CALF_News_June_July_2018

40 CALF News • June | July 2018 • www.calfnews.net Do you recall Sargent Joe Friday? He was a fictional detective featured on the old black-and-white TV show, Drag- net. Friday worked for the Los Angeles Police Department, had a one-sided, practical personal- ity and a monotone voice.When interrogating any hysterical woman about a crime, he always reminded her to give him“Just the facts, ma’am.” His line became part of our American vocabulary. I believe we should all remember to live by them. This article was written with the capable help of Doug Hilbig, DVM, a beef technical service veterinarian with Zoetis. Talking about cattle Dr. Hilbig and I visited about the new Zoetis prod- ucts – Synovex® One Grass and Synovex® One Feedlot – at the NCBA Convention in Phoenix last winter. We are familiar with feedlot implants, and many cow-calf producers implant young calves with Synovex® C at branding time. Zoetis has recently added another implant to give even more flex- ibility as cattle move through the process of becoming finished market animals. Synovex One Grass was tested and developed to match the nutritional intake of grass cattle. It is FDA approved for both steers and heifers and is a lower or intermediate-dose product lasting 200 days. The product is used to push growth, with pellets coated to ensure slow uptake of product; within 10 to 14 days after implant, cattle have reached optimum dosage and are expected to gain an addi- tional .2 lb. per day. The implant’s low dosage assures that cattle won’t develop cresty necks or aggressive behavior. One small change in the physical administration of Synovex One Grass is the size of the pellet. This implant is slightly larger and utilizes a different administration gun, or some modifica- tion of the metal revolver gun. Place- ment of the product remains the same – the middle one-third of the ear. Getting approved Zoetis repeated the entire FDA approval process getting Synovex One Grass on the market. Hilbig said, nowadays, environmental studies are conducted in tandem with food safety issues. The government agency is espe- cially interested in whether cattle pollute streams and harm fish while implanted and on grass. The new product was found to be safe in all areas and released for sale to cattlemen. Synovex is the first beef cattle implant to face the additional FDA environmental scrutiny that evaluates hormone impact on the environment. Some numbers According to Zoetis statis- tics, 35 percent of young calves, 85 percent of stockers and 97 percent of feedlot cattle are implanted. Cow-calf producers refusing to implant are giving up 20 pounds of gain per calf. Additionally, cattle that are never implanted are giving up over 100 pounds of gain over their lifetime. This means that all-natural or hormone-free producers need a $200 to $250 premium to justify their busi- ness plan. A study published in the Jour- nal of Animal Science demon- strated that in order to produce as much beef without implants, we would need 100 million more cattle, 81 million additional tons of feed, 17 million more acres of land and 138 billion more gallons of water. According to Zoetis September 2016 Productivity Points,“The proper use of implant technologies allows beef producers to provide a safe, high-quality product for a growing population, with no significant impact on food safety and supply, and the environment.” Studies continue to show that implanted animals grow faster, thus having less impact on the environment than ani- mals without implants – using less nitro- gen and producing less carbon dioxide and methane per pound of protein. More about the facts My own observation is that cattle implants are one of the most misunder- stood, misinterpreted and badly abused Lightweight British-breed calves like these selling at auction are destined for grass. They are prime candidates for the Synovex One Grass implant. Just the Facts, Ma’am The Truth About Implants By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor Continued on page 43 