A leading beef producer discovered weaners had lost over 20kg in just seven weeks despite appearing healthy and receiving a triple-combination drench. Optiweigh exposed a hidden parasite problem worth $50,000 in lost production, highlighting the value of continuous weight monitoring alongside expert animal health advice to detect issues before they escalate.
This post is an extract from (CEO and Co-Founder) Bill Mitchell’s fortnightly Optiweigh Insights email newsletter. To get a copy in your inbox, SUBSCRIBE HERE.
The purpose of this newsletter has always been to provide meaningful insights – driven by feedback from other Optiweigh users.
Accordingly, when I received this text message today, and the discussion was so similar to many other queries coming into the office recently, I knew it had to be shared.
It’s not so much the discussion around whether or not to trust the Optiweigh (more on that later), it’s more:
- The fact that these weaners dropped over 20kg in weight only 7 weeks after a triple combo drench;
- The fact that the cattle didn’t look to be losing weight;
- The fact that this producer is one of Australia’s leading beef producers, with decades of experience, and he would never have thought it possible based on all his years of experience.
This situation was only picked up because there was an Optiweigh in the paddock. And because it was so unexpected, there were a few calls back and forth to the Optiweigh office to check that the unit was indeed weighing correctly.
Side note: this is one of the reasons we have a support team here, so if you are not sure about your data, there is someone on the end of the phone who can look at diagnostic reports from the units and run you through some checks.
But regardless of the presence of the Optiweigh, the fact remains that this guy’s internal parasite program had broken down and it cost him a serious amount of production – 20kg on 459 head at current prices = $50,000!
It makes me wonder how many other mobs of cattle and sheep are experiencing the same losses that might well have gone undetected.
I know Jacqui and I have heifers on new pasture that were booming along but now appear to be slipping a bit. It’s tempting to think it’s nothing and that they’ll pick up again when we get some better sunny weather. But when I think of the number of times we have heard similar stories to this text message, I think we need to face the fact that our animal health program probably needs looking at more closely.
I know the answer isn’t just to drench more and more often and drive us further down the path of resistance.
The answer has to lie in new ways to monitor and manage to try to beat the cycle. More intensive continuous animal weight monitoring can certainly help, and my suggestion would be to combine it with some good advice from advisors who specialise in the area.
From what we see here at Optiweigh, it is happening far too often and costing far too much in production to be ignored.