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Low-stress Stockmanship

Cattlemen's College^® starts with demonstration of low-stress animal handling.

by Kasey Miller, associate editor

 

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2013) — The beef industry may change often, but the one thing that never changes is the need for stockmanship, Curt Pate told Cattlemen’s College participants at the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention in Tampa, Fla. Good stockmanship increases profit for the rancher and quality of life for the animal, and satisfies consumers’ desire for accountability.

 

Pate’s daughter Mesa is in the bucking bull business. While many consider bucking bulls to be mean, good stockmanship keeps the bulls and Mesa safe, stress-free and healthy, he said.

 

Pressure is the key in low-stress handling, and knowing when to apply it and when to release it is the secret. Pate said to test the animals’ pressure points, or flight zones, to get the animals moving. Don’t stay behind the animal for too long, he added, and stay where they can see you.

 

To stop cattle, he said, back off the pressure. To “hook him up,” get eye contact and then back off the pressure. This gets the calf’s attention, and once you can get him to stop, you have more control over which way to direct him.

 

Pate cautioned not to get too far forward when pushing cattle, because that puts the pressure point too far up the body, and the calf will turn around.

 

“The right amount of pressure at the right time can get them to do the right things,” he explained.

 

It is your job to make the animal think the destination is their idea, so patience is required. In a way, faster is slower, and slower is faster, Pate said.

 

“Think, reflect, then act,” he advised.

 

Think about where the cattle will be going, because if you go to where they are, you’re too late, he said. Don’t work the whole animal; work the nose, because that is where the animal will go.

 

Pate said he sees many ranchers get so concerned about being behind the animals that they lose track of where the animal is actually going.

 

If a calf gets separated from his buddies, Pate advised increasing pressure, because if the calf is thinking about you, he’s not thinking about his buddies. He will be easier to get out the gate.

 

Working cattle can be done on horseback, on foot or even on 4-wheelers, Pate said, but he cautioned that it’s a lot harder to turn a 4-wheeler or to back off pressure. Stockmen should always be safe in whichever method they choose. On horseback, he said, good stockmanship should never have to get out of a trot.

 

Pate said he always makes this promise to the stock with which he is working: “If I put pressure on you — through noise, touch or sight — you can take the pressure off yourself. If you can’t, it’s my job as a stockman to take the pressure off.”

 

Now in its 20th year, Cattlemen’s College has established a reputation as one of the most thorough cattle producer education programs in the nation. Coordinated by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the program is sponsored by Zoetis Animal Health (formerly Pfizer Animal Health).