This last week, the DOW Jones Industrial passed 16,000.  That is up almost 150% since March of 2009.  If you do not watch it almost every day, you could miss it buy 500 points or more. Some numbers change fast.  When I bought my first pickup in the late 70’s, you changed oil every 3,000 miles.  Today, some vehicles using synthetic oil, can go 7,500 to 15,000 miles between oil changes.  Some numbers change slowly.  Still, even though I know I can go 7,500 miles, it’s hard for me to exceed 5,000 miles on an oil change.  If I change my oil every 7,500 miles instead of 5,000, I will only pay for 2/3 as many oil changes for the life of the vehicle.  I really need to pay attention to the new numbers, and get comfortable with them, and the new numbers that come out 2-3 years from now, and the new numbers 2-3 years after that, etc.

Numbers, or rules of thumb that have been entrenched in our minds for years or decades, may be costing us money today.  If you are making financial decisions today based on a rule of thumb that you created 5 or 10 years ago in the beef industry, chances are high that you should probably re-calculate it. 

About six years ago, we did some research with CRYSTALYX^® Brigade^® and weaned calves.  About 900 head were split in to 4 pens at a feedlot.  Two pens received Brigade^® barrels and 2 pens did not.  A fairly simple demonstration.  In the end, the 2 pens that received Brigade^® had fewer deads (6 vs. 12), increased feed intake, increased feed efficiency and reduced morbidity (124 vs. 227 pulls and re-pulls). 

While all of these measures favored the Brigade pens, I wanted an easy way to show the value of Brigade^®.  The death loss alone was reduced by 1.6% with Brigade^®.  That would mean you could save 1.6 calves for every 100 calves weaned.  For simplicity, I rounded this down to 1 calf for every 100 calves weaned.  You will need about 3 barrels of Brigade^® (750 lbs.) to feed 100 calves for 28 days.  Six years ago, 3 barrels of Brigade^® cost about $400, and a 550 lb. calf was worth about $575 (Cattle Fax Data). One calf easily paid for all the Brigade^®, and the added performance on the other 99 head was just more $$ in your pocket.  Today, those same three Brigade^® barrels would cost about $450, and that 550 lb. calf is worth about $990.  Now, I can say you have doubled your investment, and, the added performance on the other 99 head is just more $$ in your pocket.  Some numbers change slower (Brigade^®) and faster (calf value) than you think.

It has been said, “The only thing that does not change, is that everything changes.”  If you are still making purchasing decisions based on rules of thumb you have had in your head for the last 5-10 years, you might want to re-calculate them.  Supplemental nutrition and sound health programs are paying you almost twice what they did 5 to 6 years ago.  You can’t afford not to take care of those calves.

CRYSTALYX^® Brand supplements are an easy way to affordably provide supplemental protein, trace minerals, vitamins and phosphorus in a low-moisture supplement block that’s available 24/7, while minimizing your investment in time, labor and equipment.