CALF_News_April_May_2021

36 CALF News • April | May 2021 • www.calfnews.net well-being, public health, environment, people and community. They are com- mitted to creating positive advancements within and beyond the barn door. The We Care Initiative is dedicated to giving back and helping make communities even stronger. In 2018 more than 800,000 pounds of pork, amounting to 3.2 million servings of protein, were donated by swine pro- ducers through this initiative. In 2019, Hams Across America, an organization within the We Care Initiative, was able to donate 500,000 pounds of pork, equating to 2 million servings of protein. The We Care Initiative spans multiple states and has positively impacted many food-insecure people. It’s important to recognize the that next generation of meat industry leaders are also committed to addressing food insecurity in their local communities. Center of the Plate, founded in 2016 in Dripping Springs, Texas, by two sisters wanting to make a difference with those in need in their community, is a great example of this commitment. Col- laborating with the We Care Initiative through support by the Texas Pork Pro- ducers and meat donations from local beef and pork producers, Center of the Plate has filled a huge meat accessibility gap with food-insecure families in their community. Without the support of local beef and pork producers, Center of the Plate would not be able to provide something as appreciated as meat protein. To date, Center of the Plate efforts of these Dripping Springs 4-H and FFA mem- bers have provided meat for more than 55,000 meals. Overall, the meat industry and the general public is in agreement with the responsibility to help fill the gaps in food assistance. Companies like Cactus Feed- ers, Agri Beef and the pork industry have shown what it means to serve. All those in the meat industry can be thankful for having these pioneers lead the way for the next generation of leaders to follow in their footsteps in Feeding a Hungry World with beef and pork.  CARING IS SHARING Continued from page 24 By Kari Porter Contributing Editor “STRETCH, BOOTSTRAP, GET CREATIVE” – call it what you like, but it’s a common mantra on farms and ranches to get the most return out of the resources available. And with drought conditions taking hold across Midwest and southwestern states, many producers are looking for ways to maintain calf gains while also protecting their forages. Feed additives may be the answer, suggests Jay W. Johnson, a technical service nutritionist with Huvepharma. Based in Texas, Johnson’s expertise includes feedlot systems, cow-calf management and preconditioning cattle for grazing. Johnson explains that feed additives with the active ingredient bambermycins can help improve feed efficiency and gain performance among calves or stockers on high roughage diets. He notes that bambermycins are designed to help pull more nutri- ents out of the forages consumed so the microorganisms or “bugs” within a bovine’s rumen can more efficiently convert the forage to energy for growth and gain. “If you are running stockers on grass or cereal grains, or if you are preconditioning calves on pasture or a high roughage diet where there’s not a lot of starch, bambermy- cins feed additives are going to provide more pounds of gain with less grass utilized,” Johnson says. He shares that feed additives can help add up to 10.5 percent more gain/head per day over time, and notes that even adding seven to 10 pounds per head to 100 head of calves or stockers calculates to extra weight that will produce extra revenues to the producer. “When feeding medium- to low-quality forages – especially in a drought situa- tion – the use of these feed additives becomes even more important to optimize calf gains,” he adds. Additionally, Johnson points out that when calves and stockers are able to utilize the energy from feed nutrients for gain, they are also more likely to maintain health, which is critically important to future performance as they transition to feedlot settings. “The bottom line is that healthier animals gain better,” Johnson says. As an added benefit, inclusion of the feed additive monensin can help prevent coc- cidiosis among calf and stocker groups, according to Johnson. “The parasite that causes coccidiosis is opportunistic and can really become a problem during times of stress, such as shipping and weaning,” he says. Johnson also suggests that for producers striving to maintain body condition of cows and heifers on forages, these feed additives can help stretch forage resources and maintain feed efficiency. “With body condi- tion so critical for rebreeding and even ease of calving, it’s important to consider these feed additive tools as forage resources become limited,” John- son emphasizes. Bambermycins and monensin feed additives are to be fed as a mix in with other manufac- tured feedstuffs.  Enhancing Calf Gains with Feed Additives