Cattle prices are at near record highs. That means one thing. Sellers are taking advantage of the market, and buyers are paying. Don’t let the cost of cattle deter you from getting your next set of calves to background, turn out on wheat or put on winter pasture.
Like everything else, the cost of cattle has increased over time. That’s good news for the cow-calf producers who have calves to sell. As the middleman, this might not sound like great news to you. You have 100 days, give or take, to background these calves and prepare them for the feed yard.
However, at BioZyme®, we have profitability for all segments of the beef industry at the top of our mind. It’s part of the care that comes full circle that we strive for in all we do.
We’ve created Gain Smart®, a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for stocker cattle that promotes healthy, economical pounds. Gain Smart mineral is an investment that will magnify the savings of the current cost of cattle. We’ll show you a cowboy math lesson in this blog, and you can see it just makes sense to feed Gain Smart on your stocker and backgrounding operation.
What is Gain Smart?
Gain Smart products are powered by the research-proven prebiotic, AO-Biotics® Amaferm®. Gain Smart with Amaferm helps support your animals’ immune health, enhances their digestive system AND helps them grow faster. That’s a trifecta you don’t want to be without with the cost of cattle today!
Amaferm is backed by 70 years of research and more than 110 research studies. We stand behind our research. When you feed a mineral supplement with Amaferm, it will promote feed intake and help your cattle gain at least .25 pounds per head per day.
We know that 70% of the immune response starts in the gut. If you can feed your cattle a research-proven prebiotic that helps keep the gut healthy, then the rest of the animal should also remain healthier. Consequently, this should lead to an overall healthier herd, ultimately saving you for treatment costs.
A healthier animal not only tends to eat better, but it will also gain and perform better. Doesn’t it make economic sense to feed your cattle less feed for a shorter amount of time? You can with Amaferm!
Cowboy Math with Gain Smart
With the current cost of cattle, 5-weights bringing in the $3s, and even 7- and 8-weights bringing in the mid $2 range, it is not an ideal time to buy stockers. However, they are selling, and with recent rains, you probably are ready to turn some out to grass.
“The cost of cattle is always going to fluctuate. However, the price of Amaferm hasn’t changed in the 10 years I have worked for the company,” said John Jeffrey, BioZyme National Sales Director. “At just 4 cents per head per day, Amaferm can magnify the value of your forages and feedstuffs. It will help your calves gain faster and more efficiently, adding at least an additional quarter of a pound of gain per day to your calves.”
Let’s look at one example of cowboy math that Jeffrey likes to explain.
If your calves gain .25 pounds per day extra, that is an extra 25 pounds after just 100 days. With Amaferm at just 4 cents per head per day, you just spent $4 for additional gain you wouldn’t have had before. That potentially leads to fewer total days on feed, for just $4. You can’t even get a soda and a candy bar for $4. Furthermore, the added pay weight of improved gain further amplifies the profitability
.25 pounds x 100 days = 25 pounds of gain
100 days x .04 = $4 for additional gain, saving days on feed/feed
More Cowboy Math
A backgrounder runs 2,000 calves in the Southern Plains while feeding a mineral from the local feedstore that costs $20/bag delivered. The average death loss is 2% or 40 calves.
The local BioZyme dealer convinces this backgrounder to feed Gain Smart at an investment of $32*/bag delivered, a difference of $12, with $4 of that the Amaferm advantage. Each bag has 200 servings, and the feeder plans to graze for about 110 days, so he or she will need 1,100 bags. Thus, he or she will spend about $13,200 more on the mineral program this year than in the past.
Healthy, Efficient Pounds
But wait. Calves are healthier, and the death loss is cut to 1% or 20 calves feeding Gain Smart mineral. Now, let’s look at where the feeder is financially. (*suggested retail price may vary due to freight)
Initial investment: 1,100 bags x $12 more than previous mineral = $13,200
Saved 20 calves due to increased health: $1600 each x 20 head = $32,000
$32,000 – $13,200 = $18,800 profit in live calves
Another way to look at it is if you save one live calf at $1600, at $32 per bag, that one calf pays for 50 bags of Gain Smart. With 200 servings per bag, that one more calf paid for 100 calves’ minerals over a 100-day backgrounding period—healthy, efficient pounds.
Your initial investment has more than paid for itself, plus the Amaferm advantage helps your calves gain potentially fewer days on grass. Your calves should stay healthier, meaning fewer dollars spent on treatments. It’s an investment that will continue to offset the cost of gain in challenging times.
“Gain Smart improves feed efficiency and health, which is more money in your pocket,” Jeffrey said.
Gain Smart Provides Options
Currently, Gain Smart is available in 4 formulas for a variety of management scenarios. All of which can help you stay profitable, regardless of the cost of cattle. The 4 different free-choice vitamin and mineral supplement formulas for stocker cattle include:
1. Gain Smart Stocker
Gain Smart Stocker helps your herd maximize efficient gain.
It is designed for those feeding a medium to high forage diet and works well for both cool- and warm-season grasses. It is the most versatile and can be fed in multiple places under multiple conditions.
2. Gain Smart Stocker Wheat
Gain Smart Stocker Wheat maximizes efficient gain on wheat or small grain pasture.
This product is formulated for a higher-quality forage diet rich in protein and nitrogen, such as wheat, small grains and legumes.
3. Gain Smart Stocker HEAT
Gain Smart Stocker HEAT® maximizes efficient gain when temperatures are above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It contains HEAT technology, a combination of essential oils and garlic, to support animals when heat and insects are a challenge.
Gain Smart Stocker HEAT is ideally suited for backgrounding and yearling cattle on grass. It contains plant extracts to help maintain circulation to support animal performance and gain in both heat and fescue situations. The plant extracts are research-proven to support animals’ ability to maintain normal body temperature. This mineral is ideal in the hot summer months, or any time fescue is grazed. It also includes garlic to deter insects.
4. Gain Smart Stocker Balancer
Gain Smart Stocker Balancer RU 1600 maximizes efficient gain and balance high-grain diets when mixing TMR rations. It includes rumensin for improved feed efficiency.
Gain Smart Balancer RU 1600 is designed for calves being backgrounded or fed in a dry lot situation on a mixed grain ration. It complements the co-products, such as distiller’s grain and cereal byproducts, and works well with fermented feed like silage. It contains no phosphorus but does have rumensin. Gain Smart Balancer can be fed to heavier weights, and it is a good selection when trying to improve feed efficiency.
The Gain Smart Difference
All Gain Smart formulas offer the following key benefits:
- Powered AO-Biotics Amaferm, a prebiotic research-proven to enhance digestibility.
- Include organic copper, iodine and zinc for maximum bioavailability and hoof health.
- Provide nutritional support for a healthy immune system.
At BioZyme, we pride ourselves in including industry-leading organic trace minerals in our products.
Trace Minerals
- Copper: Copper acts as a fundamental component of many enzyme systems in cattle. It is involved in various processes that impact cattle productivity, including the immune and reproductive systems.
- Iodine: Iodine plays an integral role in thyroid hormones in cattle. Therefore, it is vitally important to energy metabolism.
- Zinc: Zinc is important year-round as it promotes skin, hoof and foot health. More importantly, it plays a role in reproduction.
- Iron: Iron is primarily required for the formation of hemoglobin. It is an essential component in the structure of proteins involved in transportation and utilization of oxygen.
- Selenium: Selenium acts as an antioxidant and helps with both immunity and reproductivity. A selenium deficiency can lead to white muscle disease and retained placentas.
- Manganese: Manganese plays a critical role in key metabolic functions. These include fertility, maintaining pregnancy, growth and skeletal formation.
Vitamins
Vitamins are closely linked to mineral metabolism and absorption. The most commonly added vitamins are Vitamins A, C, D & E. Let’s explore their functions.
- Vitamin A helps skin and mucous membranes stay healthy.
- Vitamin C assists in the absorption of iron.
- Vitamin D aids the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the intestine and their deposition in the bone matrix.
- Vitamin E is helpful for short-term periods of stress that may occur when calves are co-mingled and transported at weaning. It is also vital to reproduction. Selenium deficiencies can also lead to Vitamin E deficiencies.
Balanced Ratios
It is important to ensure that some minerals are properly balanced to optimally benefit the cattle. For instance, you need a calcium-to-magnesium ratio of about 2:1 for both minerals to function. The proper zinc-to-copper ratio is about 10:1.
If you read a mineral tag, you will find that a vast majority of them contain the above ingredients. As our cowboy math explained above, with the addition of Amaferm, you are getting more gain for the forages and feedstuffs you are providing.
Magnify your Savings with Gain Smart
Yes, the cost of cattle might be high, but simple cowboy math shows us that you magnify the savings on feed costs with Gain Smart. You can achieve your financial goals, keep your cattle healthy and performing with Gain Smart.
Gain Smart‘s combination of organic trace minerals and Amaferm will help your calves put on healthy, efficient pounds. Gain Smart is available at any of our local BioZyme dealers. Locate the dealer nearest you.
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