RED DEER – A two-year cattle trucking study has opened the door to more research that could improve livestock codes of practice.
The study involved nearly half a million cattle and 10,000 short and long distance haulers who delivered animals across the continent.
“It really gave us a flavour of what is happening in the industry,” said Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein of Agriculture Canada, who led the research.
The final report is undergoing peer review and has encouraged more research into transport conditions.
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The study found that truckers are cognizant of what kinds of animals should be transported.
“They are very aware, as they should be, not to put animals on the trailer that look unfit,” she said.
The study found 99.95 percent of long-haul and 99.98 percent of short-haul cattle reached their destination injury-free.
The few problems involved lameness, downed animals and some deaths.
The risk was higher for long-haul than short trips. Market cows were at the highest risk followed by calves. Feeder and fat cattle were at the lowest risk of suffering injuries.
Experience levels among drivers were evenly divided between less than two years, two to 10 years and 10 or more years. The short haul truckers tended to have more experience transporting livestock.
Most of the respondents hauled fat cattle while nearly one-third were feeders weighing more than 600 pounds, seven percent were weaned calves and three percent were market cows.
Long haul trips averaged 16 hours, although one long-haul trip took 45 hours. Transport delays often occurred at the Canada-U.S. border because of mandatory paperwork and inspections. The average delay was slightly more than an hour but some lasted as long as 15 hours.
Unloading delays for Canadian cattle at U.S. packing plants usually added a half hour to the trip, although truckers found themselves waiting an hour and three quarters after the mandatory country-of-origin labelling law was implemented.
Loading density, especially for calves, sometimes exceeded Canadian recommendations, while fat and cull cattle were loaded near or below recommended loading densities.
Shrinkage was higher in long-haul feeders at seven percent of body weight compared to fat cattle and market cows, which lost about five percent of their weight. Calves shrunk about two percent after accounting for transport time and temperature.
