6 Trending Headlines: Is preconditioning for you? PLUS: More heifers moving to feedyards

Burt Rutherford

 

Preconditioning: it’s all about timing

Even with a fall market outlook that calls for feeder cattle and calf prices to trend lower, opportunities are still out there to add value to your calf crop. One of them is preconditioning.
According to Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Veterinarian AJ Tarpoff though, producers need to have a strategy to make their preconditioning program successful. "We have to take into account health, gains, nutrition, everything together to make a preconditioning strategy work," Tarpoff says. "Preconditioning is a time we can get a big jump before entering the feedlot," he tells the Oklahoma Farm Report.
But, he says, "If we're waiting to touch these animals until after they're weaned, that's a stressed animal. It's best to have that preemptive strike before entering the preconditioning period."