| Managing Your Cattle to Meet the "Owner Certified Natural" Requirements
In recent years there has been an increased demand
for stocker and feeder cattle that qualify for the various "All Natural" beef programs.
This demand has resulted in higher prices for cattle that have been managed
to meet the "All Natural" programs.
Superior Livestock Auction and Superior Stampede
have consolidated the requirements of the different "All Natural" beef
programs to develop the "Owner Certified Natural" certification.
To merchandise your cattle under the Owner Certified Natural program, you must sign a certificate at the time you
consign the cattle and again at delivery. These certificates will verify
that you will and did manage your cattle in accordance with the Owner Certified Natural program.
To market your cattle as Owner Certified Natural, you must strictly
follow the requirements listed below and maintain complete and accurate
records.
Growth Hormones and Implants
You cannot feed your cattle growth hormones or implant growth promoting
products at any time. Examples of these growth hormones and implants
include, but are not limited to:
- Compudose
- Ralgro and Ralgro Magnum
- Synovex C, S, H or Plus
- Implus C, S or H
- Finalpix H
- Revalor H, S or G
Feed Additives
No feed additives may be fed that contain antibiotics or ionophores.
For example, some protein blocks, tubs and licks contain Bovatec, Rumensin
or Cattlyst and some feeds contain such antibiotics and Tetracycline
or Aureomycin.
If your cattle are backgrounded or fed in
a custom feedlot, you must insure that ionophores, medicated feed additives
and antibiotics are not included in the ration.
No feed that contains protein derived from
mammalian tissue (meat and bone meal, blood meal) can be fed at any time.
Management Suggestions
When processing your cattle, no antibiotics may be used. For example,
when castrating bull calves, you cannot administer penicillin or a sulfa
bolus. you may use topical applications such as sulfa powder or fly repellent
on the cut.
If an animal must be treated for sickness and is infected with an antibiotic
or given a sulfa or antibiotic bolus, it no longer qualifies for the
Owner Certified Natural program and must be permanently marked so
it can be removed from the herd an shipping.
There are ways to treat certain illnesses
without disqualifying the animal, however. Fore example, an animal suffering
from pinkeye may be treated with sulfa powder squirted in the eye and
the eye covered with a patch and still qualify for Owner Certified
Natural. Calf scours can be treated with a probiotic such as Calf Start
and remain within the Owner Certified Natural guidelines.
Permanently Marking Disqualified Cattle
If an animal becomes ill and must be doctored with any antibiotic, it
must be clearly marked so it can be removed from the herd at shipping.
There are a number of ways to mark disqualified cattle. If you do not
use ear tags, the animal can be marked by tipping an ear or given a specific
earmark. If all the cattle have ear tags, the treated cattle can be marked
by notching the ear tag itself. If this is done, any cattle that have
lost their tags must be removed at shipping since there is no way to
tell if they were doctored.
Download Certificates
Owner Certified
Natural Certificate
Owner Certified Natural Consignment Affidavit
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