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Issue 10 - Battling Rising
Tides
We've all seen it and, perhaps more
importantly, we've all felt it. Rising costs at the pump and across
the board in areas including grain costs that are crucial for our existence
in the cattle industry have created rising tides of uncertainty and
some profound dents in bottom lines.
Recently I had a lengthy discussion with
a colleague regarding profitability in the cattle industry and was
confronted with the concern that animal health programs have little impact
and no guarantee of increased profitability. While at a base level I
find a great deal of merit in that point, upon further investigation into
what enables increased profitability in our industry I came to the
conclusion that it is the trade or sale of cattle that provides the
greatest opportunity for cattlemen to make money. So, how can we make
the trade better?
 This is where health programs provide the most
value. In addition to protecting herds and allowing for better
overall performance, quality health information for animals provides
improved marketing advantages for such animals. The same is true for
animal welfare. We have always been concerned about handling cattle,
but those that are documenting and putting those efforts in place can
be marketed as such and will have a "one-up" in the marketplace.
Where do we begin? There are many
health and documentation programs available. To see our offerings at
Animal Profiling International please visit
our website. Our focus continues to be on low-cost testing for
BVD-PI animals that create the most expensive loss to the cattle industry
each year in numbers surpassing the two billion dollar mark. We
have been able to help the beef and dairy industry by locating and
removing PI animals from herds quickly and efficiently. There are
other approaches to health management programs and we've done our best
to find articles provided below that we hope are helpful to you as
well. If you have any questions please feel free to contact
me and I will do my best to help.
For more on what is going on in the
industry and what I'm seeing through my direct travels to our community,
please visit me on my
blog as well!
Thanks for reading Herd Mentality!
Sincerely,
Bruce Hoffman, DVM
Focusing on
Improved Efficiencies
"Anytime we see a period where
input costs increase, in order to maintain profitability there is a need to
somehow offset this increase. In general this means improving production efficiency. In other
words, producing more with less." The following article discusses
avenues to improve such efficiencies through soil and forage analysis.
Read
the article
Ethanol up has
Feedlots feeling down
National Public Radio's Morning Edition reports on the
concerns created by the rising price of ethanol as record-high grain
prices are causing headaches in the cattle and beef-packing
industries. The higher cost of feed grain which is driven by the growing
demand for ethanol is squeezing many small feedlots.
Listen to
the report
Assessing the
Major Factors Affecting the Beef Industry
Bridger Feuz
of the UW Cooperative Extension Service reports on how rising costs are
affecting the beef industry. Feuz takes a
short-term introspective look back on the industry and provides sound
assessments for upcoming market trends.
Read
the article
Support Your
Local Disease Fighter!
Animal Profiling
International is proud to announce the addition of regional sales
representatives who are much closer to you! Their knowledge of the
industry in combination with their familiarity of the areas they cover is
vital in efforts to help assist and educate producers on a face-to-face
basis in our battle against high-cost and deadly diseases within the cattle
industry. Click the link below to find our expert nearest to you!
Find
my local representative!
FeedBack?
If you have any comments about the
information in this newsletter, please either call us at 877.278.1344 or
e-mail us at hq@animalprofiling.com. We want to hear from you!
© 2005. Herd Mentality is produced and distributed by
Animal Profiling International, a technology company
dedicated to animal health. You can subscribe to the newsletter at the Animal Profiling International Website. To change your subscription or
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