Cow/calf producers looking to put the extra money into prevaccinating their calves should see a premium at the sales barn, according to research released in 2000 by Dr. Ken Bateman, Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph. The study received $23,000 in funding from the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association.

In the first of several reports released documenting Bateman’s findings on 1999 calf sales, calves sold at special sales at Keady Livestock did realize a premium that reached as much as $0.22 per pound. Overall, the weighted average premium at Keady was $0.07 per pound for steers and $0.09 per pound for heifers.

Results on two similar sales – one at the Ontario Stockyards Inc. (OSI) and one at Lindsay Community Sales Barn (LCS) showed similar premiums, Bateman noted.

In an interview following the release of his findings, Bateman said that producers often use the term prevaccinated. At the Keady sales, however, calves were prevaccinated twice (against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), parainfluenza-3 (P1-3) bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and bovine respiratory syncitial (BRS) viruses as well as Haemophilus somnus and Pasteurella haemolytica. Calves were also required to be castrated and dehorned as needed and were presorted at Keady. The fourth sale also required the calves to be preweaned at least four weeks prior to the sale. For the purposes of Bateman’s study and this article, however, the term prevaccinated will refer to cattle with all of the previously mentioned requirements.

At each of Keady’s four special sales, potential buyers were advised of the study in progress. Buyers of calf lots larger than 20 head and averaging 400 to 700 pounds were approached following their purchase and asked to participate in Bateman’s study. In explaining the reasons behind the weights of calves he worked with, Bateman explained, "For calves under 400 lbs., vaccinations may not have had the chance to do much. Calves over 700 lbs. traditionally experience less disease."

Buyers were provided with a questionnaire and asked to record events over the next four weeks. They were asked to document the number of calves that required follow up treatments and the number of mortalities. The use of antimicrobials was recorded, as were post-arrival vaccines. Buyers were also asked to indicate how groups were mixed and when hay was removed from their feed.

Bateman’s team included research associate Joanne Macartney and Dr. Carl Ribble, Chair of the Department of Population Medicine. To compare the prevaccinated calves against their unvaccinated counterparts, Bateman and Macartney also attended regular weekly sales, asking buyers to follow the same process.

In total, the University of Guelph study tracked 2,902 prevaccinated calves, 428 preweaned calves and 4,520 regular head at Keady as well as 511 prevaccinated calves sold at the Simcoe/Dufferin sale and 761 from the Peterborough/Victoria sale.

The study follows on the heels of work done by OMAFRA’s Don Blakely over the past two years. Blakely said that the interest in prevaccinated sales has been steadily growing.

In both 1998 and 1999, Blakely compared prices received at value-added sales to the provincial averages in the same weeks as found in OCA’s Market Information report. The problem with this, said Blakely, was that the prices paid on the calves he was tracking would also be included in the provincial average so premiums would actually be higher than his numbers (between $25 and $120 per head) indicated.

Given that though, Blakely said that he was surprised that the results of the two studies showed similar findings. He noted that there were more prevaccinated calves on offer in 1999 and said that Bateman’s study shows that "producers are still willing, even in good markets, to pay premiums for value-added calves."

Blakely noted that the study also shows that producers who go to the work of prevaccinating their cattle should take the added step of selling them in a special sale. Bateman’s work noted that "there was no evidence that properly vaccinated calves on offer at regular sales commanded any premium."

The study also showed that the special sales at Keady commanded a higher price floor and a significantly smaller range of prices being paid – both persuasive arguments for selling at a special sale, Bateman noted.

The University of Guelph researcher said that it’s hard to determine exactly what producers buying at Keady are paying the eight cent average premium for. Comparing results to regular sales, the study was able to estimate that calves that weren’t dehorned generally received a discounted price of about two cents/pound but beyond that, "We can not be certain to what extent the buyer is rewarding each individual segment of prevaccinated, castrated and presorted."

Garry Kuhl, owner of Keady, was clearly pleased with the study’s results. "It’s what we hoped for," Kuhl said. "Vaccinations are paying off. Farmers are getting a little better paid for their efforts."

Kuhl explained that Keady has been holding four prevaccinated sales each year for the last three years. The same is planned for the coming year. Kuhl is also pleased to note that the number of calves going through the sales has been increasing by five to 10 percent each year. There is generally a larger crowd of buyers at the special sales and Kuhl is now hearing from more and more producers who say they won’t buy calves unless they are prevaccinated.

Treatment rates

At Keady, Bateman’s team noted a significant reduction in the number of preconditioned calves requiring medical treatment following the sale. A total of 16% of the preconditioned and only three percent of the preconditioned, preweaned calves required follow up medical treatment compared to 23% of the calves sold at regular sales.

Unfortunately, he added, this trend didn’t follow through to calves tracked from the other two facilities. Batemen suspects this may be due to the fact that at one of the sales, 200 calves travelling through the preconditioned sale had only been weaned between one and four weeks. "This is a high risk time for cattle developing respiratory disease and other illnesses," Bateman explained. His concern is that those calves may have had a higher than normal disease rate which increased the group’s average. His suggestion would be that producers wean calves at least four weeks prior to the special sales or not wean them at all to help counteract the stress of the move.

The study of Keady calves also showed that calves who weren’t preconditioned but who received prophylactic, injectible antibiotics soon after arrival at their new locations had their treatment rates lowered from 25% to 10% . Said Bateman, "I don’t think that’s something we should ignore."

Bateman has been both surprised and pleased with the interest producers have shown in his study’s results. "I’ve been pleasantly surprised that we’re doing something people believe is relevant."

He added that there’s been no decision made on whether the study will be continued to track 2000 sale results.