Old MacDonald Has Cattle Weighing And Other Expenses.

Old MacDonald has a farm, and on his farm, he weighs his cows. So this version of the classic children’s song goes. How happy and cute! In fact, a cow’s ordeal when being weighed is anything but happy and cute. So is the financial burden on old MacDonald. After all, Mr. MacDonald has a family to feed and bills to pay just like everyone else.

Some cattle ranches contain thousands of head of cattle. That is a lot of transporting and a lot of weighing that needs to be done. The price tag on the steak at the wholesaler, the supermarket, and the restaurant menu reflect the cost to farmer MacDonald in labor and equipment alone.

Other expenses such as delivery charges are on the rise because of fuel costs. Additional factors in the cost of production must also be considered since they also contribute to the rising cost of beef products. The price of feed has been pushed higher by the export market. Much of the profit depends on the price of feed and when it is purchased. In the past, a high grain market influenced lower cattle prices. Currently, limited supplies of corn as well as the soaring price of rented pasture – some landlords demanding up to $28 an acre making feedlots even more aggressive during bidding, are affecting beef prices everywhere.

So what can Farmer MacDonald and others in the industry do to help to offset the rising cost of beef products, decrease their expenses, and reduce stress on the cattle during the transportation and weighing process? What if old farmer MacDonald had a device that he can use to weigh his cattle without having to transport them? There are on the market, mobile weighing systems that go to the site so weighing livestock without transport is possible. Good try, but they are about the size of a city bus!  Again, however, this involves fuel and labor costs.

The idea is for farmer MacDonald to reduce his costs. Sure, maybe not having to transport his herd many miles to a weighing station by having a mobile weighing station come to him might help in cattle stress reduction and additional fuel and labor costs, but there will soon be an even more efficient way to weigh the cattle without having to disturb them from their grazing at all. The idea is to completely eliminate the cost of weighing for old MacDonald and for his cows!

Saving the Cattle Rancher

Cutting cost are key to the survival of the ranching industry. ClicRwieght stand to lead the charge in the efforts to save the American cattle rancher.

From The USDA Briefing Room - Part 2

Prior to the discovery of BSE in the United States, the largest export market for U.S. beef was Japan, followed by Mexico and the fast-growing South Korean market. Canada, in fourth place, had been gradually declining in importance for several years. These four countries accounted for over 90 percent of U.S. beef exports.
Beef export patterns in 2004 were altered dramatically by the BSE situation. Japan and South Korea (and various other countries) ceased all imports of U.S. beef, while other countries reopened their borders within a matter of months. Beef exports to Mexico rebounded during the year, making it the leading destination for U.S. beef beginning in 2004. Smaller amounts of beef went to Canada, which itself had large supplies of beef following its own trade disruptions related to BSE. Exports to Japan resumed in the second half of 2006, but growth has been slow due to the restriction that U.S. beef to Japan can only come from animals 20 months of age or younger. Exports to South Korea are limited to beef from animals 30 months of age or younger.

Regaining Profits

With forecast for years of tightening budgets ahead the cattle industry is looking to technology companies like ClicRweight to help regain loss profits.

From The USDA Briefing Room - Part 1

Beef Trade

The United States, although the largest producer of beef in the world, is a net beef importer. Most beef produced and exported from the United States is grain-finished, high-value cuts. Most beef that the United States imports is lower value, grass-fed beef destined for processing, primarily as ground beef.
U.S. beef production hit its cyclical low in 2004, when sharply reduced cow slaughter reduced domestic supplies of processing beef and total beef imports topped 3.6 billion pounds. (See the Background chapter for information on the cattle cycle.) U.S. beef production began growing in 2005 as herd rebuilding started. Herd rebuilding was interrupted in 2006 and has continued to stall through 2008 due to widespread drought conditions and sharply higher feed costs, which resulted in increased cow slaughter. This raised domestic processing beef supplies and crowded out some imports of lean beef. Imports continued to decline through 2007 and 2008.
U.S. beef exports had grown steadily since the early 1980s, reaching 2.5 billion pounds in carcass weight equivalent in 2003. This total represented about 9 percent of U.S. beef production. However, in December 2003, the discovery of BSE in a dairy cow which had been imported from Canada led many importing countries to either ban or restrict beef and cattle imports from the United States. Since then, the United States has reported two more cases of BSE, in cows found in Texas (initially tested in November 2004, then confirmed in June 2005) and Alabama (detected and confirmed in March 2006).

Cattle Industry Background By The USDA Economics Research Service

With its abundant grasslands and large grain supply, the United States has developed a beef industry that is largely separate from its dairy sector. The United States has the largest fed-cattle industry in the world, and is the world's largest producer of beef, primarily high-quality, grain-fed beef for domestic and export use. The industry is roughly divided into two production sectors: cow-calf operations and cattle feeding.

A New Approach To Weighing Cattle? ~ It’s A Bonanza!

While Little Joe Cartwright excitedly fires his Colt 45 into the clear-blue Nevada sky, his brother, Hoss is gently prodding and poking the now confused animals that have been suddenly aroused and disturbed from their peaceful grazing, across the sprawling expanse of The Ponderosa.  The sunny incidental music provides a cheerful accompaniment to the frightened cries in the herd as they are driven great distances to be weighed before their sale. Father Ben Cartwright proudly oversees. As the credits roll, the viewer, exhilarated by the poignancy of the plot and its heroic climax, is also left with a vague and sanitized perspective of what the cattle are actually forced to endure. Excepting the use of trucks, electric cattle prods, and other high-tech gadgets and equipment, it seems that not much has changed in the transportation of livestock since the days of America’s Wild West!

Developments in more humane slaughter practices, due largely to the efforts of animal rights lobbyists, improvements in feed, housing, and heightened FDA regulations in the inspection of meat products before they are distributed to the stores, have changed the beef-cattle industry resulting in the production and distribution of higher quality beef. However, the methods of transporting and weighing livestock have remained relatively unchanged.

The process of weighing cattle, which requires transporting them to distances upward of 25 miles, can result in great strain and stress; it can inhibit reproduction and quite often, cause injuries to livestock. Labor and equipment expenses involved in driving cattle by horseback and/or by truck to a scale also drive the price of beef up!

Beef producers select cattle for temperament. Cortisol is a hormone that stimulates the breakdown of muscle and fat deposits affecting growth, health and reproduction. One of the main hormones produced during stress responses is cortisol.  Higher concentrations of it are found in temperamental cattle compared to calm cattle. Cortisol is produced during this fear-inducing process to release energy and protein to support the behavioral stress response, causing a stress reaction that often results in drastic internal and external changes in their physiology that influences their temperament. This adversely affects their growth and their overall health; this results in decreased quality, weight, and yield of the end-product.

New technologies are currently being tested that weigh beef cattle without having to move them, reducing stress on the cattle. Keeping the cattle calm results in better quality beef, and the expenses related to moving them to be weighed is eliminated. 

2010 Beef Industry Facts

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. beef production (commercial carcass weight) have topped over 26 billion pounds in 2010 and U.S. beef exports have risen to more then $2.8 billion.

Cattle Cycle

The cattle cycle refers to cyclical increases and decreases in the cattle herd over time, which arises because biological constraints prevent producers from instantly responding to price. In general, the cattle cycle is determined by the combined effects of cattle prices, the time needed to breed, birth, and raise cattle to market weight, and climatic conditions. If prices are expected to be high, producers slowly build up their herd size; if prices are expected to be low, producers draw down their herds. The cattle cycle averages 8-12 years in duration, the longest of all meat animals, but the effects of persistent dry conditions on pastures and harvested forage supplies can lead to shortened or extended cycles.
Dry conditions that began in 1996 and persisted from 1998 through 2003 held down the retention of heifers until forage conditions improved. By late 2003 and 2004, grazing conditions had improved and ended a 9-year cyclical liquidation of cattle inventories. This, together with strong feeder calf prices, began the process of herd expansion through the addition of heifers and calves. The expansion lasted until 2007; then inventories began declining because of increasing feed and energy prices. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) provides information on cattle numbers in semi-annual inventory reports.