Muddy feedlot conditions are a major animal welfare issue and affect a steer’s ability to gain weight as it struggles to get to the feed bunk or find a dry place to rest.
This summer’s record rainfall had feedlot owners like Howard Bekkering contending with mud, collapsing fences and pen cleaning.
The Vauxhall, Alta., producer remains stoic as he waits for a dry spell to bring in the rest of his feed crops on Sept. 29.
“It is part of the business. Mother Nature can be a bit miserable at times.”
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It has been hard to assess the impact on animal health and performance but most agree there are losses in feed efficiency, said veterinarian Robert Peterson with Feedlot Health Management Services in Okotoks, Alta.
“We just don’t have a really good idea because it is a seasonal effect,” he said. “There is probably some compensatory gain but we are not sure. There probably isn’t compensatory feed efficiency.”
Owners reduced the number of animals per pen and mud on hides was a problem, Bekkering said. Mud and manure on the hide can harbour diseases like E. coli, even though packers wash hides before skinning and evisceration.
Bekkering didn’t notice any higher incidence of dark cutters at slaughter, caused by stressed animals, but carcass yields were lower than average.
Pen cleaners struggled to deal with soupy manure.
“With that much rain, it was pretty difficult to move product around,” he said.
It was hard to build up bedding packs or mounds where the animals lie down. Adding extra straw bedding created more mess because larger cattle could drive straw into the mud, turning it into a sponge that did not dry up.
Feed in the bunks was wasted when soaked with rain and turned mouldy. There was also more odour this year and a greater incidence of flies and other insects.
The rain and cold delayed the maturation of feed crops like alfalfa, silage and grain corn. Feed value will not be as good with lower protein and energy.
In a normal year, Bekkering irrigates his crops, but this year he used about one-third of his normal water allocation.
“We had lots of days where we got two inches (50 mm) of rain,” he said. “It has been a big challenge. Everybody went through it. Hopefully next year is a hotter, drier year.”
He cannot estimate the financial losses at this point.
“Time is going to tell how bad was. Everything may work out. It may surprise us,” he said.
