Running a cattle feedlot comes with challenges that are unique to the cattle industry. APEC understands that many of the factors affecting your bottom line are outside your control. But when margins are tight, it makes sense to take a hard look at the costs you can control.
One of those costs is the amount you spend on feed ingredients.
Some feedlots use microingredient equipment leased or provided by an ingredient supplier, when can tie them to purchasing that supplier’s premixes. With CattlePro, you own the equipment, giving you more flexibility to source approved feed additives and nutritional ingredients and batch them on-site.
If your cattle feedlot is seeking ways to lower costs without compromising your feeding program, CattlePro may be worth a look.
How CattlePro Can Help Reduce Feedlot Costs
Premixes are a convenient way to get microingredients into a ration, but you’re paying for more than the ingredients themselves. The cost can also include product batching, additional carriers, and the expense of transporting a bulkier finished product.
With CattlePro, you’re not tied to a supplier simply because that company owns the equipment you’re using. You can keep working with your nutritionist and ingredient suppliers while gaining more flexibility to buy individual ingredients in bulk and batch them yourself.
Curtis Van Der Heyden, co-owner of Grandview Cattle Feeders in Alberta, Canada, describes it simply:
“It cuts out the middleman. When you’re able to control everything yourself, you’re not paying someone else for the medicated ingredients to buy and put in your own location.”
Grandview, which has been using CattleProp for seven years, still works with its nutritionist, feed mill, and other suppliers. But instead of paying someone else to batch and deliver a product, the feedlot can handle more of that work itself.
“When we look back on our overall feed costs, the cost of the same production, those feed costs are drastically lower,” Van Der Heyden said.
The ROI of Reducing Feed Costs Per Head
APEC estimates that a Canadian feedlot purchasing bagged premixes spends about $0.25 CAD per head per day on those ingredients. Purchasing the individual ingredients and batching them on-site could bring that cost down to about $0.065 CAD per head, per day.
That’s a difference of about $0.185 CAD per head per day in this example.
Thompson Colony has seen those types of results after running a CattlePro system for several years.
“I bet you there’s about 10, 15 cents a day savings without even trying,” said Marvin Tschetter of Thompson Colony.
That may not sound like much, but when you multiply that by every head in your feedlot every day, especially when you’re feeding 5,000-10,000 cattle a day, and those savings add up.
While the upfront cost of purchasing the CattlePro is higher than leasing, those ongoing savings can quickly offset it. As Tschetter puts it, “It doesn’t take very long to pay one off.”
The Value of Faster Spot Feeding
Batching ingredients on-site can also help your cattle feedlot respond faster.
When appropriate under the feedlot’s established animal health and nutrition protocols, CattlePro can add approved medications to feed. Instead of waiting a day or more for a specially prepared medicated mash to be produced and delivered, you may be able to address the need sooner.
That time can matter. Van Der Heyden estimates that targeting an pen immediately could allow them to retain $2,000 to $3,000 CAD in some situations.
It’s another way that having more control over what goes into the ration, and when, can pay off.
Additional Benefits of the Cattle Pro System
The potential savings are a big part of the CattlePro’s story, but they’re not the only reason cattle feedlots choose to own their microingredient system.
Accurate ingredient addition: CattlePro accurately weighs dry microadditives and uses a separate liquid scale for speed and accuracy. Van Der Heyden noted they improved accuracy from about 3% of the target to less than 0.5%. When you’re dealing with costly ingredients in small quantities, getting the right amount into the ration matters.
Better ingredient tracking: Barcode ingredient confirmation, lot tracking, expiration-date monitoring, and usage and production reports help you track what’s moving through the system.
Built around your operation: APEC doesn’t just ship you a standard system. The team works with you to configure CattlePro around your feedlot and provides ongoing support after installation.
It comes down to having more control over the microingredients you’re buying, how they’re being used, and what you’re paying to get them into the ration.
Could CattlePro Reduce Your Feed Cost Per Head?
No two cattle feedlots operate the same way. What you could save with CattlePro depends on what you’re feeding, how you’re buying mircoingredients today, and the size and needs of your operation.
But if you’re paying someone else to batch premixes that you could purchase and handle more cost-effectively yourself, it’s worth doing the math.
APEC can look at how you’re currently handling microingredients and help you determine what the potential savings and ROI could look like for your operation.
