You can do tons of searches on here that are indepth and contain more info than you could possible need to know.
Here is a link that might be helpful.
http://www.beefquality.biz/BQCContent/t ... 1&cid=7307
Steps to a quality-focused stocker operation
SEPTEMBER 12, 2007
By Troy Smith
Buy calves as cheaply as you can. Make them put on as much weight as possible – as cheaply as you can. There you have the basic philosophy for managing a stocker operation. Right? It might be, if you're in the business of selling commodity feeder cattle. But what if your customer wants something better?
According to stocker operator Mark Yazel, of Kiowa, Kansas, the feedyards he serves are becoming increasingly choosy about the feeder cattle they buy. Some are shifting from calf-feds to heavier feeders. That's a function of higher grain prices. But more feedlots also want cattle capable of hitting quality grade targets.
"More cattle feeders are shifting to value-based marketing," says Yazel. "So they study the close-outs and carcass data to compare cattle from different sources. And they want cattle from sources whose cattle perform and grade consistently. Consistency: that's the biggest challenge."
If they want to rank high on a quality-focused feedyard's list of feeder cattle sources, Kansas State University Extension Beef Specialist Dale Blasi advises stocker operators to adopt a similar mindset. They will have to purchase calves with potential to achieve desirable quality grade and manage those calves to maintain or enhance quality. Toward that end, Blasi offers five steps for consideration.
1) Evaluate procurement strategies.
For Mark Yazel, that means scrutinizing the genetics, past herd performance and health practices applied on farms and ranches where he buys calves. Blasi agrees that all of those factors should be considered. He further recommends objective evaluation of order buyers, auction markets and transportation companies, to make sure they understand and appreciate the stocker operator's goals.
Dale Blasi
"I also stress the importance of handling," adds Blasi. "Cattle are perishable. What I mean is that all the genetics and preconditioning in the world may be for naught if there is a horrific 14-hour episode on a truck ride from sale point A to destination point B. Does the trucker make every attempt to ensure calves are comfortable and the ride is smooth? Is the transport direct with no stops? Are trucks routinely cleaned? Make sure the trucking company knows about quality assurance and animal handling guidelines."
2) Develop a working relationship with a veterinarian.
Numerous studies have illustrated how important health is to animal performance and optimum quality grade. A good veterinarian is a good friend and, a valuable partner in developing a sound health program, including vaccination and treatment protocols tailored to a specific stocker operation.
3) Follow beef quality assurance (BQA) guidelines.
This includes having managers and employees trained in proper animal care, handling and management practices. BQA is designed to enhance carcass quality by preventing residues, pathogen contamination and carcass defects such as injection site blemishes and bruises. Based on recommended national guidelines and scientific research, BQA-approved practices also promote optimum cattle response. By adhering to BQA guidelines stocker operators can enhance cattle marketability and help maintain consumer confidence in the end product.
4) Maintain records documenting all management practices.
"The mere act of documentation does nothing to enhance quality per se, other than having demonstrable proof that a person is doing what they are claiming," says Blasi. "Acting upon the gathered data and slicing it into meaningful cross-tabbed information will show stocker operators if they are walking the talk. The gathered data will reveal the value of actions that strive to achieve quality."
Western Kentucky University Extension Beef Specialist Nevil Speer concurs, adding that robust documentation enables producers to participate in Quality Systems Assessment or Process Verified Programs required for beef export verification.
"That's especially true if the cattle possess some additional marketing value from a quality grade standpoint," adds Speer. "Some basic record-keeping can go a long way to creating value."
Nevil Speer
"Identify opportunities which allow you to be paid for value you create at the stocker level that is retained all the way through the value chain," advises Speer. "For example, if an operation is good at health management – which benefits a commodity system from simply a through-put and efficiency perspective – they need to make certain they're marketing into a system which allows them to realize a benefit stemming from improved quality grade."
Blasi says a good way to start identifying quality-focused feedyards is to visit with packer buyers. They can point to yards that consistently ship high-quality finished cattle.
"From there, the stocker operator needs to knock on doors and visit with these particular yards," Blasi adds. "Get to know the management philosophy of the feedyard and determine if its goals are consistent with the management a stocker operator will have to employ in order to create the type of cattle that streamline with the yard."
LEAVE FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
