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192: 5 Hidden Herd Health Costs That Are Killing Your Profit · CattleUSA Daily

• 0:03
  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast.
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  Your go to source for the latest.
• 0:07
  Livestock markets, industry insights, and the update shaping
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  agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
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  passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
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  informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
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  episode. Most producers think about herd
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  health costs in terms of vaccines, mineral, or the
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  occasional vet bill, but those are the obvious ones, the ones
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  you can see on a receipt. The real money drains are the
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  hidden health costs, the slow leaks that never make it into a
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  Ledger but eat profit all the same.
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  Today we are talking about 5 herd health costs that quietly
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  kill your margins and what to do about them before they get to
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  you. The first hidden cost is
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  subclinical disease that is every single case of respiratory
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  infection, pink eye or foot rot that doesn't kill a cow but
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  drags her performance for the next few months.
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  Research from Kansas State and Texas A&S shows calves that
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  recover from even mild BRD wean 20 to 30 lbs lighter on average.
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  You might not see them as sick, but they quietly cost you 40 to
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  $60.00 a head in lost gain and future fertility.
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  It's not the death loss that hurts the most, it's the lagging
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  ones you didn't notice #2 is vaccine mishandling.
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  You can buy the best vaccine protocol on paper, but if it
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  rides around warm in a pickup all morning, you might as well
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  throw half of it away. Iowa State University found that
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  more than 40% of ranchers store or transport modified live
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  vaccines above the recommended temps.
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  Iowa State University found that more than 40% of ranchers store
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  or transport modified live vaccines above the recommended
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  temperatures. That degrades potency before you
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  ever hit a cow with it, and every ineffective vaccine leads
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  to one more sick animal, one more treatment you have to do,
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  and one more set back. Keep a cooler in the truck, put
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  some ice in it, use it. It is a simple fix with a big
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  payoff #3 you've got internal and external parasite
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  resistance. We all tend to worm the same way
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  that we did 10 years ago, the same product, same timing, but
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  the parasites have changed. Studies from the University of
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  Georgia and LSU show ivermectin resistance in over half of
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  tested herds in the Southeast and growing across the Plains.
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  Subclinical parasite loads cut feed efficiency by 5 to 10%.
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  That's not a health issue on paper.
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  It's a feed bill problem. Rotating classes of dewormers,
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  using fecal egg counts to confirm effectiveness, and
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  integrating pasture rotation strategies can save feed and
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  improve gain #4 is one of the most underrated trace mineral
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  deficiencies. Copper, zinc and selenium Dr.
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  Immune response, reproduction and calf vigor.
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  A cow can look fine, have a glossy coat, a great appetite,
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  and still be running at half her immune capacity if her trace
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  mineral levels are off. The University of Florida
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  research found that cows marginally deficient in copper
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  had 30% lower conception rates and calves with lower passive
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  immunity through the colostrum. That's not a mineral cost
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  problem, it is a fertility problem disguised as one.
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  If you haven't tested liver or serum mineral levels in a while,
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  that is a great place to start. The 5th and final hidden cost is
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  poor cattle handling and labor gaps.
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  Every time cattle get worked, yelled at, or crowded through a
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  chute spikes stress, cortisol levels, and that hormone
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  suppresses immunity for up to 48 hours.
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  That means even vaccinated cattle might not respond fully.
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  You lose efficiency, you lose protection.
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  Add in tired help, temporary workers, or inconsistent
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  handling, and you've got a herd that's constantly burning energy
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  on stress instead of growth. Montana State data showed calm
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  cattle handling had 15% higher average daily gain and fewer
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  retreats for respiratory disease.
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  Quiet low stress handling isn't just a welfare topic, it is a
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  health cost strategy. So let's run through them all
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  one more time. Number one, we talked about
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  subclinical disease, which is the silent weight thief #2 we
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  talked about vaccine handling, losing potency before the needle
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  even hits a cow. Then you've got #3 parasite
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  resistance where we are wasting feed on freeloaders #4 you've
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  got trace mineral deficiency. Reproduction is quietly slipping
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  for this. And #5 you've got cattle
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  handling, stress, health, and performance left in the alleyway
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  with that one. Each one is invisible
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  day-to-day, but over a year they can erase 10s of thousands in
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  profit. The best ranch managers I know
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  don't just track treatments, they track why those treatments
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  are needed. If your herd health program
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  hasn't changed in a few years, start asking where the leaks
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  are. Sometimes it's not a new product
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  you need, it is tighter management of the basics.
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  Because the biggest profit killers aren't dramatic, They
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  are quiet, and they're already in your heart.
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  This is the Cattle USA daily podcast.
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  I am your host, Lauren Moylan. Thanks for tuning into another
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  episode. If you're watching on YouTube,
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  please take a second to like and subscribe to our channel.
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  to follow the show and rate and review it.
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  We really appreciate it here at the team and we will see you all
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  tomorrow on another episode. Have a good one y'all.