working. I think Chipotle has done that but a little late having five issues in a row,” said Connolly.

Despite the apology and renewed commitment to customer safety, the crisis’ effect on the brand was devastating. Chipotle’s crisis has significantly widened the gap between analysts’ high and low stock-price targets in two months, after the E. coli outbreak was reported.

“There’s nothing worse from a trust perspective. This is not the kind of problem that you can market your way out of,” said Mark Crumpacker, then chief marketing and development officer, Chipotle.

Chipotle went from a company that portrayed themselves as sustainable to being perceived as causing life-threatening diseases. Consumers thought the brand was “smug” and didn’t take it seriously enough in the beginning.

“We need to be clear that the fact of something being organic or natural is not an excuse for it to be unsafe,” stated Connolly. 

Chipotle was facing lawsuits, supply challenges, brand attacks, slowing sales and first quarter losses. Shares have fallen more than 40 percent from all-time high of USD $742 in July last year. Restaurant growth has also been a lot slower.

Nonetheless, Chipotle is bouncing back by proving they took the issue seriously through changes in internal trainings, practices and suppliers.

“Chipotle still has a very strong image and brand reputation for taste and uniqueness, but they cannot afford another mistake,” noted Connolly.

Chipotle is far from the first or last food company to be caught in a crisis. Connolly had some advice for all companies.

“We have one hour, the ‘Golden Hour’, to react to a crisis. What you do in the first hour is absolutely essential,” said Connolly.

Connolly recommended a strategy for businesses when faced with a crisis:

• Acknowledge the situation within the “Golden Hour”
• Promise to discover the cause, be relentless in this pursuit, share your findings and, most importantly, the actions you are taking to prevent any recurrance
• Keep updating the public
• Engage on social media

The bottom line is: A food safety crisis can be more preventable through proper crisis management, via four stages:

1. Prevention:

• Employ a good food safety program. This is a minimum requirement.
• Stay current on risk factors
• Integrate from top to bottom. All members must follow protocol.
• One conclusion from the Chipotle crisis is, when there are problems in several states within a few months, you have a systemic problem that you need to address in terms of education to your employees.

2. Preparation:

• Proactively plan: Study other companies’ successes and failures
• Monitor public discussion: Know where your customers communicate and use social media to stay in control

3. Management:

• Acknowledge the issue
• Buy time to get the facts
• Do not deny involvement or responsibility
• Do not attempt to estimate the magnitude of the problem
• Commit to a speedy, but thorough investigation

4. Recovery:

• Reassess your risk exposure at the end of the crisis
• Explain implementation of changes
• Evaluate again one year later to measure progress against your risk mitigation goals

As China’s middle class continues to grow and to migrate to urban areas, it is demanding healthier, safer and more nutritious food. To help meet this demand at a local level, Dr. Mark Lyons moved to China four years ago to lead Alltech’s efforts and serves as global vice president and head of Greater China.

The company established Alltech Crop Science China, and Dr. Xue Kai serves as its technical and product manager. Dr. Steven Borst, general manager for Alltech Crop Science, is responsible for global product registration. These three experts shared their insights on how the company is helping local producers increase production efficiency in a sustainable way.
 

Why is there an emphasis on China?

Dr. Lyons: Globally, China is the second largest producer of potatoes, wheat, corn and other commodities. For years, there has been much discussion about who will feed China. The answer is: China will feed China.

As Chinese consumers travel globally, they are becoming aware of cutting-edge technology and expect that same level of knowledge in China. Alltech is committed to providing technology at a local level to meet growing global needs and will provide the best staff to support local producers.

Which crop science products will help serve this market?

Dr. Kai: Alltech Crop Science China has worked to gain product approval for two of the company’s natural plant and soil activators. The company is now finalizing registration of its unique products, designed to streamline processes for optimal performance and help revitalize soils.

The excellent results from the registration and demonstration trials conducted thus far make us extremely excited about the future of this technology in China and the role Alltech can play to support the development of new agricultural practices in this country.
 

How is Alltech supporting other efforts in China?
 

Dr. Lyons: Alltech’s China Now program is a strategic five-year plan and includes numerous educational and research initiatives in China. The company has been operating in China for 22 years and has recently partnered with Nestlé in the creation of a world-class training center, the Dairy Farming Institute in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang province. In addition, 10 of the company’s 30 research alliances are focused on providing local support for this growing region.
 

What are future challenges and opportunities in China?
 

Dr. Borst: As Chinese producers work on continued production efficiency, they are also awakening to the same issues we are successfully addressing in the U.S. and Brazil. Common issues include addressing nutrient management needs not only for soil health, but as part of integrated crop and livestock systems.

Across the globe, farmers are working to become more precise with nutrient management. With our global expertise, we can share best practices with producers and others involved in Chinese agribusiness.

Consumers and producers alike are demanding more natural alternatives and products that fit into sustainable management systems. We are focused on providing new solutions that meet environmental sustainability and food safety standards.
 

Have a question or comment?

In the United States and Canada, the poultry industry’s standard performance measurement is the feed conversion ratio (FCR). Calculating FCR is as simple as taking the total amount of feed consumed by the flock and dividing it by the amount of weight gained or the number of eggs produced. In other words, FCR equals input divided by output. For broiler producers, an FCR of 1.6 means that their chickens gain 1 kilogram of weight for every 1.6 kilograms of feed consumed. The lower the FCR, the more efficient animals are at converting feed into food.

Since the 1980s, poultry producers have been able to reduce their feed conversion ratios from producing a bird weighing 2 kilograms in 70 days with an FCR of 2.5 to a bird weighing the same in 29 days with an FCR of 1.5 today. This means that fewer grains are being used to produce more meat and eggs. The industry made this leap using two key strategies: genetic improvements and the inclusion of exogenous enzymes.

Exogenous enzymes allow producers to get more energy, phosphorus and amino acids from their diets, and the international unit for measuring enzyme activity is the katal. The katal represents 1 mol of substrate per second; however, the most valued unit for comparative purposes in the animal industry is the amount of the enzyme in milligrams needed to catalyze the reaction of a particular substrate, releasing 1 micromol of a final product in one minute.

It is far more difficult for producers to determine the effect a particular enzyme will have on their flock’s efficiency. Most producers will need to run field trials in order to see how the inclusion of a particular enzyme will impact their FCR. These trials can be complicated, due to the number of variables involved, and they can be very expensive, too. Being able to measure how effective a particular diet is at providing nutrients for digestion before it is fed to the animals can give a great advantage to poultry producers.

Tools like Alltech True Check™ in vitro screening can allow producers to do just that. True Check simulates poultry digestion in the lab utilizing samples of feed. This tool mimics the real life conditions of the animal’s digestive system and shows producers the amount of nutrients that are being released for digestion. With True Check, producers can do side-by-side comparisons of multiple feeding strategies and choose the one that will minimize their FCR and improve their flock’s performance the most.   

Measuring and projecting performance allows poultry producers to choose the feeding strategy that reduces their feed costs and, as a result, gives them the best chances for increasing profitability. After all, the industry can only improve what it can measure.

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With temperatures exceeding 80⁰ Fahrenheit (F), cows can produce 4,500 to 6,000 British thermal units (BTU) per hour, an amount similar to the output of a 1,500-watt hair dryer. Heat can have serious manifestations in the dairy cow, resulting in effects such as (but not limited to):

• Lower production

• Rumen acidosis

• Milk fat depression  

• Poor reproduction

• Laminitis/lameness

• Weakened immune system

• Mastitis

• Transition disease (retained placenta, displaced abomasum, etc.)

• Lower body condition  score

It is only natural when cows are moved to a small space, such as the holding pen, that body temperatures rise. Research shows that a cow’s body temperature will increase by 3⁰ F in 20 minutes in a holding pen where there’s no cooling. By contrast, a cow’s body temperature will drop by 3.5⁰ F in that same 20 minutes when fans and a soaker system are used. Research by the University of Arizona showed that simply cooling cows in the holding pen increased milk production by 1.7 pounds per day in the summer.

There are can be adverse effects when developing a cooling system for holding pens if incorrectly applied. Water without fans will lead to increased humidity and heat stress in the holding pen, creating a “sauna” effect. Heat stress is a result of both temperature and humidity. The temperature-humidity index (THI) threshold for reproduction is 65,which is lower than the THI of 68 for milk production

Holding pen cooling tips:             

• Mount fans in rows, with airflow toward the back of the holding pen.
• Place 36-inch fans every 20 to 24 feet, or place 48-inch fans every 24 to 36 feet.
• Put 3 feet between fans (for example, between 36-inch fans mounted on 6-inch centers).
• Fan height should be a minimum of 8 feet, as low as possible but out of reach of cows and machinery.
• Mount fans higher if drop hose soakers like i-Wobs are used.
• For narrow holding pens (less than 24 feet) or pens with low ceilings, fans can be alongside the pen.
• Move air across and toward the back of the holding pen.
• Take advantage of prevailing winds.*

*Prevailing winds may be blocked by cattle, freestall dividers or headlocks. Wind speed is typically variable and is not dependable for adequate cooling of cattle.

Have a question or comment?

Many in the U.S. Midwest have had the luxury of increasing their forage inventory over the last couple of years, and this year continues to be on pace.

Dairy cows have the ability to transform fibrous plant materials and byproducts into high-quality milk, but the rumen microbes require available protein to perform these fiber digestion functions. Protein prices in the last month have continued to rise, and many dairy producers are now looking at ways to reduce their out-of-pocket costs and feed more of their housed forage, which typically represents 50 to 70 percent of the total mixed ration.

The rumen bacteria need ammonia-nitrogen

In order to keep the rumen bacteria working more efficiently, an effective source of ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) is needed to enhance fiber-digesting bacteria. Research has shown that the bacteria in the rumen primarily use NH3-N in the ruminal fluid, which is derived from a non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source in the feed.

Possible nitrogen sources in the dairy ration

Feed-grade urea is a common form of NPN used in dairy rations, but because of rapid ammonia release, it leads to nitrogen inefficiency and wasted energy in the dairy cow. Vegetable protein sources, such as soybean meal and canola meal, can also be a source of slow-release nitrogen, but these ingredients can have variability in nutrient composition and take up valuable space in the ration. Many producers are trying to find ways to make the ration more energy dense, especially during periods of heat stress, and feeding less bulky ingredients may help to achieve this goal. 

Optigen^® is a unique protein alternative that is 256 percent equivalent crude protein from NPN and provides a sustained release of NH3-N in the rumen. This slow release allows for better synchronization with microbial protein needs while dramatically increasing nitrogen efficiency in the dairy cow. The key is to synchronize the ruminal carbohydrate and crude protein degradability in the rumen to increase microbial protein production and energy derived from rumen microbes. A combination of effective protein sources available in the rumen and post-ruminally — matching essential amino acids in the small intestine — has the potential to increase the cow’s efficiency. 

How does Optigen work?

Many rations can implement up to 6 ounces of Optigen and allow for some removal of protein from vegetable protein sources, such as soybean meal. For example, 6 ounces of Optigen provides 0.9 pounds of protein, which will replace 1.9 pounds of soybean meal, with space for 1.5 pounds of dry matter of corn silage. This will create space in the ration, which will allow the dairy producer to utilize more forage in the ration and to lower out-of-pocket costs.

In a recent trial done at the University of Wisconsin (Journal of Dairy Science 02, Suppl. 1, 290), 16 commercial dairy farms in Wisconsin incorporated Optigen into the ration and removed soybean meal. The space that it created was filled with corn or corn silage. The results show a 1-pound milk production response. You can find the full article on this research here. 

For more information, visit our Dairy page or contact your local Alltech representative.

It all starts in the pig’s mouth

Fun fact: The pH during this phase is between 1.5 and 2.5. Lemon juice, which is acidic enough to irritate your skin, has a pH around 2.2.

Getting things ready in the stomach

Nutrients find a home

Making every bite count