CALF_News_December_2020_January_2021

31 CALF News • December 2020 | January 2021 • www.calfnews.net HOT OFF THE GRILL Continued from page 29 speedy commencement of a banquet such as may suit the vigorous appetite of American woodsmen.” And “no personal invitation was required where everyone was welcomed by his neighbor, and from the governor to the guider of the plough all met with light hearts and merry faces.” Barbecues were especially used to celebrate Independence Day, which is still the most popular barbecuing day in America. Simple celebrations expanded to include other traditions like parades, patriotic speeches and toasts. These not only reinforced a sense of commu- nity, but also allowed ambitious men the opportunity to publicly demonstrate their patriotism. As a greater amount of the populace was granted the right to vote, campaigning went from uncouth to essential, and barbecues remained a forum where candi- dates for office could meet and under- stand the voters. Thus, barbecues became an essential part of the early American political landscape and significant political move- ments of the United States throughout the 19 th century including woman’s suf- frage and prohibition.  Knowing These Details, How Can Gain Be Increased? Nerud: “You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Instead of feeding to an average weight, the right livestock scale system gives you an idea of highs and lows in the pen, so you can feed less to an average and more to groups that you can sort from, based on average daily gain. You also can quickly identify those that aren’t performing as well, through accurate records.” Dr. Nagely: “I couldn’t agree more, Joe. Another thought is how different rates of gain will require specific rations, or perhaps an implant, to continue boosting performance. By keeping a more watch- ful eye on each animal, cattle feeders can quickly and efficiently make decisions.” What Are Things to Consider About Livestock Scale Systems? Tieperman: “Connectability is No. 1. Make sure your scale head/weigh scale indicator can output weights and any other data you need to manage efficiently. Ask yourself, do you need it to be wireless, Bluetooth or able to be hardwired to another software program you’re using? If you are not currently using a software program, you may con- sider a more advanced indicator so you can sort livestock easily.” Nerud: “Having this flexibility is para- mount for cattle operations, so produc- ers can tie this information into a new software system or one they are already using.” Dr. Nagely: “There are several models of weigh scale indicators out there, from basic to more advanced models, which can interface with other technologies, such as EID ear tag readers. The more basic models are used to simply track animal weights for health monitoring and marketing purposes, while some indicators allow producers to group ani- mals together based on various charac- teristics and will house the vaccines and antibiotics administered, even the batch numbers. Some will even have a dosage calculator.” Dr. Nagely: “To build a complete system, producers will need a weigh scale indica- tor; a squeeze chute; load bars and load cell; EID reader and EID ear tags. They can find everything they’ll need at Val- leyVet.com, and if they run into any questions, they can always call us. We’re happy to help and point them in the right direction.” What Is the Overall Impact? Tieperman: “End consumers are wor- ried about food safety, and producers are tasked to provide readily available disease traceability information that can be sourced in a timely manner. And as a continuation of the end user demand, producers are also stepping up to better monitor performance. The technology from today’s scales opens up a world of management to us that we didn’t have before. And as cattle producers, we need to think of livestock scale systems as a benefit instead of a cost. In the last decade, our technology movement has stepped up. You hardly see a flip phone, and it wasn’t long ago you didn’t see a phone period. Technology in itself is moving our cattle producers forward.” 