I was able to attend the Temple Grandin presentation in Abilene on Tuesday, March 9. She is a pretty amazing lady who has much insight into the behavior and handling of animals. Of course, my main interest was in beef cattle, as was most of the attendees.

The presentation was sponsored by Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and Pfizer Animal Health.

Dr. Grandin spent about an hour talking about animal handling, how they react to humans in their “space,” and the best way to get them to do what we’re wanting. She talked about the best way to move cattle from pasture to pasture, how to get them into a pen, then finally how best to handle them in the chute. 

She pointed out things people working with cattle should “watch out for,”  such as different colors of fences in the crowding pen or run to the chute, shadows and different light intensity in different areas of the working pens. “Cattle react to different light, shadows, etc.,” she said.

Another thing Dr. Grandin mentioned is “animals will tend to move in the opposite direction of the handler movement.”  The point of balance is at the animal’s shoulder. All species of livestock will move forward if the handler stands behind the point of balance. They will back up if the handler stands in front of the point of balance. Many handlers make the mistake of standing in front of the point of balance while attempting to make an animal move forward in a chute.

“The best way to get animals to move forward is for the handler to walk in the opposite direction of desired movement,” she says.

The second hour of her presentation was devoted to design and use of handling facilities for cattle.  One of Dr. Grandin’s points in this area of her presentation was that a crowd pen should only be filled half full (I always thought a “crowd pen” was just that – crowd them in).  And she is a great believer and promoter of  curved races and working pens.

She says, “Cattle will move more easily through a curved race system with solid sides because they can’t see people or other distractions.”

Her main point in the presentation was the humane treatment of animals-recognizing when they’re in a “stress” situation and reacting to that stress in the correct way. Also, making the handling of the animals safe for them, as well as the humans working with the animals.

If you ever have the chance to hear Dr. Grandin in person, I’d certainly recommend it.

Visit Dr. Grandin’s website

With all this talk of a mandatory National Animal Identification System resurfacing, the USDA recently released a complete NAIS benefit-cost analysis, created by a research team at Kansas State University, so you finally have some hard numbers to consider.

First, there are a couple of terms to get familiar with, that relate to different ways to participate in NAIS:

• Bookend:  identifying animal individually or by group/lot at birth, then ending the record when animal is processed, with no tracing/recording of animal movement
• Full tracing: Bookend method, with addition of tracing/recording movements through the production cycle

The bottom line

The final calculations on costs for cow-calf producers average $4.91 per head for animals you plan to market, and $3.92 for the bookend method and $4.22 for full tracing for animals not marketed, on an annual basis. The numbers do vary some depending on herd size, and your current tagging and record keeping methods.

What about the small producer?

The benefit-cost analysis showed costs for producers with 50 head or fewer would be $3.30 to $5.22, depending on how you currently tag and record your cattle.

Here’s a look at the full chart of costs, by herd size:

They did find out that the cow-calf sector would be the hardest-hit sector in the industry, since other segments will just have costs associated with replacing lost tags or scanning for full tracing.

You can take a look at the full analysis in the NAIS library. For a shorter version, they also put together an overview for you, which just explains the key points and highlights in the benefit-cost analysis.

Just a reminder, any cattle records you have in CattleMax CS are fully compliant with the released requirements of the system so far, in the event the USDA does decide to implement NAIS.

You might have heard of SPA, or the Standardized Performance Analysis, in some of your cattle industry reading material, or perhaps you’ve seen it in the Management section of the CattleMax software.

Either way, you’re probably still wondering what it is, and why it might be important to you.

What is SPA?

It is a herd analysis system that compares your herd’s performance with other cow-calf operations on a regional, state and national level. The production measures used in SPA include pounds weaned per exposed cow and per acre. Then, the financial analysis can assist in identifying expenses and finding ways to improve your bottom line.

Why is SPA helpful?

1. You can then share the information with your local County Extension Agent, state extension service or other professionals who can help you analyze the information to determine key areas where you can improve management.
2. SPA provides a way for you to take the data you have collected and transfer it into meaningful information that will help you make management decisions that affect profitability and long-term herd performance.
3. You can better determine which cows you should cull before the next breeding season, the most profitable sire in your herd and females that have the most promise to be kept as replacements.

How can you participate in SPA?

First, you must maintain distinct breeding seasons in your herd. Then, you have to keep detailed cattle records which should include, but are not limited to:

• Individual identification
• Breeding information
• Palpation results
• Calving records
• Birth and weaning weights

For information on SPA, check the NCBA’s SPA web page, and with your local beef cattle extension service to see what workshops and help might be provided for you there.

Would you like to see a full video demonstration for CattleMax CS to learn how you can succeed with cattle management software?

The new CattleMax Guided Tour was created just for you. The 12 minute full tour addresses many of your common questions and highlights the features most important to cattle producers, with descriptions of why they are useful for your record keeping.

If you want to see if CattleMax has the tools you need, watch the tour to find out. Or, if you have purchased CattleMax CS, and you’re just not sure which toolbar contains the feature you are looking for, the Guided Tour can help.

It only takes 12 minutes, and is available to watch as often as you want. Watch the CattleMax Guided Tour now.

If you’re looking for instructions on a specific feature or record area, visit our video tutorials.

Our collection of video tutorials have been a big hit this fall, and we wanted to keep helping you with more detailed instruction in action. For those of you just beginning with CattleMax CS, or maybe even computerized record keeping itself, we understand it might be a bit overwhelming, or you might not be sure where to start.

Right now, we’re working on a brand new video series dedicated to helping you get started. Our Getting Started Series currently consists of five videos:

1. Registration and Activation
2. Herd Files: Creating, Converting, Backing Up, Restoring & Sending
3. Support Resources
4. Cattle Record Basics
5. Setting Up: Breeds, Ranches, Pastures, Cattle Groups

Are you a long-time customer who remembers something you needed help with when you were getting started? Are you just beginning with CattleMax CS now and have ideas about videos that would help? Leave a comment here with any suggestions on other videos we could add to this series.

For the month of December, we already had two online workshops designed for those just getting started with CattleMax CS or still evaluating the trial version to take a guided tour and have an opportunity to ask questions and learn from each other. Both workshops were successful, and our evening workshop boasted the largest attendance yet.

We still have four more opportunities for you to learn with the CattleMax Team through our free online workshops this month.

Next Friday, December 19^th, we’re hosting two workshops on Basic Reporting in CattleMax CS. It’s designed for producers who want to learn about using the reporting features in CattleMax and will give a basic introduction to the different reporting features and how to use them.

Then on Monday, December 22^nd, we’ll have two opportunities for you to learn how to use the extensive AI (Artificial Insemination) and ET (Embryo Transfer) inventory and breeding records in CattleMax CS. We’ll cover everything from entering your first semen or embryo inventory records to using clean-up bulls to reporting your AI success.

View the schedule and register today!

If you have ever wanted to “get under the hood” and work directly with your CattleMax records, the CattleMax Access Companion is exactly what you have been waiting for.  Sometimes it’s as simple as tweaking a report created in the Report Wizard… other times it’s incorporating data into a complex accounting system.  Either way, you now have this flexibility with CattleMax and the CattleMax Access Companion.  The Companion can be found on the Reports tab of the CattleMax CS ribbon bar.

We spent some time updating our Microsoft Access Resources page over on the CattleMax website. This list contains links to books, software, and communities where beginners and pros can learn more about using Microsoft Access.

If anyone is currently using the CattleMax Accesss Companion and has a story they would like to share, let us know over at the Power Users forum.

We are pleased to have our CattleMax training videos now online. The videos, ranging from 3 to 5 minutes in length, discuss various areas of the software. Topics include popular records and features such as the Main Screen, Herd Update (for recording the same records for a group of cattle) as well as equipment and industry interfaces available in the CattleMax software.

CattleMax customers and ranches considering CattleMax for their record keeping needs can benefit by watching the videos to gain a better understanding of how CattleMax works and can benefit you.

Watch them at http://www.cattlemax.com/videos