Abstract
This study had three primary objectives: 1) to determine if there is an annual and/or seasonal trend in percentage of death loss in Kansas feedlots; 2) to examine the difference in death loss between steers and heifers; and 3) to evaluate if "in" weight has had an effect on percentage of death loss in Kansas feedlots. The annual trend in death loss for both steers and heifers was found to be significant and positive, indicating that death loss has been increasing over the sample period. Seasonal increases in death loss were significant for early-spring closeouts for both steers and heifers. The annual trend in the difference between the death loss for steers and heifers, though not significant, was negative. There were, however, certain closeout months in which there were significant differences in the death loss of steers relative to heifers. Placement weight had a significant negative impact on death loss in heifer finishing, but no significant impact on steer finishing. Our regression analysis indicates that death loss has been increasing over the sample period, that certain closeout months tend to impact steer and heifer death loss differently, and that placement weight in heifers has had a significant impact on percentage of death loss in cattle.
Highlights
Percentage of death loss has a direct impact on the pounds of saleable product, and on feed conversions, average daily gains, and cost of gain when calculated on a weight-in to weight-out basis
This study had three primary objectives: 1) to determine if there is an annual and/or seasonal trend in percentage of death loss in Kansas feedlots; 2) to examine the difference in death loss between steers and heifers; and 3) to evaluate if “in” weight has had an effect on percentage of death loss in Kansas feedlots
The annual trend in death loss for both steers and heifers was found to be significant and positive, indicating that death loss has been increasing over the sample period
Summary
Percentage of death loss has a direct impact on the pounds of saleable product, and on feed conversions, average daily gains, and cost of gain when calculated on a weight-in to weight-out basis. On the surface it would seem that there would be an incentive to minimize death loss, and that, with changing technology, we could observe a decrease in death loss over time. Animal health products have improved significantly, from preventive medicine to treatments, over the past 10 years. Improvements in other performance measures may more than offset the cost of increased death loss, when pushing feeding performance to the limit. We wanted to determine if death loss had been increasing or decreasing over the past decade, if there were seasonal trends in death loss, and if there were differences between steers and heifers
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