Beef Marketing Program Procedures Guidance

Technical Service - Technical Guide

INDEX

Receiving Cattle
1. Collect Feedlot Entry Chute Weights and Template Info
2. Ensure Animals are Tagged with Appropriate Tags
Set Monitoring Period
1. Complete an In-Pen Weighing Pre-Monitoring Checklist
2. Complete Calibrations of the IPW RTU Load Bars
Monitor Cattle on Feed
Data Submission and Reporting
Appendices
1. Appendix A – Monitoring Cattle Checklist

This document sets out the parameters, requirements, and step-by-step procedures for users of the Vytelle SENSE™ Beef Marketing Program.

PROCEDURES FOR MONITORING FEEDLOT CATTLE USING IN-PEN WEIGHING POSITIONS

1. RECEIVING CATTLE

1.1 Collect Feedlot Entry Chute Weights and Template Info Collect chute weights from all cattle that will be accessing the In-Pen Weighing Positions, part of the Vytelle SENSE system. Breed, sex, and lot specific information, such as lot number and lot entry date, should also be collected upon arrival to the feedlot. Details of data requirements can be found on the Beef Marketing Program Template. Please send required data reports to support@vytelle.com.

2. SET MONITORING PERIOD

2.1 Complete an In-Pen Weighing Pre-Monitoring Checklist Before a new monitoring period is started, the pre-monitoring checklist must be completed to notify Vytelle to monitor your system. Your TSR will not monitor your system if an In-Pen Weighing Pre-Monitoring Checklist has not been completed. To complete the pre-monitoring checklist, you will need to open the application GSB Pre-Trial Check List, located on the DAQ computer. 1. Choose Your Monitoring Period Dates:

Warmup Date: set this to the date that cattle will be entering pens with a Vytelle SENSE system. A warmup period is not necessary to begin monitoring cattle, but it ensures that the technology is working properly before monitoring.
Start Date: it is recommended that the start date be set for 10 days after the warmup date as this is when weights can be accurately collected. Selecting the warmup and start dates to be the same will not affect the monitoring period.
End Date: unless you have a specific end monitoring date, set the end date to a year after the start date. If a monitoring period will be coming to an end, please inform your TSR of the updated end date.

2. Enter the monitoring warmup date, monitoring start date and estimated monitoring finish date. 3. Physically examine the system and complete the procedures laid out on the In-Pen Weighing Pre-Monitoring Checklist. 4. Refer to the User Introduction Training document for further details and calibration instructions.
2.2 Complete Calibrations of the IPW RTU Load Bars Calibrations of the IPW RTU need to be completed for the following reasons:

anytime an RTU is exchanged.
if the TSR assigns an action item because they notice a sharp drop or rise in all animal weights.
anytime a pen is refilled (from being completely cleaned out of animals), or every 4 months.

IPW calibrations need to be completed with a 100lb certified weight. Refer to the User Introduction Training document for further calibration instructions.

3. MONITOR CATTLE ON FEED

3.1 View Animal Weights Application

This program can be used to track the body weights and growth rates of all animals in a pen with In-Pen Weighing and compare their weights to the averages of the pens. The View Animal Weights application can be used to complete the following tasks:

Monitor Body Weights and Growth Rates:
- Select pens that you want to monitor weights on
- Scroll through the individual weights and performance of each animal in the pen and compare it to the pen average. Animals with behavior and/or weight flags will be displayed at the top of the list. If feed intakes are being collected using the feed intake system, feed intakes and flags will also be displayed in the application.
Animal Weight and Drinking Behavior Flags:

Weight flags shown in the animal data table indicate the following change in animal weight and behavior:

In-Pen Weighing and Behavior Flags:
G1	Rapid Weight Loss vs Pen Average: min. 20kg loss over consecutive days
G2	Rapid Weight Loss vs Pen Average: min. 30kg loss over consecutive days
G3	Animal Growth Rate Difference vs Pen Average: min. 50kg difference
G4	Animal Growth Rate Difference vs Pen Average: min. 80kg difference
G1, G2, G3 & G4 – always compare animal average growth weight data with pen average growth weight data.

Animal Feed Intake Flags:

Feed Intake Flags (only triggered when an animal’s intake is more than 40% below the pen average):
F1:	Sharp drop in feed intake from the previous day, 40% below the individuals 7-day average
F2:	Two days of significantly lower feed intake, 40% below individual’s 7-day average
F3:	Feed intake is less than 40% of the pen average for 3 consecutive days
F3:	Zero feed intake

If feed intakes are also being collected using the feed intake system, the following flags may also be displayed in the application:

Remote Marking:
- Animals listed in each In-Pen Weighing Position pen can be selected to be marked via the onboard marking system. Marking cattle allows them to be easily identified in the pen for sorting.
- The ‘Mark’ column in the View Animal Weights table shows the animals that have been selected for marking, and the animals that have been marked.
- The View Animal Weights program can also be used to unmark animals that no longer need to be sorted from the pen.
More detailed information on this application can be found in the View Animal Weights Handout.

3.2 View In-Pen Weighing Data (View GS Beef Data)

This program shows the distribution of animal weights and animal weight gain in each pen. The distribution intervals can be altered to reflect site-specific goals.

Monitor Body Weights and Growth Rates:
Select pens that you want to monitor animal weights and growth rates on.
Set the weight interval that you want animal weights to be organized in.
Move the cursors on the distribution graph to show which animals fall within each interval and what their growth rate is. Double-clicking on an individual animal will reveal its weight trend.
Remote Marking:
Animals listed within each interval can be selected to be marked via the onboard marking system. Marking cattle allows them to be easily identified in the pen for sorting.
Individual animals, or several animals, can be selected for marking at one time.

More detailed information on this application can be found in the View In-Pen Weighing Data (View GS Beef Data) Handout.

3.3 Archiving Cattle

TSRs will archive animals on a weekly basis. Animals that have not accessed the Vytelle SENSE system for 7 days or more will be archived, unless specified otherwise.
Please notify the TSR if you would like to adjust the animal archive frequency.
If an animal is wrongfully archived, their records will be reintroduced the next time they revisit the system.

4. DATA SUBMISSION AND REPORTING

4.1 Beef Marketing Monitoring and Forecasting Report Details
Along with animal specific info, the Beef Marketing Monitoring Reports provide current animal weights, entry weights, average daily gains (ADGs), the number of days on the system and the last time cattle visited the system. This data is provided for each animal on the Vytelle SENSE system and summarized by pen. The Beef Marketing Forecasting Reports provide the same information, but also offer forecasted hot carcass weights 30 days after the time of reporting. The glossary, found in the Beef Marketing forecasting report, explains the data reported.
4.2 Beef Management Tool – Self-Serve Interactive Pen Inventory and Pen Movement Tracking
For a self-service option, the Beef Management Tool is available in the Programs list on the DAQ software. This tool provides much of the same information as the weekly emailed Beef Marketing Monitoring Report in the Pen Inventory tool. An un-formatted CSV export can be saved directly from this tool. This is an excellent option for weekly data analysis exports, on your schedule. Note that ADG reported in this tool, is limited to a maximum of 30day period, and requires a minimum of 10 valid days during that period. This allows better visibility of recent rate of gain changes. In addition, the Pen Movement tool can help monitor for unexpected pen changes, or to verify that animals have been moved to the expected pens during handling.
4.3 Beef Marketing Forecasting Report Data Requirements
The Beef Marketing Forecasting Report estimates future hot carcass weights using animal and lot specific information provided in the Beef Marketing Program Template. For new clients just starting on the program, they must provide carcass records on at least 400 animals that have accessed the In-Pen Weighing system to ensure that hot carcass prediction models can be accurately applied.

5. APPENDICES

5.1 DATA SUBMISSION AND REPORTING

Consider This Checklist When Monitoring Cattle Using the In-Pen Weighing Positions

Collect chute weights from all cattle
Collect template information for all cattle using the In-Pen Weighing Positions (breed, sex, lot specific information) and send to support@vytelle.com. If the breed is not listed in the drop-down menu, please select “Not Listed” as the breed.
All animals tagged with new HDX tags
Set monitoring period (complete GSB Pre-Trial Checklist)
Conduct calibrations

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

If you have any further questions please contact Vytelle SENSE Technical Support at support@vytelle.com or by calling toll-free from US & Canada: 1-866-689-3477 ext. 1 The team is available Monday to Friday 7:00am to 5:00pm MST (excluding Canadian Statutory Holidays). After hours, please leave a detailed voicemail, email, or trial note and a TSR will respond the next business days.

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