Recent articles in Ag publications have reported the benefits of using technology to assist the commercial cow/calf operator improve the herd. Then a local registered breeder held a few workshops on the potential benefits of genomic testing. Test or not test, that became the heated debate.
I admit that I was on the side of technology this time. I’m not saying an operator can’t do a great job of picking replacements by eye. However, I do believe that the better your cows are, the more challenging it is to continue improving the herd, and that technology might be a useful tool toward that end.
The final decision was to try genomic testing and to do it when we Bangs vaccinated. Testing day arrived – chilly with a cold breeze. When asked if I wanted to sit in the idling pickup and keep records I wanted to refuse since I alway prefer keeping the alley and tub full of cattle. However, in accordance with my Dad’s teaching, you do the job you’re asked to do, so I became the record keeper.
I got a brief lesson in handling the test tubes – how to get them out of and put them back in the packaging, how to place the tubes in the tester, and where to write the ear tag number for the lab. Then the vet asked if I wanted to keep track of the Bangs ear tag number as well. Sure, why not?
So for our records I recorded the DNA test tube number and the Bangs number (both of which are alpha numeric, multi digit and about eight characters long), and the new tag number. For calves out of a replacement heifer, I also recorded the dam’s tag number. I put the ear tags on the applicator, making sure they were in numerical order and wrote that number beside the corresponding test tube for the lab. We had thought I would put the test tubes in the tester but on the first calf it became apparent I was overloaded without that task.
We were into the process 17 head before we had any kind of system going. Things went well for the next three. Then I discovered that 30 ear tags put into a plastic bag in numerical order rearrange as though they scurry around on little rubber legs. It had been a little confusing when I was one number ahead on the second tag applicator but now I was trying to put tags in numerical order WHILE I kept track of all those other numbers. Suffering succotash (or words to that effect)!
I soon shut the pickup off, ripped my hat and scarf off and glared at the people working with the cattle for a split second, hoping they were freezing their assets! My attention returned to my jobs as a tag slid off my lap onto the floor of the pickup. I slipped out from under the other 29 tags, trying to keep them in order while being careful not to knock over the little box of test tubes.
Oh, fudge and frog hair! I set that box aside and hoped to get them back in order when we were done. I certainly had enough numbers written down I could match something up with something else…couldn’t I?
Then a calf got out without an ear tag. Smithereens! But we had the DNA sample taken and her Bangs tag number. We set her ear tag aside and kept going. Good thing the vet suggested we track those Bangs numbers, too!
One person took the DNA test, brought the test tube to me, then took and inserted the ear tag, while I did my record keeping and got the tags ready. Sounds simple enough. But I’d occasionally hand him the ear tag when it was time for the DNA tester, or he’d hand me the ear tag applicator with a tag on when I needed the filled test tube. The only things we threw at one another was a quick smile at our folly. There certainly wasn’t time to throw frozen cow turds or insults.
You know how sometimes you get a little irritated when it’s cold and you have to stand around waiting for the crew to fill the chute? I wish! When there was a break, I mopped the sweat off my forehead, gasped for breath then wrote a few numbers down ahead, hoping we would keep to that order.
We learned a number of things on the record keeping front: put the boxes of DNA test tubes in numerical order, band each set of 10 tags together in numerical order, and write the ear tag numbers down ahead of time. That would leave only three numbers to write down during the process.
Another change I’ve suggested is having someone else to do the record keeping. Maybe it’s because of my bedraggled state when we were done, but no one has taken me up on the suggestion
Sandy Snider Stahl 