Minimizing cattle price discounts due to shrink will increase producers’ bottom lines and there are ways to do it, says an independent market consultant and cattle producer.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize how much shrink can affect the bottom line and how there’s certain ways we can manage shrink that will increase the net return on our calves,” said Debbie McMillin.
Speaking at a seminar organized by Farm Credit Canada in Leth-bridge on Feb. 3, McMillin outlined various cattle marketing fundamentals, among them the importance of shrink.
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“I think it’s one of the easiest managed marketing opportunities,” she said after her talk.
Shrink is the factor used to track weight loss on cattle between two consecutive weighing points. McMillin provided various examples of how shrink affects the weight on which producers are paid.
Average shrink is two to eight percent, she said. A three percent shrink on a 1,600-pound animal is a 48 lb. loss, which could cost producers more than $100 per animal.
The amount of shrink in transport is affected by the animals’ age, weight, temperament, feed and water provided, weather extremes, speed of handling, loading and unloading, crowding or under filling on the truck and personnel involved in handling.
Producers can control some of those factors, said McMillin, and taking steps to do so can pay off when it comes to payment re-ceived.
McMillin said her research provided examples in Ontario indicating 30 minutes of sorting results in an average three lb. of shrink per animal.
Four hours of trucking after that generates another 18 lb. of loss. The longer the trucking time, the higher the shrink.
When trucking animals after withholding feed and water prior to transport, shrink is about one percent per hour at first and higher as the shipping time increases.
McMillin noted there are several kinds of shrink. Gut shrink from withholding feed and water, coupled with loss of waste, is easily rebuilt on the animal.
Tissue shrink is more substantial but less common because cattle usually move through the system before tissue shrink occurs.
There is also pencil shrink, a predetermined amount written into purchase agreements when dealing through electronic sales.
In that case the exact amount of shrink will not be known until the cattle are delivered so a percentage is built into the price.
