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Nutrition and health. The two are synergistic, and one multi-generation background operation in Oklahoma has found that if they keep their calves healthier from the start with a good nutrition and vaccination program, the calves stay healthier during their time on the ranch.

“Vita Charge® has been important to us. It’s helped us be able to run more cattle faster through the system without making any major changes and without spending a lot of money,” said Steve Howard of Howard Ranches at Waurika, Oklahoma. Howard Ranches backgrounds 14,000 to 15,000 calves annually.

According to Micky Worley, sales rep for Twin Rivers Vet Supply, Howard Ranches has been a long-time customer, buying vaccines from the company for more than a dozen years. But about four years ago, the progressive operation also wanted to keep their nutrition in check too, realizing that health and nutrition typically work better together.

“We know that premium nutrition like that offered through the Vita Charge program is a direct benefit to a good vaccination program. The Vita Charge Drench helps those calves’ digestive system get to working right. It keeps them on feed, keeps them going, keeps them gaining and performing,” Worley said.

Upon arrival, the Howards, give each calf a dose of Vita Charge Cattle Drench which provides a jump start to the digestive system and protects cattle during stress. It is formulated to help cattle recover quickly and does not interfere with antibiotics that might be given simultaneously. Amaferm®, a research-proven precision prebiotic that increases intake, digestion and absorption is the key ingredient in all BioZyme products. Once the calves are processed, they are turned into pens for up to three weeks to make sure they stay healthy before they are turned out to grass. In those pens, they have Vita Charge Stress Tubs waiting for them. The tubs allow cattle to get their daily dose of Vita Charge in a convenient method. In addition to Amaferm, the Stress Tubs also contain MOS to expel the bad pathogens in the gut.

“As soon as we started using it, we saw our consumption go up. Cattle went to the bunks faster and would eat more. There in turn, I know they started gaining weight from day one, instead of setting there several days just trying to get back to pay weight. In addition, before we started using the Vita Charge Drench, we would spend at least an extra $3 per head, per load using more medicine to treat sick cattle. That first year, from the day we started using it until the end of the year, we got in about 700 head and our death loss dropped one-half of a percent. Little things make a big difference,” Steve added.

In addition to the monetary cost savings of medicine since the Howards switched to Vita Charge, Steve said they are saving time and labor from pulling and treating sick calves. Their calves are not getting set back; they are feeling good and gaining.

“The return on investment is several times over what it costs to put the Vita Charge in them. I couldn’t be happier. Their consumption is up, their performance this year is better than I can remember. At the end of the day, they are healthy, eating good, feeling good and will make more money,” Steve said.

When a program saves time, money and keeps calves healthy and performing, that is an investment worth looking into. Not only do the synergies exist between the products BioZyme offers, but good nutrition works together with good health, keeping those cattle growing and gaining the way they should with fewer treatments.

Miles Baker is a student of his horses. He spends at least 12-14 hours each day with the 10-15 horses he is currently training. And that’s just his half of the equine athletes he and his business partner have split to work with. Although Baker has been horseback and working with young horses as long as he can recall, he doesn’t want to be known solely as a horse trainer, although that is his primary profession.

“I want people to be like ‘that guy’s a horseman. He can start colts. He can ride a cutter. He can ride a reiner. He can train a rope horse.’ I just want to be known as good at anything that involves a horse,” Baker said.

Baker started riding on his dad’s southwest Oklahoma ranch and feedlot when he was just a young kid. He’d ride pens, rope and treat sick calves. Later, he rodeoed at Oklahoma State University and continued to train some horses in college, until he returned back to the family ranch, where he said training horses works really well with the cattle operation.

A critical part of his horsemanship skills is keeping his horses in good shape nutritionally. He learned about the Vitalize® equine products from a friend who uses the VitaFerm® products on his cows. He now feeds only alfalfa and a program of Vitalize products, allowing him to save money on grain.

Baker said his program consists primarily of Vitalize® Digest More® Plus and Vitalize® Alimend®. He counts on Vitalize® High Performance and Vitalize® Equine Gel when he needs some assistance.

“If I have a program, it is like a common ground, a set regimen that everything gets. And I know if I need to go up or down. That’s why my program consists of Vitalize Alimend and Digest More. On the 2-year-olds if they stay fat as a tick, they don’t get the Alimend. They only get the Digest More. Then, if I have a horse I want to do a little bit better, I can step them up with the Equine High Performance. With having the Alimend and Digest More as the common ground, it lets me know if I need to do more or if I can do less,” he said.

Although he doesn’t use the Vitalize Equine Gel daily, he said it is definitely one of his favorite products to get him out of a bind.

“We’ve had some young horses and hauled them. They get off feed and water when the get on the road. Then, we’ve got some horses in and changed their diet, and they go off feed or get a little colicky. It seems like I can give them that Equine Gel and they are back on feed and water really quick. The Vitalize Equine Gel has saved me some trips to the vet,” he said.

For Baker, the Vitalize program is an important part to his horsemanship success. He encourages others to find the Vitalize products they like and develop a program that works for them, too.

“The thing that keeps me going is you never quit learning, and that is part of the horsemanship side for me. You never stop learning about the horse, mentally, physically. Whether it’s training them, feeding them, just being around them. I take a lot of pride in the riding side of it and the feed program side of it and I’m constantly just trying to become a better horseman. You have to continue trying to do what’s best for the horse and you can’t do that without a good feed program,” he said.

Steve Groves is a self-proclaimed Amaferm® guru. His passion for the prebiotic found in the BioZyme products and understanding of the benefits of absorption is why he said it is important to him to make sure it is in his herd’s diet year-round.

Groves owns River Bend Cattle at Garland City, Arkansas. At just 300-feet elevation, in the southwest corner of the state, the cow-calf producer and BioZyme dealer said that Amaferm is one of the main reasons he switched his mineral to the BioZyme products. And he feeds the entire program.

“I can’t stress enough what Amaferm does for a cow. Increasing absorption of what you are feeding them, it is just helping them do a better job,” Groves said.

Groves has shortened his calving window to 60 days since using the VitaFerm® products. He calves in January and February, so his cows start on the VitaFerm® Concept•Aid ® 5/S in December and are on that mineral until late April or early May, when they switch to VitaFerm HEAT® . They consume HEAT until mid-October, and then eat Cattlemen’s Blend until December when they start back on the Concept•Aid 5/S.

Groves said he initially started solely using the Cattlemen’s Blend mineral, and he experienced a slight increase in his conception rates. He decided to try the VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S to see if he could take it up one more notch. He said it did. In addition to his commercial cow herd, Groves puts embryos in about 60 cows each year, and he knows how easy it is for those cows to lose a calf, and if they lose a calf, they are out everything.

“I will do anything I can to hold that embryo. We’ve had great results with the VitaFerm Concept•Aid,” he said.

Weaning Program Just as he’s a believer in the VitaFerm program for his cows, he’s a firm proponent for the 3-step Gain Smart® program when he weans his calves. He gives them all a dose of Vita Charge® Cattle Drench at weaning time, and then starts them on the Vita Charge Stress Tubs and Gain Smart mineral.

“Gain Smart is really economical on my calves. I have had awfully good results. No sickness. Their health is right where it should be. I don’t worry about consumption for the first 30 days. They will usually slow down,” Groves said.

If he feels his calves are over consuming their Gain Smart, he will put salt at the bottom of their feeder, so they have to eat the mineral first, then eat some salt for a few days before he refills the feeder with mineral. He always felt like different types of grass made them crave salt.

Groves will ship his calves in early July when they reach about 800 pounds. Since they are getting fleshy, he switches them to Gain Smart Stocker HEAT® around May 1. He said the cattle continue to eat well and gain well for those last two months, even at heavier weights.

Selling the Program Groves does not run eared cattle, but instead settles for a mix of Red Angus and Simmentals, but he does cull for heat tolerance since the heat and humidity do take a toll on the cattle in his climate. He said he would hate to think about running cattle – both cows and stockers without the HEAT minerals he uses.

With 47 years in the cattle business, he said it just made sense that he started selling the BioZyme products, especially when he could talk about Amaferm. Groves said there are two general audiences. One of less progressive producers who “look over the fence” at what he’s doing and then ask questions. Another group of progressive producers much like he is that once they’ve tried the products, “don’t know how they got by without them for so long.”

“I have people always asking me how I can calve in a 60-day window? To me, it is the most economical thing about raising cows is to keep the calving window short, so I can feed all my cows the same. If I have one dry cow and I have to feed her with the wet cows for four or five months, that costs money and she gets too fat,” he said.

Amaferm’s absorption benefit is the tie that binds all the BioZyme products together to deliver the whole package to Groves and his customers. From breeding to calving and weaning and beyond, he is a believer in products from VitaFerm to Vita Charge and Gain Smart. He knows his cattle are healthier and higher performing because of a program, and he’s glad to share that with those who will listen.