Inaugural issue - July 2005

Welcome to the first issue of Herd Mentality, a newsletter from Animal Profiling International ™ dedicated to providing information on innovative approaches to cattle management practices.  My name is Bruce Hoffman, a veterinarian, editor of Herd Mentality and president of API.  API's sponsorship of this free newsletter reflects the company's dedication to the improvement of cattle-health management through the innovative use of its animal risk-assessment technologies that enhance yields and financial returns.

As you know, the cattle industry is facing important issues, ranging from growing losses caused by disease to mandatory animal tagging in a global market environment.  API's work involving the early detection of disease in cattle on the ranch or at the feedlot puts the company in the center of many of the dynamic issues facing the cattle industry today.  Issues such as the growing losses due to Bovine Respiratory Disease. The increase in the use of antibiotics.  Leveraging cattle health to maximize carcass value.  You will find information on these issues and more in the news briefs below and in subsequent issues from Herd Mentality. 

Our goal is to provide you with a quick summary of important advances in cattle management strategies that can improve your return on investment.  Please take a moment to review the content below.  We hope in each issue you will find several items of interest, and we welcome your feedback (see the last feature below).  If you decide that you do not wish to continue to receive Herd Mentality each month, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of this email.

If you're interested in finding out more about Animal Profiling International (API), please visit our Website.  Now, I invite you to take a few minutes and scroll down to review this issue regarding important information that can positively affect the profitability of your operation's performance.

Regards,

Bruce W. Hoffman, DVM
President
Animal Profiling International, LLC

Dramatic Feedlot DeathLoss Continues To Rise

Guy Loneragan, an epidemiologist in the Feedlot Research Group at West Texas A&M University, recently updated his April 24, 2004 article "Trends in Mortality Ratios Among Cattle In U.S. Feedlots" in the Journal of the American Veterinarian Association.  According to Loneragan, " The challenges that U.S. feedlots faced when our study began in 1993 are not disappearing, but rather continuing to grow."   Our exclusive interview spotlights the growing financial loss due to respiratory-related diseases, diseases that API is addressing through the use of its state-of-the-art blood biomarkers to detect BRD at a very early stage.

Read the entire interview

McDonald's Executive Sees Urgent Need For Cattle Tagging

In a recent feature in FarmWeek, McDonald's director of U.S. supply-chain management, Robert Cannell, expressed satisfaction with the USDA's BSE monitoring program, but feels strongly that the U.S. needs to accelerate the nation's mandatory cattle ID system.  Why is tagging important?  Beyond the need to limit our vulnerability to diseases affecting global trade, tagging enables documenting the health history of specific animals on a mass scale.  API believes that such information enhances profitability by moving beef from a commodity to a differientiated product that retail channels, such as McDonalds, value and customers will pay for in the marketplace.

Read the full article

Study Further Validates Health Problems Affecting Carcass Value

A recent Texas A&M University study of 6618 calves shows continued health problems adversely affecting feeding performance and carcass merit.  The study breaks down results for different regions of the country.  This reinforces our belief that effective management of cattle health has a big impact on the bottom line, and the ability to achieve greater effectiveness is available today through cattle health profiling.

Read the full article

Use Of Antibiotics Rises

The Animal Health Institute (AHI) issued a report indicating that the sales of antibiotics used to treat animals rose 7.5% in 2004.  With data about feedlot deathloss (see first article above) coupled with the increased use of antibiotics, API supports more effective management approaches and prudent use of therapeutic practices (see API editorial below -- "Dealing With The Known").   

Read the full article

Dealing With The Known (API Editorial by Bruce W. Hoffman, DVM)

We, as veterinarians, are trained to treat animals, but my experience indicates that it is far superior to employ effective management techniques that preempt the need for treatment.   Yet the combination of today's treatments and management techniques together is not getting the job done and losses for producers continue to increase...API editorial by Bruce W. Hoffman, DVM

Read editorial

Animal Health Management Company Launched

Animal Health Profiling was recently launched with a unique mission: to help ranchers and feedlots by providing innovative cattle management approaches and unique animal risk-assessment technologies to enhance yields and financial returns in the cattle industry.  To learn how API's Animal Performance Index is being used to provide better evaluation of the health condition of cattle, check out our recent press release. 

Read the company announcement

Whole Foods Latest Example Of Growth In Natural/Organic Product Sales

You can call it natural or you can call it organic, but make sure you call this market category growing!  When it comes to the cattle business, natural programs are becoming mainstream and enhancing profits.  To capitalize on this expanding market, the value of measuring animal health and documenting it to the retail marketplace represents revenue that goes straight to the bottom line.

Read the full article

FeedBack?

If you have any comments about the information in this newsletter, e-mail us at hq@animalprofiling.com.  We want to hear from you.

© 2005. Herd Mentality is produced and distributed by Animal Profiling International, llc,  a technology company dedicated to animal health. You can subscribe to the newsletter at the Animal Profiling International Web site.