Feedstuffs in Focus
Feedstuffs in Focus is a weekly look at the hot issues in the livestock, poultry, grain and feed industries. Join us as we talk with industry influencers, experts and leaders about trends and more. Feedstuffs in Focus is produced by the team at Feedstuffs.
Feedstuffs in Focus
Beyond average daily gain: The true path to cattle profitability
Cattle producers often turn to average daily gain, feed conversion or reproduction when targeting improved efficiency but while they all have a place, a focus on feed efficiency traits is critical as it zeroes in on both the cost of feed and the value of gain.
Jason Osterstock, Chief Science Officer at Vytelle, joins Sarah Muirhead to explore how data-driven approaches are transforming herd management decisions. Rather than relying solely on conventional measures like average daily gain or feed conversion, forward-thinking producers are harnessing sophisticated analytics to identify animals with superior efficiency traits. These insights enable more strategic breeding decisions that compound benefits across generations.
What makes this evolution particularly exciting is its accessibility. Technologies that were once reserved for only the largest operations are now available to producers of all sizes through user-friendly platforms and mobile devices. This democratization of data science allows the entire industry to advance toward more sustainable production methods. Vytelle exemplifies this approach with its integrated technology platform designed to help cattle producers deliver more protein with fewer inputs, ensuring that meat and milk remain competitive food choices for future generations amid growing sustainability concerns.
Want to learn more about optimizing your herd's efficiency? Visit vytelle.com to discover how their technology solutions can transform your operation.
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Cattle producers often turn to average daily gain, feed conversion or reproduction when targeting improved efficiency. While all those things have a place, a focus on feed efficiency traits can be critical, as it zeroes in on both the cost of feed and the value of gain. Welcome to Feedstuffs in Focus, our podcast taking a look at the big issues affecting the livestock, poultry, grain and animal feed industries. I'm your host, sarah Muirhead. This episode has been sponsored by Vytelle. Vytelle's integrated technology platform helps cattle producers sustainably deliver more protein with fewer inputs, helping to ensure meat and milk are viable, competitive food choices for future generations. Learn more about Vitali and its technology at vitalicom. Joining us today to discuss how cattle producers can optimize their herds is Jason Osterstock, chief Science Officer with Vytelle. So, jason, Vytelle is a precision livestock company reshaping how cattle producers optimize their herds. Explain to us what does that mean in terms of you know, in practical terms, and why is that important for the cattle industry today?
Jason Osterstock:Yeah, vitalitelli's really focused on tackling some of the most complex challenges that face cattle producers, specifically thinking about feed efficiency, reproductive optimization and sustainability. Our approach is to try to use technology that's really at the intersection between that tech and practical application to empower producers to make better decisions and make better use of data to enhance their herds.
Sarah Muirhead:So, with over 320,000 genetic evaluations from 29 breeds and plans to incorporate genomic data into predictions, how is Vytelle advancing the accuracy and the application of genetic data in cattle breeding?
Jason Osterstock:Yeah, one of the most important things for any cattle breeder is to be able to make the right decision, picking the right animals to build the next generation. So part of our role is to make sure that we provide the highest accuracy EPDs as possible for the traits that we evaluate to help make those better decisions. So some of the things that we're doing is we run a genetic evaluation every week for dry matter intake, average daily gain and feed efficiency. We've recently enhanced that evaluation model to increase the heritability of the underlying traits and we're also starting to incorporate genomic data so that we can deliver genomically enhanced EPDs for those traits of interest related to feed efficiency to again help drive up the accuracy and make better selection decisions.
Sarah Muirhead:Methane monitoring. It has to be a key focus. I mean it is a key focus globally. Can you elaborate on Vytelle methane monitoring system and how that fits into the broader sustainability efforts that are going on in that cattle?
Jason Osterstock:industry. Yeah, you've really hit the nail on the head a very important topic for our industry to address. As Vytelle experience and history in understanding feed intake, we have a great appreciation for how feed intake drives methane production and, as we look at the industry overall, we felt like there were some gaps, particularly around cost-effective, scalable solutions to measure methane and do so while also measuring feed intake, because we can't understand one without the other. So we're currently in the process of doing some field testing on a new methane sensor that'll be integrated with our VitaliSense feed intake nodes, allow us to phenotype animals for feed intake and methane right side by side and ultimately help us understand methane and sustainability, but in the context of actual, profitable cattle production.
Sarah Muirhead:Oh, that's fascinating. So you think genetics and breed influences that whole methane production?
Jason Osterstock:Yeah, absolutely. We know that enteric methane emissions from cattle. They are heritable, they are controlled by genetics and, interestingly, genetics is going to be one of the most powerful ways that we continue to help our global cattle herd address concerns around sustainability because genetic change is permanent. If we have a feed additive or a vaccine, as soon as that's removed from the system, the benefit goes away, but with genetics those genes are always there for generations to come.
Sarah Muirhead:For producers who are interested in improving their herds. What steps can they take to get involved in Vytelle services?
Jason Osterstock:Well, one of the things we pride ourselves on is being easy to do business with, being very accessible to our customers, and particularly for those that want to start to use some of the technologies, whether it be phenotyping for feed intake or methane, or thinking about in vitro fertilization. You can go to our website at vitalecom All of our field representatives are listed there and certainly keep track of our social media channels, where we'll have lots of exciting announcements throughout the year highlighting some of our new products.
Sarah Muirhead:What excites you the most about the upcoming enhancements and developments planned for 2025? And you know how can you, how should your customers be prepared for those you said to monitor and to follow the announcements. Anything else they should be doing?
Jason Osterstock:Yeah, well, it's a little bit like picking your favorite child, trying to choose what I'm most excited about. But you know, I think the thing for me that I'm most excited about is, as we look at all of these different things that we're doing to whether it's phenotyping and improving accuracy of our EPDs, improving efficiency of our IVF programs, thinking about how we manage recipients differently as we analyze all of those things used together, there's actually real synergy. It's not simply an additive relationship, and so we're really excited about getting towards the end of this year and having some of these new products in place reducing the cost for live calf through IVF by about $100 a piece. Accelerating genetic progress we're going to increase genetic progress by 50% with that genomic data. So a lot of things going on, and I think my ask of the customers and those prospective technology users is to be very open-minded. These aren't unproven technologies. This is all very well established and a really exciting time to be in the beef industry.
Sarah Muirhead:Final thoughts to leave our audience with today.
Jason Osterstock:Yeah, I think what I just highlighted. Keep an open mind. We've got complex challenges, but Vytelle really empowering producers with the right technologies that are ready for prime time, so to speak, providing good data to help make great decisions, and that's truly a win-win relationship.
Sarah Muirhead:Very good. Thank you so much for joining us here today.
Jason Osterstock:My pleasure, thank you.
Sarah Muirhead:This episode has been sponsored by Vitali. Vitali's integrated technology platform helps cattle producers sustainably deliver more protein with fewer inputs, helping to ensure meat and milk are viable, competitive food choices for future generations. Learn more about Vitali and its technology at vitalicom. I'm Sarah Muirhead and you've been listening to Feedstuffs In Focus. If you would like to hear more conversations about some of the big issues affecting the livestock, poultry, grain and animal feed industries, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast channel. Until next time, have a great day day and thank you for listening.