The profitability of any agricultural business relies heavily on the efficiency of the equipment it uses. North Star Tuff Silage Trailer was designed, manufactured and tested in the western Dakotas by Mark Archibald, CEO of North Star Agri Solutions, in a collaborative effort with Pete Reis of Tuff-E Manufacturing.

In order to optimize the year-round use for the trailers on his own ranch, Archibald Brothers Land and Cattle and Valle Grande Feeders, Archibald and Reis developed a multi-purpose live bottom trailer with simplicity of design and ease of service with parts that can be easily found almost anywhere.

“We use them ourselves on a daily basis. They were used to harvest silage, earlage, grain corn, manure and throughout the winter, snow removal,” said Archibald. “We had to design a trailer that would be multipurpose to satisfy our needs. We looked at many trailers on the market, incorporated different ideas and started building our own in collaboration with Tuff-E Manufacturing.”

At a base price of $54,000, the American-made North Star Tuff Commercial Pro 36-foot silage trailer features:

• True inside width of 95.5 feet
• Hendrickson air ride suspension
• 5-feet tall standard sidewalls with 30-inch sidewall extensions for hauling silage
• 3/8-inch floating super slide plastic liner
• Dual massive hydraulic floor drive motors
• Replicable babbit bearings, not plastic
• Number 80 chain reduction drive designed for easy service and maintenance
• Manually adjustable floor chains tension

Each multipurpose trailer features a load volume of 28 to 30 tons of 68 percent moisture corn silage and 30 to 40 tons of manure.

For more information, go to the North Star Tuff website.

New series of manual chutes from Arrowquip

Arrowquip introduces the new 600 series line of cattle chutes setting the bar even higher as to what ranchers all over the world should expect to be part of their cattle equipment.

The Q-Cath 86 Series and the Portable Q-Catch 86 Series are engineered with precision, ensuring one of the quietest manual cattle squeeze chute ever manufactured, resulting in easier, more efficient cattle handling processes and cattle that are spooked less and cooperate more.

With their new 600 series lineup, the company looked at every contact point of their chute that might make enough noise to spook the animal, spending over 2,000 hours engineering a solution for each one of those points of contact. They also spent countless hours testing the 600 series at various sized ranches all over North America and Australia, listening to each and every suggestion the rancher had to give.

The result: a manual chute like no other, that’s quick, quiet and built with quality. Including a 12.75-inch neck access area, durable rubber flooring, anti-rattle rubber absorber hinges, lower-profile striker plates, new and improved hinge and latch system on the vet door, engineered sound dampening moving parts and the new second-generation head holder – a first in the cattle handling industry – Arrowquip has yet again revolutionized the cattle equipment industry with the Q-Catch 86 Series cattle chute.

To learn more, go to the Arrowquip website.

STgenetics now offers more cells per straw

Livestock genetics innovator STgenetics has rolled out a new flagship A.I. product that packs twice the number of sex-sorted sperm cells per straw as its previous products, leading to conception rates that are very close to those achieved using conventional semen.

High fertility SexedULTRA 4M sex-sorted semen boasts 4 million cells per straw. Previous straws contained 2.1 million cells per straw. During a field trial in Germany conducted by STgenetics in collaboration with German Genetics International, SexedULTRA 4M delivered conception rates comparable to conventional semen packaged at a concentration of 15 million cells per straw over 7,500 inseminations.

“The increased conception rate of SexedULTRA 4M is due to improvements in sperm biotechnology, the media that nourishes and invigorates the sperm during the sorting process, and improved sorting machine technology,” said Dr. Vish Viswanath, leader of the company’s research and development team.

This high fertility sex-sorted semen is even more effective when combined with genomic testing to ensure that producers get the most out of their mating plans. Genomic testing allows producers to identify their highest genomic value animals and to evaluate their herds in-depth.

Customers can search sire offerings at STgenetics’ website.

Van Beek Natural Science introduces new CalviLyte formulation

Van Beek Natural Science is excited to announce the new formulation of the CalviLyte electrolyte. CalviLyte supplies electrolytes and other key ingredients to support nutritional levels in calves. It promotes overall health and maintains the adequate acid balance and hydration. This formulation was designed to meet veterinarian recommended sodium, potassium, chlorine and strong ion difference (SID) levels in oral electrolyte solution to be used in young calves.

The product contains direct-fed microbials to help maintain balance in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and ensure its proper function. The direct-fed microbials also assist with the production of organic acids such as lactic and acetic, which may help keep the pH lower in the GI tract. It also contains maltodextrin, which will serve as an easily digested energy source. The added energy encourages nutritional balance. Glycine helps with nutrient absorption. Egg product assists with maintaining the immune system and gut health.

The new formulation of CalviLyte will be available in the same sizes as the current formulation: 5-pound bucket, 20-pound pail and 60-pound drum. The feeding directions for this new formula has changed from the old.

Please be sure to read the instructions on the label before feeding. Please visit the Van Beek Natural Science website for more information.

New cost-effective DNA test available to beef seedstock industry

Neogen GeneSeek has introduced a new, highly affordable genomic profiling test for seedstock production.

“The new GeneSeek Genomic Profiler Ultra-Low Density [GGP uLD] will provide ample power for predicting traits that beef seedstock will pass along to their progeny. Never before have seedstock producers had such an affordable and powerful genotyping tool,” said Dr. Stewart Bauck, general manager of Neogen GeneSeek operations.

Bauck said the new test will give breed associations a tool to expand the genotyping of seedstock replacement heifers.

“As we have presented this new product to our breed association customers, they have seen that the affordable power of the GGP uLD will be an attractive addition to their genotyping portfolios,” he added.

The new product uses high-accuracy imputation to higher-density SNP arrays, but will cost about one-third the price, Bauck said.

“As you look at the evolution of these new tests, accuracy of genotyping tools is increasing while cost is dropping,” he added. Genotyping of replacement heifers has big advantages to the seedstock industry:

• Producers obtain predictions on genetic merit early in the life of replacement heifers, allowing for genomically assisted selection of their future cows and cost optimization in heifer development.
• Seedstock breeders can add value to heifers by selling them with genomically enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs).
• Commercial cattle producers can purchase heifers with accurate GE-EPDs, improving their ability to manage the future direction of their own cow herd’s maternal, performance and carcass traits.
• The cattle industry now has an affordable heifer test to combine with phenotype data collection efforts, speeding breed improvement and increasing the overall accuracy of genomic predictions.
• By profiling heifers, rather than depending solely on collecting maternal phenotypes from sire progeny, breed associations can reduce the number of years it takes to assess economically important traits such as fertility traits that show up late in life.
• This latest addition to the GGP portfolio is designed to help beef breeders maximize the value of moving to “one-step” genetic calculations.

“We have received positive feedback from the seedstock industry about this affordable new power in their genotyping tool kit,” Bauck said. “We are optimistic that this new test will significantly expand the number of beef seedstock that are genotyped. This expansion will improve the beef industry’s overall competitiveness in food production by helping shorten generational intervals and improve selection accuracy.”

New Weight Wrangler mobile, portable group livestock scales

Cardinal Scale’s new Weight Wrangler livestock scales provide a convenient and portable method of weighing groups of cattle that may be pulled by a truck or moved by farm equipment. The scale’s high-quality rubberized composite flooring provides livestock stability and hoof-gripping assurance. The Weight Wrangler is an all-American-made product including the scale, load cells and weight indicator.

• Completely self-contained NTEP legal-for-trade mobile animal weighing
• Mobile scales with wheels and also portable scales with lower frame for transport
• Includes weight indicator, ticket printer and battery
• Weigh groups of cattle up to 15 to 20 head at a time (20,000-pound capacity)
• Low deck height of only 6 inches when in weighing mode

Self-contained design

The company’s U.S.-made, mobile and portable Weight Wrangler group animal scales provide a self-contained NTEP legal-for-trade weighing system that can be used on any firm surface with up to a 5 percent grade. The livestock scales include an integral air pump to easily lift and lower the trailer’s air bag suspension. The rubberized component deck and steel cattle pen enclosure with dual gates are all suspended at four points within a mobile base frame.

Cardinal’s Weight Wrangler is loaded with beneficial features for ranching weighing:

• Durable steel cattle pens with UV-protected, baked-on tan powder paint
• Enclosed scale includes two standard gates (your choice of gate opening hinge pin locations, specified at time of order)
• 12-volt battery pack included (recharged by towing vehicle)
• Weatherproof mobile weighing center (indicator and printer) is mounted to the exterior of the livestock pen
• Cattle blind so the operator doesn’t upset livestock while operating the scale during the weight transaction
• Extra storage shelf in the indicator/printer cabinet for spare ticket rolls or EDI reader wand
• Battery box and weight indicator cabinet feature toolbox latches to properly secure the lids and doors
• Predefined floor plank seams in the scale deck prohibit debris from compiling underneath
• High under-frame clearance (helpful in maneuvering through bumpy field terrain)
• U.S.-made stainless steel load cells easily accessible via side access panel

Cardinal Scale’s U.S.-made, legal-for-trade 225 digital weight indicator, USB drive port, and CTP-1 ticket printer combine in the weatherproof, outdoor enclosure of the Weight Wrangler’s mobile weighing center. Livestock weighing transaction results are all displayed on the easy-to-read, transflective LCD screen that remains highly visible, even in direct sunlight.

Cardinal Scale's U.S.-made 225 weight indicator features StableSense digital filtering that filters the weight signal to produce a stable weight display in spite of motion on the scale platform due to animal movement.

Cardinal Scale’s Mobile Weighing Center:

• Calculates shrink loss for livestock group
• Displays current head count, gross weight and average weight
• Also displays previous and total head count, gross weight and average weight
• Displays transaction number and transaction shrinkage
• Printable report summarizing above information per transaction
• Inclinometer detects scale angle to determine if angle is out of tolerance for making weight
• Weight indicator displays current tilt angle (blanks out if out of NTEP tolerance)
• Comes with USB port to store transactions on portable USB drive
• Transactions stored on USB drive may be summarized for printing  

—Compiled by Progressive Cattleman staff

PHOTOS: Photos courtesy of North Star Tuff, Arrowquip and Cardinal Scale.