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Western Canadian Cow-Calf Survey

June 13-14, 2016 SSGA AGM & Convention, Regina, SK

Kathy Larson

WBDC Beef Economist

@kathywbdc

Overview

• The Profit-Production Link

• WCCCS Background

• Survey Says….

• Cost Example of RMP Adoption

• Next Steps

@kathywbdc

The Profit-Production Link

@kathywbdc

The Profit-Production Link

Unit Cost of Production or Break-Even Price =

TOTAL COW HERD COSTS

TOTAL LBS OF CALF WEANED

Lower break-even in one of two ways:

Decrease the numerator (costs)

Increase the denominator (lbs of calf to sell)

@kathywbdc

The Profit-Production Link

Unit Cost of Production or Break-Even Price =

TOTAL COW HERD COSTS

TOTAL LBS OF CALF WEANED

CONCEPTION RATE OPEN RATE

% CALVED IN FIRST 21 D

CALVING SPAN

CALVING RATE CALF DEATH LOSS

WEAN RATE

@kathywbdc

@kathywbdc

WCCCS Background

• Funded by SK Agriculture Development Fund

• AB conducted cow-calf surveys in 80s & late

90s to generate provincial benchmarks

• Last one in 1998 involved over 1700 producers

• Collaboration between BC, AB, SK & MB to

revive & expand the AB survey to establish

Western Canadian production benchmarks

@kathywbdc

WCCCS Survey Details • 58 Q’s 30-45 minutes to complete

• Qs from 2013 Breeding to 2014 Calf Crop

• By design, asks what a producer did, not why they did what they did

• Survey ran from November 2014 to end of February 2015

• No $ compensation Complimentary report with indicators

@kathywbdc

WCCCS Background

• Generate an updated set of production benchmarks for the cow-calf industry

• Historical comparison with previous study how has industry changed

• Guide extension and research efforts

• Identify which management practices are linked to strong production performance

@kathywbdc

Survey Says….

WCCCS Survey Findings

8% 49%

24% 18% 5%

40% 30% 12% % of National Beef Cow Herd

Responses by Province

WCCCS AB SASK MB

# Responses 411 191 91 74

Average Age 50 54 42 50

Avg # Years Raising Cattle 28 31 20 27

@kathywbdc

21%

17%

29%

14%

8%

11%

18% 20%

25%

10%

15%

12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

<50 50-99 100-199 200-299 300-399 400+

WCCCS SK

WCCCS: Herd Size WCCCS AB SASK MB

# Females Calved in 2014 167 163 188 103

@kathywbdc

Reproduction Indicators WCCCS AB SASK MB

Cow:Bull Ratio 24:1 24.5:1 25:1 30:1

Breeding Season, days 92 84 96 98

% w 63 d or less 25% 29% 24% 19%

% Bred heifers earlier 26% 26% 27% 20%

Avg # Days earlier 13 12 14 11

Open Rate (Cows) 7% 6.6% 7% 7.7%

Open Rate (Heifers) 10% 7.5% 9.9% 6.9%

@kathywbdc

2013 Breeding Management

1998 WCCCS AB SASK MB

Pregnancy Check Cows

49% 60% 58% 64% 65%

Pregnancy Check Heifers

-- 66% 64% 67% 67%

Semen Test 51% 64% 63% 75% 59%

Artificial Insemination

-- 18% 19% 17% 22%

Estrus Synchronization

-- 11% 10% 14% 13%

@kathywbdc

Calving Start

15%

19% 18% 18%

24%

5%

10% 12% 13%

23%

34%

8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

January February Mar 1-15 Mar 16-31 April May

WCCCS

SK

65% start calving after March 15

55%

30%

10%

4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Day 1-21 Day 22-42 Day 42-63 Day 63+

Calving Distribution • Ideally, 60%+ calving in first 21 d • Close to 50% met this target • Improvement from ’98 48% in 1st 21 d

Calves can gain 2-2.5 lb/d

X 21 d @ $1.90/lb =

$80-100

Source: WCCCS

@kathywbdc

2014 SK Calf Crop

• 7% Average Calf Death Loss

• 28% Implanted Calves

– Of those who implanted, 21% implanted 2X

• 28% Provided Creep Feed

• 40% Wean Wt as % of Dam Wt

• 492 lb Weaned per Cow Wintered

@kathywbdc

2014 Calf Marketing

• 74% sold calves at weaning

• 43% sold more than 50% of their calves at weaning

• 29% preconditioned 30-60d

• 36% retained calves to background

• 9% retain to feedlot finish

• 66% who sold calves at weaning, sold 100% via live auction

@kathywbdc

SK Production Practices

• 84% supplied trace mineral in summer; 100%

in winter (EVEN/UP from 84% & 90% in ‘98)

• 20% Body Condition Score ( from 23% in ’98)

• Cow wt: ~1385 lb <20% provided scale wt

• 92% vaccinate (UP SLIGHTLY from 90% in ‘98)

• 77% vaccinate pre-breeding

• 12% inject in rump & hind ¼ ( from 29% in ’98)

@kathywbdc

Calf Vaccinations in 1998

@kathywbdc

SK Winter Feeding

• Close to 60% lab test feed for quality

• Of those, close to 80% use results for ration

balancing

• 65% sort cows for winter feeding

Age, 83%

Condition, 74%

Stage, 31% Other, 2%

@kathywbdc

17%

33%

18%

6%

17%

46%

28%

67%

17%

24%

41%

24%

6%

27%

55%

24%

74%

26%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80% WCCCS

SK

Winter Feeding Methods

Silage, Grain, TMR

62% have 2-3 winter feeding methods

@kathywbdc

WCCCS Extensive Feeding

55%

27%

56%

67%

56%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

All BC AB SK MB

Percent of respondents who utilize Swathgrazing, Bale grazing, Stockpiled Grass, Standing Corn or Crop Residue for Beef Cow’s winter feeding program

n=382 n=26 n=191 n=91 n=74

@kathywbdc

Cost of Recommended Management Practice

(RMP) Adoption

@kathywbdc

Recommended Mgt Practices

• Reproduction is 5X more important than Growth Rate & 10X more important than Carcass Quality (Willham 1973)

• Targets shared by Dr. John Campbell:

– 95% Conception (WCCCS SK 93%)

– 63 d Breeding Season Cows (WCCCS SK 92 d)

– 45 d for Heifers, but 30-42 d earlier than Cows (WCCCS SK 92 d & 14 d earlier by only 27%)

– 65%+ Calved in 1st 21 d (WCCCS SK 55%)

@kathywbdc

Recommended Mgt Practices

–Vaccinate Pre-Breeding w MLV (WCCCS SK 77%)

– Semen Test Bulls, Test for Trich/Vibrio (WCCCS SK 75%, 24% & 14%)

–Maintain Body Condition Maintain Calving Interval (WCCCS SK 20% BCS, 65% sort for winter feeding)

@kathywbdc

RMP: Pregnancy Checking

• Pregnancy checking herd of 350 females

• Live 70 km from clinic

YES NO

RMP: Pregnancy Checking

• Pregnancy checking herd of 350 females

• Live 70 km from clinic

YES NO

$4.45/female x 350 =

~$1560 plus $170 mileage

$1730 or ~$5/female

RMP: Pregnancy Checking

• Pregnancy checking herd of 350 females

• Live 70 km from clinic

YES NO

$4.45/female x 350 =

~$1560 plus $170 mileage

$1730 or $5/female

Feed 150 d x $2.50/d =

$375/cow

If 7% open (25 hd)

$9375 in feed, yardage, labour

@kathywbdc

10 Yr Avg D1,D2 Price - AB

Source: CanFax

72.93 73.30

62.36

55

57

59

61

63

65

67

69

71

73

75

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

$/c

wt

15% Drop ~$148 on 1350 lb cow

Gained back by April

@kathywbdc

Mar 23 BCRC Blog

• As winter feeding cost , makes more sense to sell opens in fall

• Expected ADG influences sell/feed decision

• If spring price below $0.75/lb sell in fall

• Interactive web tool available online

Source: http://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/calculator-pregnancy-testing-cattle/

@kathywbdc

Interactive Tool

Source: http://www.beefresearch.ca/economicmodel/pregnancy-detection.cfm?type=advanced#part-a

Is Keeping Opens Worth It?

Fall Price is the average November price for D1,D2 cows in AB Spring Price is the average April price for D1,D2 cows in AB

$171 $207

$296 $306

$392

$489

$310 $303

$629

$555

$97

$-

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Ch

ange

in V

alu

e $

/hd

D1

,D2

Co

w P

rice

, $/c

wt

Change Fall Price Spring Price

Assume 1.25 lb/d ADG; 150 d feeding @ $2.50/hd/d1250 lb to 1437 lb

The change in cull cow prices from Fall to the following Spring

often doesn’t cover the cost of feeding her.

@kathywbdc

Next Steps

@kathywbdc

RMP Cost & Benefit

• Re-survey producers to determine why or why not RMPs (recommended mgt practices) are followed

• Collect data to calculate cost of production

• Collect production measures

• Why are some RMPs followed while others are not?

• Does it matter? Is productivity and profitability connected to RMP adoption?

@kathywbdc

In Closing

• Remember the profit ↔ production link

• National Beef Strategy Productivity Pillar increase production efficiency 15% by 2020

• Increased adoption of RMPs & existing technologies can help industry reach this target

• Be part of the follow-up study to share why you do what you do on your operation

@kathywbdc

Any Questions? Kathy Larson

klarson.wbdc@pami.ca

Cell: 306-930-9354

@kathywbdc

www.wbdc.sk.ca

Channel: WSTRNBEEF