Excerpt
taken from:
What Defines a Professional Cattle
Feedlot?
John D. Lawrence, Director,
Iowa Beef Center
,
Iowa
State University Extension, Sept. 2006
Feedlots need to be well managed and professional if they
are to be successful. But, what exactly does
it mean to be “well managed and
professional”? The author recently asked
people familiar with cattle feeding in the
Midwest
and Plains to help answer this question.
They include input and information
providers, large scale cattle feeders,
cattle buyers, and consultants. The two
questions asked:
1.
Identify the characteristics
of a professionally managed feedlot.
2.
List the top three to five
things that put the best feedlots ahead of
the others.
Below is the summary of the dozen or
more responses received. The list is not
meant to be all-inclusive, but it does
identify what people that work in the
feedlot industry on a daily basis identify
as best practices and provides guidance on
where to focus management attention.
Successful
Feedlot Management Practices
Day-to-day operation of a feedlot is the foundation of a
successful feedlot. Effective managers are
those that have predictable and repeatable
results, have an information system on which
to base decisions, are good marketers, and
have facilities where cattle perform to
their potential. The keys to operational
management include:
Consistency:
Well run feedlots do the same thing the same
way, every time. They are consistent in when
and how they deliver feed to the bunk. Bunks
are read every day, each pen is fed at the
same time every day, and the ingredients are
added and mixed the same every day. Cattle
are inspected daily using the same criteria.
Processing, treatment, and sick pen
management is consistent every time.
Consistency from day-to-day and
group-to-group makes good sense, but can be
difficult during planting and harvest or
with employee turnover. Developing a written
protocol for feeding, processing, treatment,
and inspection is a good starting place. It
serves as reminder to the experienced and a
training manual to the novice.
Information:
The old adage is that you can’t manage
what you don’t measure. Successful
managers measure and record what is
important to the profitability of their
operation.
This includes production and
financial variables. They must be able to
trust the numbers and thus must calibrate
scales and validate results from time to
time. The records to
calculate cattle performance and profitability are
necessary. However, once collected, the
information is of little value unless it is
used to monitor progress, make decisions,
and evaluate alternatives.
Marketing:
Managers understand markets, what drives
prices, and are up-to-date (that means
up-to-the-minute when cattle are trading) on
market conditions and price movement. They
understand how cattle are expected to grade
and how grades and cost of gain change at
different market weights and classes of
cattle. Successful managers also know the
buyers in their area and have a working
relationship with each buyer. They also
understand and are able to use the various
tools available (futures, options, price and
margin insurance) to manage price risk.
Facilities:
Feedlots must be designed to provide cattle
performance, worker safety and efficiency
and meet or exceed all environmental
regulations. Pens must provide a low stress
cattle environment with protection from heat
(shade, sprinklers, or breeze) and cold
(windbreak). Pens must be well drained and
maintained to reduce dust, mud, and run-off
problems and provide cattle comfort. Working
facilities and equipment must be cattle and
worker friendly so that cattle can be
processed efficiently with minimal stress
and treated when needed.
Business Decisions
Producers produce. Managers make business decisions. Their
success depends on how they make decisions,
where and how they get and evaluate
information, and their ability to develop and
implement an effective long run plan. Central
elements for business management include:
Financial
success: Well managed feedlots base
short-term and long-term decisions on the
impact it has on the financial success of the
feedlot. One could argue that farmer feeders
have priorities other than the feedlot such as
crop enterprises, but management of the
feedlot should revolve around the financial
implications of the feedlot. If it is
consistently lower on the farm priority list
it will show in the feedlot profitability.
Stay current:
Successful managers stay current on new
technology and industry issues and work to
continually improve the operation. They have a
method to systematically receive and evaluate
information important to their business that
will improve their competitive advantage.
Professional managers set aside time each day
or each week to study new information and
evaluate how it may impact their business.
They attend conferences or conventions to
learn and/or discuss with experts and other
managers.
They get involved in issues and give
back to the industry.
Strategic
plan: Because managers do need to focus on
daily activities and markets, it is important
that they develop, revisited and updated
periodically their strategic plan so they
don’t lose sight of their long-term goals.
Strategic plans evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of the operation in the context of
opportunities and threats external to the
firm. These are the big picture things that
often are lost in the daily grind, but are
essential to long term success. The strategic
planning process often involves the input and
insight from others, but is the manager’s
responsibility to develop and, more
importantly, implement the strategy.
Human
Resources
Feedlots, like any business, are only as good as the people
doing the work. Even in family operations,
professional development, opportunities for
advancement, having appropriate resources,
effective communication, and training are
essential to successful businesses. The human
dimension of the operation involves:
Every employee:
In successful feedlots every employee fulfills
his or her responsibility as well as or better
than a typical peer. There are no weak links.
The employee knows his/her role and
understands how his/her actions impact the
overall success of the
feedlot. The employee also knows the objective they are
asked to work toward, and is evaluated on how
well he/she achieves the objective.
Career-oriented:
Employees are career oriented and there are
opportunities for them to learn skills,
develop professionally, and take on new
responsibilities. This also applies to family
members. Granted not all tasks at a feedlot
require a continuous improvement, but don’t
be surprised by high turnover in jobs with no
opportunity for advancement.
Another observation is that feedlots
with low turn over and good longevity of
employees are more successful.
Provide resources:
Good employees need the resources
and training to do their job well. Resources
include good equipment and facilities, but
also training and continuing education on
skills that helps them do their job better.
This includes reinforcing and
upgrading skills such as feed mixing and delivery,
identifying cattle for treatment, low stress
animal handling, safety training on equipment,
emergency
preparedness, and interpersonal communication.
