Recording Keeping In A Feedlot

Introduction

What is it to 'keep records'? The records can:

• Be used in determining profitability of various techniques used at the farm
• Be used to keep your memory on what you did and/or what happened
• Be used in decision making, especially on a strategic level
• Be used to compare the efficiency of use of inputs, such as land, labour and capital, for example when implementing a new / alternative system
• Help the farmer / investor in improving the efficiency of farm's operations

The records should be simple, easy and quick to interpret, and then they can be supplemented with remarks which can explain some unusual events or findings.

What Can Records Be Used For?

If a farmer wants to build a financially successful livestock enterprise, record keeping is a must. The records can be used to further develop the farm and the herd, and thereby the sector in the country. For many farmers, it helps to think of their farm as a business, and to see that good care and good management actually also influences the production and profitability of the farm. Records are important in (animal) farming because:

• To keep track of all animals (Identification records)
• Evaluation of livestock for selection (breeding records; financial records; production records)
• Control of inbreeding and aid in breeding planning (breeding records)
• Aid in selecting animals with the right characteristics for breeding (production, health, feed efficiency) to improve the herd or flock
• To rationalize labour
• Aids in feed planning and management
• Aids in disease management; keeping track about treatment (disease records)
• Aids in finding the effective treatments
• To assess profitability/losses (financial records) Improves bargaining power on products, because you can see the investment and the price of the production (financial records)
• Credit/loan access (financial records)

Types of Records

Identification Records

The needs are for an identification method that is cheap, not damaging to the animal and reliable at a distance of at least 2-3 metres and by preference permanent. Identification of animals is usually through use of numbering, by marking of the animal and by description of certain characteristics of the animal. Methods of identification can be subdivided into 2 categories: permanent and non-permanent.

Permanent Identification: Tattooing (ear or under); Description (diagrams, sketches and photographs); Ear-notching/Punching Brands (Hot iron, freeze and chemicals)

Non-Permanent identification: Tags (Ear-tags, Flank-tags, tail-tags and Brisket-tags); Collars or neck straps (chains); Paint and dyes Hair Braiding Naming

Breeding Records

The importance of breeding is to measure the productive efficiency of the herd and to enable culling and selection exercise to be carried out for breeding and genetic improvement. A good farmer would like a cow which gives a calf yearly. Therefore, an accurate breeding record of each individual cow which is up to date is needed and also a breeding record for the total herd. An indicator for that is e. g the number of inseminations needed to get a cow in calf. In addition to this, the data for the breeding record provides information about when certain cows have to be dried off and when certain cows are due to calve while others need to be insemination for proper herd management. The important data in breeding records include:

• Pedigree/parentage (Dam name, grand dam, sire name, grand sire)
• Growth (Date of birth, birth weight, date of weaning, weaning weight, sale weight, sale date)
• Fertility (Age at first service, age at first calving, date of calving, number of services per conception)

Production (Performance) Records

These records are useful in measuring the performance of the herd/flock and for the economic appraisal of the enterprise. Production and breeding records will give the farmer direct profit but also indirect profit by using progeny tested bulls from Artificial Insemination (AI) stations. Progeny testing is only possible if production and breeding figures of daughters are available. At the moment many farmers in Africa are importing semen of purebred and progeny tested bulls from Western Europe, North America, New Zealand, and Australia to improve the genetic ability of their cattle. This would have been impossible if those countries did not have a highly developed recording system. Breeding recording system would be a great help in selecting the bulls for the National AI services and would make imports of often very expensive semen superfluous.

Records, however, are worth the most when they are used the most. For dairy industry, the important records are:

• Daily milk yield
• Milk content (Butter fat content, protein, Solid Non-Fat)
• Lactation length
• Milk fed to calves
• Milk consumed at home
• Milk sold
• Milk spoilt

Feeding Records

These should indicate the amount of feeding given as well as the type of feed. Feeding records should be used the most for day-to-day management, evaluating pasture management practices and for planning of activities in the future. The day to day management decisions which are to be made are for instance, which cows need concentrates and how much, cows to be culled and why etc. Thus, the important records are:

• Available fodder on farm
• Quantity fed
• Concentrate supplemented
• Minerals
• Left-over (per head and per feed, if possible)
• Spoilage (per batch)

Health Records

Health records are needed to do the required vaccinations at the right time and to prevent disasters like foot and moth epidemic. They also provide information about the health status of each individual animal and the whole heard. Only with the breeding and health records can a good and wise decision be made:

• Vaccination
• Dipping/spraying
• Treatment
• De-worming
• Post-mortem

Click here to download a handout that explains examples of health records.

Financial Records

The records of the expenditure and revenue should be kept for cash analysis and enterprise appraisal. Economic records are of paramount interest in providing the farmer with information concerning the profitability of his farm. Moreover, they are of great help in decision making at the right time. For example, is it profitable to feed concentrates, is it advisable to apply for a loan or credit to invest in a machinery or technology, is it more economic to raise the calves with whole or skimmed milk? Answering these questions is only possible if adequate records are available. Moreover, for tax purposes and for the purpose of getting loans or credit, economic records are required.

Click here to view a video that explains, part 1- beef cattle record-keeping.

Click here to view a video that explains part 2 - beef cattle record-keeping.