Innovations for Feeding Efficiency with LeMaster and Bondurant

Developing cattle in a feedlot environment is something that many have down to a science. Here at the Angus Beef Bulletin we try to bring awareness to new products hitting the market that could add value for our producers.

On today’s episode you’ll hear more from Shauna Hermel and our guests, Willard LeMaster and Robbie Bondurant from Furst-McNess, about their recently released Legacy Forward Beef line and a product they see having a positive influence on feedlot efficiency.

We thank Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health for their support of this episode.

Find more information to make Angus work for you in the Angus Beef Bulletin and ABB EXTRA. Make sure you're subscribed! Sign up here to the print Angus Beef Bulletin and the digital Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA. Have questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you! Contact our team at abbeditorial@angus.org.

Transcript

General (00:02):
Angus at Work, a podcast for the profit-minded cattleman. Brought to you by the Angus Beef Bulletin. We have news and information on health, nutrition, marketing, genetics and management. So let's get to work, shall we?

Lynsey McAnally (00:26):
Hello and welcome back to Angus at Work. Developing cattle in a feedlot environment is something that many have down to a science here at the Angus Beef Bulletin. We try to bring awareness to new products hitting the market that could add value for our producers. I'm Lynsey McAnally, and on today's episode you'll hear more from Shauna Hermel and our guest Willard LeMaster and Robbie Bondurant from Furst-McNess about their recently released Legacy Forward Beef line and a product they see having a positive influence on feedlot efficiency. So let's dive in!

Willard LeMaster (01:39):
Yes, at Furst-McNess, we are launching a new product line called Legacy Forward Beef. For the last year we have been evaluating our business and implemented a beef strategic plan where we've looked at how we can provide services and consultation to our customers, whether it's cow, calf, rancher, stocker background or feedlot, and looking at providing solutions for those customers to be able to move their legacy forward. And we've evaluated things such as manufacturing, production, research and development. And as a result of that, we have worked with two different universities on research projects that one of which we've completed and have others ongoing. But with that, we are here not only launching the Legacy Forward Beef brand, but one of those new products that will be part of that portfolio is a project that we finished back in the fall at the University of Nebraska that I'll let Robbie talk about. 

Robbie Bondurant (02:45):
Well, as Willard said, part of the legacy forward brand that we're launching is a big part of that is research and development. We understand that if we're going to help producers move forward and stay sustainable, we've got to develop products that can help them do that, that bring an ROI to their production system, right? Whether it's cow calf background or feedlot, this particular product that we worked on and developed and researched is called Prime Force and it fits in the feedlot space. And what it is is it's to be fed the last 60 days of finishing and the results from the trial with that was 25 pounds of added live weight, 15 pounds of added hot carcass weight,

(03:35):
An increase in average daily gain. But the big thing is that it did not impact marbling or quality grade negatively. It actually had a slight improvement in marbling scores on those cattle when fed Prime Force. The other exciting thing about that product is it is an all natural product that has no withdrawal. So for us, that fits into a marketplace that there really hasn't been a product that can do that in that sector. So we're really excited about what we can offer the feedlot space as we move forward with Prime Forest and Legacy forward beef. So we've got some more,

Shauna Hermel (04:14):
Explain a little bit about what the additive is. Is it a supplement? Is it

Robbie Bondurant (04:22):
So the product would be a supplement and it's a combination of different natural additives, yeast products and such. But again, it fits in the natural space, but it would be in the form of a supplement again to be fed at the end of the finishing period. Okay. Ultimately, with that, we want to be able to provide a product that has flexibility. We learned in the past several years through covid, that flexibility became an issue in finishing cattle at the end, and we wanted to be able to provide a product that would help solve a problem for the producers.

Shauna Hermel (05:01):
So if they need to ship those cattle 15 days early, they can without any

Robbie Bondurant (05:06):
Absolutely no withdrawal on that product. So if they need to ship them early, they can, if they need to extend it another week or so, they can continue to feed it and ship when they need to. Okay.

Shauna Hermel (05:16):
And is the supplement a dry meal that they add in the TMR or how is it provided

Robbie Bondurant (05:25):
At this point? Right now it is in a dry meal form that we have, but we are currently working on other methods of delivery, I'll say both looking into how to incorporate it into a liquid as well as going to work towards how do we incorporate it into micro machines.

Shauna Hermel (05:50):
What is the action of the product and is there an active ingredient that we can talk about

Willard LeMaster (05:59):
About Yes, if you look at the product, as Robbie stated, there's going to be yeast products, enzymes as well as there are a couple minerals in there, but as we think about how that product works and mode of action, it actually enhances gut health and integrity and as a result it increases absorption and utilization of the ingredients of it. And that is where we're seeing the enhanced gain and performance without sacrificing carcass quality.

Shauna Hermel (06:33):
Do you have some producers who have used the product yet or

Willard LeMaster (06:39):
Good question. Not yet. We just actually launched it Wednesday night at our event, so it is actually hitting the market next week with our new price list.

Shauna Hermel (06:52):
Do you have a product spec sheet or anything on it and what would the average cost per head be?

Willard LeMaster (07:00):
Good question. Those materials are currently being put together. The reason we don't have it at this point with working with the university, we are very cognizant of what we put in print at this point without sacrificing the integrity from a peer reviewed publication. In regards to cost, it costs 24 cents a day and for a 60 day feeding period it's just under $15. So $14 and 40 cents. And as we think about looking at the current April board and pricing, it has about a 3.1 to one ROI with it.

Shauna Hermel (07:42):
That's a pretty good return.

Willard LeMaster (07:45):
We are excited.

Shauna Hermel (07:46):
Okay. So with the University of Nebraska, are they going to have the proceedings in any or an abstract in some of the

Willard LeMaster (07:56):
Science meetings? Yes. They were actually presenting it at PNC Plains Nutrition Council in Eptember, I mean, excuse me, April and San Antonio. In addition to that, they will present it at Husker Nutrition Conference in the fall. They will submit it to Journal of Animal Science and this along with another study that we are doing with them is actually one of their PhD students, a component of their dissertation as well.

Robbie Bondurant (08:28):
When looking at the return on investment as far as the cost versus the amount of dollars getting back again at the April board, if we look at it, the added weight brings about $45 on a live basis. And so if your cost is 15 against 45, it's about three to one. But that's also not taking into account if you are in a program such as CAB or if you are on a grid, that increases the value of that carcass. And so the added marbling, right, so increasing the marbling score may help also make some additional gains from a monetary standpoint that can increase that ROI. So we're only talking about the, when we look at a three to one ROI, that's only considering the weight increase, not considering the quality grade implications, especially if you've got great quality cattle that grade well on a grid.

Shauna Hermel (09:30):
So and easily add another 24 and a half dollars to that 45.

Robbie Bondurant (09:35):
Yes ma'am.

Shauna Hermel (09:36):
Yeah. Okay. So have you looked in the research, was there any type of health component or looking at some of those late term issues?

Robbie Bondurant (09:54):
I would say in that trial there was nothing abnormal that came out. I wouldn't say that there wasn't a large difference in health between any of the treatment groups. The University of Nebraska does a very good job about managing health, and there was nothing, I would say there was nothing one way or the other. From a health standpoint, nothing noted that would've increased any kind of lameness or any issues like that. Okay. I would say that the one thing, we're still looking at some data with the university. We do believe and hypothesize that we are helping cattle maintain intake through heat events. So this trial was conducted through the summer and they had two different heat events during that trial, and we do believe that those cattle ate better and maintain their intakes through that. We're waiting on some data to get back on that to confirm our hypothesis, but we do believe based on the way that the product works, that we are helping those cattle deal with that heat stress and be able to maintain their intakes through that heat event.

Shauna Hermel (11:15):
So how do you define a heat event in terms of what does it take to make it a heat event?

Robbie Bondurant (11:22):
Generally speaking, it's when the temperature and humidity, at least in Nebraska and in those states, they're in that area, it's when the temperature and the humidity is higher. What is the THI of 85 for better? The temperature heat index, which is a combination of humidity and temperature. And the big thing there, especially in Nebraska, is when they don't have night cooling, when the temperature doesn't drop to allow those cattle to cool off at night. And that generally is when they're having, say, a week long heat event, and that creates a challenge for the cattle to be able to deal with and typically speaking, their intakes will drop, which obviously if intakes drop, then performance drops. And so we believe that we help those cattle maintain through those heat events.

Shauna Hermel (12:17):
Now as a product line, are there other products in the pipeline then in addition to the Prime Force?

Willard LeMaster (12:26):
Yes. We are currently evaluating a product that is fed the entire feeding period that we are looking at to have benefits on gained feed efficiency and also some health components with that. And those data we will not have until the cattle are harvested. So we are looking at hopefully the middle of June that we'll have those preliminary data. Another trial we're getting ready to start is a product that I developed six or seven years ago, but have made modifications to the formula and actually having university trial. It's a drench, it's a receiving and starting trial that we will be evaluating intakes, water intakes, as well as health in a 75 to 80 day receiving trial. And that product and line of products will be part of our legacy forward beef as well. And then we've got a full line of cow calf minerals as well as stocker backgrounder, feedlot products that are part of the Legacy Forward beef brand as well.

Shauna Hermel (13:44):
Now, will you have the research posted on your website

Willard LeMaster (13:48):
Once it's part of the public domain? Yes, it will be accessible on our website and also in printed material.

Shauna Hermel (13:57):
Anything that we've missed as far as

Robbie Bondurant (13:59):
Just want to emphasize that as we look at the Legacy Forward Beef brand, it's really a whole package opportunity from a consultative standpoint, looking at working with producers all the way from being able to have r and d on new products that can help their bottom line, help them be more productive, more successful. But doing that through a consultative standpoint with our nutritionists, with our staff and working together as a team to help them be more successful and more sustainable, that's ultimately what Legacy Forward Beef is about, is working as a team to make everybody more successful.

Shauna Hermel (14:44):
So how many field reps would you have that would be available for, or do they call into main office or how would you go about setting up a assist for a farmer ranch wanting to boost their nutrition?

Willard LeMaster (15:02):
Good question. We have multiple salespeople out across the different regions of the US that we call livestock feeding consultants. Some of them have varying knowledge and information, but from a nutritional consultation standpoint, we've got a beef tech team. And that comprises of Robbie, myself, and I am actively looking for another beef PhD nutritionist as well. And in our national beef account sales manager, he is actually a PhD nutritionist as well, that he works with his individual clients personally.

Shauna Hermel (15:46):
Okay. And so producer, whether feedlot or cow calf, they will want to have that consultation. Would they call, would they get on your website?

Willard LeMaster (15:58):
Yes, you could get on either the mcne.com and drill down through a bunch of different clicks, but more directly go to legacy forward beef.com and that will have an email address there for inquiries. And that goes to an individual. It gets to Robbie and I rather quickly.

Shauna Hermel (16:24):
And now your hope for your vision for use of the legacy forward product in the feedlot. Do you hope that it would get to a cent stage or where 90% of feedlots would use it or is what's your goal?

Willard LeMaster (16:41):
That would be wonderful. Realistically. Realistically, if we could be in 10% of the cattle in the United States, that would be very significant for us.

Shauna Hermel (16:57):
And you haven't used or studied it at all in the cow calf form. It's mostly all feedlot.

Willard LeMaster (17:03):
It's all feedlot. There's a component of it that it could be used in cow calf, however, it would have to be in ATM R. It is not cleared for free choice because of intake. And so this is not a product that we would evaluate in the cow calf segment. However, there are components of it that we do utilize in our cow calf line though.

General (17:39):
Listeners, for more information on making Angus work for you, check out the Angus Beef Bulletin and the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA. You can subscribe to both in the show notes. If you have questions or comments, let us know at ABBeditorial@angus.org and we would appreciate it if you would leave us a review on Apple Podcast and share this episode with any other profit minded cattlemen. Thanks for listening! This has been Angus at Work.