After a summer full of heat, the Farmer’s Almanac is predicting a very cold and wet winter in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas for the months of December through February.
Last winter, the first major snowfall occurred just prior to Christmas and snow continued to be heavy through March in a large portion of north-central and western Nebraska.
The excess mud that came with the snow and the rain had a negative impact on cattle health and performance in feedyards which devastated a large geographic region of the beef industry.
Feedlot managers track cattle morbidity, mortality, average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), cost of gain (COG), and feed conversion (F:G) on a routine basis.
These performance, health, and economic indicators were certainly impacted by last winter’s harsh conditions.
It is time for feedyards and cow-calf operations to be better prepared for this winter.
Last year, the winter weather conditions caught some producers by surprise, leaving many operations unprepared to handle the elements.
Ownership and management of feedlot operations should start to meet now (if they haven’t already) and discuss the winter weather action plan to maintain cattle health, comfort, and performance if they should receive excess winter moisture.
Moisture during the winter is difficult to manage as the temperatures are usually cold enough that pens do not fully dry out or freeze to a point where one can run a scraper to smooth things out.
There are often not enough daylight hours to aid in the drying of the soil, and this leads to the formation of the number one problem, mud!
Last winter, mud had a significant negative impact on COG, DMI, ADG, F:G, and death loss.
The deep mud led to several overbalanced cattle and cattle that simply weakened due to a lack of intake and exhaustion from the mud and cold conditions.
Dr. Dan Thomson from PAC, Dr. Matt Greenquist from Midwest PMS, and I utilized resources from several university researchers to identify the impacts of mud and temperature on cattle performance.
Tables 1-3 are adapted from a 2011 paper by Dr. Terry Mader of UNL.1
The data in these tables show that decreasing mud depth significantly improves performance and COG of cattle and that bedding has a bigger impact on performance as temperatures decrease and mud depth increases.
Bedding costs approximately $0.08/hd/d with 2 inches of mud and approximately $0.30/hd/d with 6 inches of mud.
The return-on-investment (ROI) for bedding with 2 inches of mud is $0.07/hd/d at 26° F and $0.16/hd/d at 16° F.
We also wanted to incorpor ate the compounding effects of mud on cattle performance. In a 2016 report, Dr. Halfman wrote that 4 to 8 inches of mud can cause a 15% reduction in intake.2
A reduction in intake is significant because of its impact on ADG but also because of its negative impact on immune function.
This can lead to elevated sickness and, in extreme cases, negative energy balances due to the fact the animal cannot consume enough ration to meet the overall maintenance requirements of the animal because it is simply too cold.
Again, bedding has been shown to help in these situations.
Consider the effect of intake dropping 15% on COG. If cattle were consuming 22 lb. per day on a DM basis, DMI decreases 3.3 lb/hd/d.
If the effects of reducing DMI on ADG shown in Table 4 are linear (0.05 lb/d drop in ADG for every 0.25 lb/d reduction in intake), gain would decrease 0.726 lb/hd/d.
Cost of gain with lost performance and fixed costs remaining the same would increase $17.82 per cwt, or $0.178/lb. This is equivalent to increasing COG $0.46/hd/d.
Altogether, we estimated that failing to utilize bedding and control mud depth during last winter’s events cost the industry between $1.65 and $2.65 per head per day.
In a 20,000 head feedyard, this equates to $33,000 per day or more lost in cattle performance and health.
Cattle lost weight during these conditions and could not eat enough to support growth of the animal for a long period of time, which was realized as additional shrink in weight for cattle sold two weeks after the storm when compared to cattle from the same lot sold prior to the storm.
Here are some simple things to consider when excess mud and cold occur for several days or weeks in a row:
During blizzards, rain, and ice storms, cattle care and employee safety must be top priority.
This requires the leaders in the feedyard to inform the crew of the weather that is about to approach and lay out the plan for all to see and help with on the days that it is needed.
At times, the team may have to skip riding a pen to drive equipment to move snow and deliver feed instead.
At several feedyards last year, plans to address these issues were made so that the entire feedlot team had an inclement weather strategy to help keep the cattle fed and watered in the feedyard and to establish some early comfort for the cattle.
Ideally, pen conditions should be in good order prior to the end of November.
It is imperative to have meetings within the operations crew outlining how to handle inclement weather events, who will be running equipment, and ensure proper equipment is available to handle the situation.
Always check the backup generator so the feedyard does not run out of power and/or freeze a well or water tanks.
It is important to have water tanks preset for overflow, or heat in the water, to prevent freezing.
Check for stray voltage to ensure all shorts are identified now. In the midst of a blizzard (emergency) event where feed trucks cannot get to the cattle to put feed out, put out an 1800 lb. bale of hay per 70 head of cattle in the pens.
Preparedness is key to preventing excessive losses of cattle or performance. Mud is only an issue if a plan is not in place.
Pen surfaces must be continuously maintained and cleaned rather than waiting for pen floors to be dirty or in crisis mode.
Working together, being vigilant on pen floor maintenance, and having a plan for inclement weather will lead to being better prepared for this winter season.
1. Mader TL. Mud Effects on Feedlot Cattle. 2011 Nebraska Beef Report, p. 82-83. Accessed at https://beef.unl.edu/c9405542-1c41-4b9c-a143-f192e1e72917.pdf.
2. Halfman B. Muddy Conditions Influence on Beef Cattle Performance. Drovers, April 7, 2016. Accessed at https://www.drovers.com/markets/muddy-conditions-influence-beef-cattle-performance.
3. Stock R, Britton R. Acidosis. NebGuide G91-1047-A, 1991. Accessed at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/198/.
D
r. Kip Lukasiewicz received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1999 from Kansas State University. He is the owner of Sandhills Cattle Consultants, Inc. and a partner with Production Animal Consultation, LLC. Dr. Kip’s primary focus is feedlot consulting, animal handling, and facility design. Dr. Kip trained under the late Bud Williams and has worked and trained extensively with Dr. Tom Noffsinger utilizing Bud’s thoughts on low-stress cattle handling and caregiving. Dr. Kip along with Dr. Tom works and trains with over 20% of the US fed cattle industry and also travels to Canada training feedlot clients on low-stress cattle handling and caregiving. Dr. Kip resides in Farwell, Nebraska, with his wife, and they have two children. He is an active member of the Academy of Veterinary Consultants, Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association, and American Association of Bovine Practitioners.
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