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Spotlight on a feedlot career: the science behind being a nutritionist

Canada’s beef cattle spend most of their lives on open pasture, but for the last few months of their lives, most move to a feedlot for finishing. At the feedlot a great deal of care, attention and science goes into ensuring the well-being, health and comfort of the cattle, and to providing them with the optimal diet.

For feedlot cattle to reach their full growth potential, they need a balanced ration that supplies all their nutritional requirements and maximizes their growth rate. Ensuring that is the role of the feedlot nutritionist.

Feeding requirements of the ruminant

Cattle are ruminants, which means they have multiple compartments in their stomach, and food is passed from one to the other. Ruminants are unique in their ability to digest coarse vegetation such as grass, thanks to billions of microbes in the first compartment, the rumen, which help start the digestive process.

The feedlot nutritionist must design a diet that feeds these microbes to make sure the cattle receive the nutrients they need.

Basic feed components

There are three main components in cattle feed: grain, roughage and supplements:

1) Grain provides the bulk of the animal feed.

2) Roughage is typically provided in the form of silage.

3) Supplements include vitamins, proteins and minerals.

It is the job of the feedlot nutritionist to delicately balance each component to customize the precise needs of the cattle at each stage of the feedlot stay.

For instance, when cattle first arrive at the feedlot, they are introduced gradually to finishing rations, by reducing roughage and increasing grain. This allows the microbes in the rumen to adjust gradually and reduces the risk of adverse reactions such as rumen acidosis.

Cattle are monitored daily, and any health issues that could be linked to nutrition are brought to the attention of the nutritionist. 

Feed efficiencies

Feed efficiency is the term used for the amount of food required per pound of weight gain. It’s important for the feedlot nutritionist to achieve efficient weight gain for two reasons:

– Cost: feed efficiency plays a huge role in the profitability of a feedlot operation, and in the cost of the finished beef.

– Sustainability: efficiently fed cattle are finished faster and use fewer resources.

Reducing waste from other industries

Feedlot cattle play a huge role in helping use the waste or bi-products from other industries:

  • 86 per cent of cattle feed is unfit for human consumption.
  • Only nine per cent of cropland in Canada is used to grow crops specifically for cattle feed.
  • Cattle are fed the bi-products of other industries, which would otherwise be considered waste, such as leftover grains from the production of beer, whiskey and other alcohol, ethanol production and the oil processing industry.

Learning the science of feed efficiencies

The feedlot nutritionist’s expertise is the result of training and experience, as well as considerable industry research into feed efficiencies. Their skill helps ensure the five freedoms on which excellence in animal care is based.

To learn about some of the technology that helps the feedlot nutritionist maximize efficiency, read ‘Micro-machine helps reduce feedlot waste’.

Micro-machine helps reduce feedlot waste

Feeding cattle the best diet for growth is a complicated business. Now, new technology is making it not only easier to do but also more efficient. 

Micro-machine technology enables cattle feeders to accurately measure individual additives or supplements that help cattle grow. 

There are three primary constituents in cattle feed – the concentrate, which is typically grain; the roughage, or silage; and supplements, including minerals and vitamins. The makeup of the feed varies with the gender of the animal and how long it has been in the feedlot.

Most Canadian feedlots hire nutritionists to create a balanced feed plan for their livestock.

Once a nutritionist has decided on the optimum supplement blend, it is typically made into a custom pellet. These pellets are then mixed in with the grain and silage. A feedlot might have four or more different pellets formulated for use during different stages of the feedlot growth cycle. 

Simon Cobban, manager of feedlot solutions at United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), said customizing feed for different groups of cattle can be wasteful. “If a feedlot operator wishes to increase the use of any given supplement, he must increase the number of pellets added to the feed. This means increasing all the supplements in that pellet and incurring a great deal of waste.”

How technology is reducing waste and improving accuracy

With micro-machine technology, cattle feeders can measure individual additives or supplements to within 1/100th of a gram. Once measured, these supplements are then sprayed directly onto the grain. It provides a much more accurate and homogenous mix than mixing in a pellet.

“The machines aren’t new, but the high capital cost puts them out of reach for most feedlots,” said Simon. “At UFA, we have a program for cattle feeders where we provide the machine at no cost, as long as they buy our feed, additives and supplements. We install the machine in a custom building, set it up, program it and maintain it. It makes this technology much more accessible.”

Initially, UFA’s micro-technology program was only available for feedlots that feed 10,000 or more head of cattle per year. It is now available to feedlots with 5,000 head, and it will soon be going down to 1,500 head.

“We currently service something like 60 to 65 per cent of the fed cattle in Western Canada,” said Simon. “We have 100 per cent customer retention, and we have quite a few smaller feedlots waiting for when we can reduce that threshold to 1,500.”

To learn about other ways technology is used in feedlot operations, read ‘How technology is helping improve feedlot efficiencies’.