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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Cattle producers will have an opportunity to see how Angus-sired cattle from their operation perform in a feedlot during the North Dakota Angus University (NDAU) calf feed-out program this summer and fall.
Producers also will be able to learn about the potential profitability of keeping calves and feeding them instead of selling them after weaning.
North Dakota State University’s Carrington Research Extension Center is partnering with the North Dakota Angus Association once again to sponsor NDAU.
Producers will be able to consign cattle to the feed-out program. Consigned animals should be steers with at least 50 percent Angus genetics and a desired target weight of 800 and 900 pounds at the time they enter in the program.
Producers wishing to consign steers that are lighter than 800 pounds should contact Chanda Engel, livestock research specialist at the center, to discuss potential options.
Consigned cattle should be delivered to the center’s feedlot the first full week of June (5-9).
Producers who consign cattle pay the feeding costs based on the average cost of gain, veterinary costs and a modest yardage charge. The center carries these costs until the cattle are marketed. After the cattle are marketed, the center deducts all applicable fees from the sale price without an interest charge.
Participants in NDAU will receive periodic progress reports on their calves’ performance, as well as a final report on the overall performance, efficiency and carcass traits for their calves. The top three highest value steers will be recognized and the owners will receive awards.
Producers consigned 80 head of steers to the fifth annual NDAU project, held in the summer and fall of 2016.
“In addition to the valuable information producers received regarding the feedlot performance of their cattle, the steers were used in a feedlot research trial,” Engel says. “No treatments are imposed that would reduce the performance of the animals.”
In the 2016 feed-out program, cattle:
* Averaged 97 days on feed
* Gained an average of 5.1 pounds per head per day
* Had an as-fed feed efficiency of 8.5 pounds of feed per pound of live weight
gain (5.8 pounds of dry-matter feed for a pound of live weight gain)
To consign a group of cattle or for more information, contact Engel at 701-652-2951 or chanda.engel@ndsu.edu; or call Mike Wendel, North Dakota Angus Association program liaison, at 701-710-0425.