[an error occurred while processing this directive]

How Recordkeeping and ScoringAg Can Work Together

RFID by itself has not generated the extra value for calves. The extra value comes from being able to visually identify each calf and have records to prove birthdate, sex, breed and process verification(vaccines and the like). The other big thing that increases value.....being able to verify that calves have been weaned for at least thirty days and had all their weaning shots(4-way and some kind of 7-way and wormed) plus having all bulls castrated. I would assume implants would decrease value of calves....just an assumption!

Observations from several sale barns reflect at least a $12 per cwt difference between fresh calves and weaned and processed calves. The market will now reflect the calves that have been weaned and processed to bring the market.....everything else will be discounted.

At these prices, most stocker operators and feedyard owners will not give the top dollar for these calves unless they have been weaned and processed. Too much risk involved!

This week of May was the second week in a row where we sold enough source verified cattle to get a true market test. We are calling these cattle $7-10 higher per pound. While this is just a start on selling source verified EID cattle at this market, the hand writing is on the wall. If you don't have your calves EID identified, coupled with a good vaccination program you can see it will pay big dividends. As we increase our volume of these calves and yearlings we expect the price for the source verified cattle to go even higher. ****Source V-key from Ca.

Ours at Gaylord is running at $12-17 over market for RFID animals with records ****source Porker Mich.

In your area ,are the RFID calves worth more ?Just checking to see if it's the RFID tag or its the Records behind the tag is more important.Down at the Ranch house (coffee shop) the boys say neither.Just gotta know which color they are ,and they don't have short ears.I say they need records with the RFID tag in order to get the best price like you do. I think the Canadians on here never talk about RFID tags cause it's new to them TOO.Tully ,from Austraila en downunder has the most experince with RFID and if the records pay for themselves.I think the dollars spent on RFID's with equipment an recordkeeping is returning about $9.00 per dollar spent .maybe I am wrong ,maybe right .I just think its One of the best returns in the cattle industry. The buyer that buys the major share of calves out of this area said that calves that are branded for ID, have an all natural affidavit signed which includes calving period dates and pasture location descriptions, and have pre conditioning shots will be worth $10-15+ per head more...Montana does not have premise ID yet- and he said he would personally for his own lotted calves rather have brands and RFID tags because it makes a permanent traceback that he can use with his own ID system........

Quoted from Sucecessful Farming Mag.feb.2005--(Kentucky cow-calf producers near Curry already have gained from pioneering ID.One mulitcounty group sells up to 5000 tagged feeder calvesa year that bringa premium of $5 to $12 a hunderdweightover marketprices,Says Glenn Mackie,Bourbon County,Kentucky,Extension agent for agriculture and natural resourses.)Another RFID story with records that brings great returns.



Identifying animals entering the harvest phase that are verifiably traceable to the farm of origin has a distinctly definable value to all sectors of the production and marketing sectors of the meat animal industry. Providing a platform where the information necessary to establish this value can be gathered, verified, transferred and audited in a confidential manner, with a minimum of impact on the producers or markets is the goal. This is done by ScoringAg,com The easy way is to have a complete database for all handlers including transportation from Field to fork.When information is requested the database can respond to the question if the food handler has the item or animal in his possession.This increases value at any point in the chain of custody like calves with RFID buttons and a database behind them with records.Only www.scoringag.com does all of the above.

New IDEAS MAKE money A midst rattling stock trailers and clanging gates an unfamiliar, methodical beep signaled a new era in the cattle industry. As feeder calves passed through single file, a beep emitted by an electronic reader denoted reception of information transmitted from each animal's radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tag. This data translated into additional dollars for producers at Joplin Regional Stockyards' (JRS), Carthage, MO.

"If it puts money in our producers' pockets, we're going to do it," asserts Jackie Moore, co-owner, JRS.

Driven by this desire, JRS offered, for the first time, source-verified cattle during their Value Added Sale, in June . Cattlemen realized premiums of $5 to $8/cwt. over JRS's Monday Feeder Calf Sale, in June . Buyers actively bid on preconditioned feeder cattle, all outfitted with RFID tags, which allow for trace back to each animal's point of origin. One lot of medium- to large-framed steers, scoring a muscle thickness of No. 1, averaged 516 lbs. and demanded an average of $148/cwt.; while another lot averaged 769 lbs. and averaged $117.97 as the gavel fell. A group of medium to large, No. 1-2 heifers averaged 766 lbs. and $107.63/cwt.

FRUITLAND, Mo. - Records for bred-cattle prices continue to be set - and broken - in Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Sales. On May 7, Saturday, 238 head averaged $1,515 per head at the Fruitland Livestock Auction.

The top pen averaged $2,200 for five black heifers sold by SEMO University Farm, managed by Bill Ellis. SEMO earned the top consignor average of $1,789 for 29 heifers.

There were 11 consignors, with gross sales of $360,000.

A year ago, the spring sale at Fruitland averaged $1,392, a record, with the top lot, a single heifer, bringing $2,000. Eakins reported on a semi-truck load of 40 market heifers and steers shipped two weeks ago that brought an average price of $1,225. That price included a premium of $116 per head, based on a marketing grid that rewards carcass quality and yield. Most of those calves were from consigning herds in the Show-Me-Select heifer sale.

"These are source verified cattle with known birth dates," Eakins said. All of the cattle from the herds shipped to slaughter carry electronic identification (EID) RFID ear tags with records.

Missouri Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer, Inc., oversees the program. Farmer committees manage the local sales.

These source verified calves all had RFID tags which indentify records and origin.
A four-month study was conducted at the Joplin Regional Stockyards (south- western Missouri) to compare prices paid for calves with no vaccination history with calves in value-added health programs.
• Analysis of factors influencing sale price showed that calves in health programs were purchased at significantly higher prices than calves with no vaccination history.
• Calves in the PreVAC and WeanVAC ® protocols received $26.05 and $28.69 more per head, respectively, than calves with no vaccination history.
• Calves in the WeanVAC ® protocol received $3.98 more per head than calves in other competitive vaccination programs.
• Results of the study provide additional evidence that the level of reward is suf- ficiently high to justify investing in a calf health program simply on the basis of its market value.Here is a link to the study where records show where the price increases came from. It pays to RFID calves .

Even better RFID Returns, Approximately 500 head of Seminole cattle have been bought by major feed lots in states such as Texas and Oklahoma in anticipation of a big demand for "source-verified" U.S. beef in Japan once trade doors open again, said Allen Huff, the tribe's Okeechobee-based land-use manager

The cattle are raised at the tribe's Brighton Reservation in Glades County, on the northwestern side of Lake Okeechobee.

The tribe's participation in a cutting-edge electronic identification system, which can provide an animal's complete history for each of its 14,000 head of cattle, helped bring the highest prices ever for its beef this spring, Huff said.

Prices were up as much 20 percent over a year ago.



Here another story that shows RFID and Recordkeeping works hand to hand and why the press release from McDonalds about wanting more source verified beef and they are willing to pay for it becomes important.

In Texas, the Brown Ranch near Beeville has been using electronic identification since the late 1990s to individually track calves. They invested money, around $2,000, to put in a system that included the electronic tag reader, scale modifications, software and the cost of tags each year.

The Brown’s calves go through a preconditioning, source-verified program at a regional livestock market, Jordan Livestock Auction. The animals are processed at the ranch and given EID tags, which contain information on vaccinations given and individual-animal weights to be passed on to buyers.

Even with the cost of implementing the system, ranch owner Austin Brown II sees a payback to individual electronic ID systems in terms of marketing. “The last sale, we received $8 to $12 per hundredweight over the cash market.”

After using electronic ID for a number of years, he understands producers’ fears, but says he’s seen real benefits in terms of marketing cattle that regularly receive premiums. He adds that labor cost associated with putting in the tags and entering the information is minimal since the cattle have to go through the chute anyway for processing. Mr. Brown also can use the data on the cattle to make management decisions at the ranch.

But don’t assume that placing an electronic identification tag alone will increase the value of your cattle. It’s the processes, like preconditioning, that these ID’s can show buyers where you may receive a premium.

Using data to recoup costs .

That’s where the cost will be recouped, says Dr. Dhuyvetter, when producers begin using the system for individual-animal management. “This could be good for the industry and help producers in making marketing and management decisions that make us more efficient in producing beef.”

For example, the information could show average daily gains, but potentially how things like respiratory treatment impacts average daily gain or how castrating or not castrating bull calves impacts average daily gain. Once the systems are in place, then producers could get complete carcass data on an individual animal if they chose to track the animal to that point. All of those aspects mean greater opportunities for making decisions that will improve your business.

These STORYS are Proof that RFID tags and Recordkeeping returns profits to the producer Sign up for www.scoringag.com today to create your own story.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]