Marketing workshop being offered in FF

Gary Sliworsky
Ag. Rep

According to research, calm calves appear to have a better response to vaccination at weaning than excitable calves.  This better vaccination response means the calmer calves are less likely to develop sickness or die of disease.
Earlier research has shown cattle that speed out of the handling chute eat and gain less, and yield tougher steaks.
U.S. researchers divided 6- to 7-month old spring born bull calves into two groups: the calmest and the most excitable.  The calves were grouped based upon their “exit velocity”, the speed at which they exit a handling chute, and “pen scores”, where visual observations about the animal’s response to confinement and humans are recorded.
During the 11-week trial, the team analyzed calves’ blood samples for the antibody response specific to clostridial vaccinations.  On the study’s 6th day both calf groups showed “significant” immune response to the vaccination.  But by the 6th week, the calm calves had a 50% greater antibody response than the excitable calves.
After the booster shot on the 42 day, the peak immunological response was delayed in the excitable calves compared to the calm calves.  Also, the excitable calves’ immune response decreased from day 49 to the end of the study.  The calm calves’ immune response didn’t significantly decrease after the booster.  At the end of the study, the calm calves had more than a 60% advantage in immune response.
In addition to the benefits of increased vaccination response, the calm bull calves out-gained their more excitable counterparts by more than 0.3 lbs./day over the length of the study.
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The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association is presenting a Regional Marketing Workshop at La Place Rendez-vous in
Fort Frances on Friday September 29th 2006, from 9:00 am–12:00 pm.
 Interested beef producers, processors and other supply chain representatives are encouraged to attend the workshop which will be facilitated by the consulting team at Mallot Creek Strategies Inc.  The workshop aims to guide interested producer groups through a strategic business process that is geared to a local/regional brand initiative.  A workshop workbook is used to provide attendees with a solid marketing foundation to move forward with their individual marketing programs.  Critical success factors are outlined and discussed including supply chain support and regional marketing opportunities. 
 The deliverables of the workshop include:
*Regional Marketing Process
*Regional Opportunities and Barriers to Marketing
*Partnership Identification
*Critical Success Factors
*Project Planning and Task Identification
*Follow-up with Producers on Individual Program Needs
It is the goal of the meeting that each participant leave with a clear understanding of what will be helpful to move their regional marketing initiative forward.
Please contact April regarding workshop registration at (807) 274-6444, or by email at aszpara@xplornet.com.  To contact the staff at Mallot Creek Strategies for further details, please call (519) 787-7830 and ask for Jana or e-mail jorange@mallotcreek.com.