380 - 2016-2020 Alabama Pasture to Rail Program and Data: An Educational Retained Ownership Program for Alabama Cattle Producers

The Alabama Pasture to Rail Program gives cattle producers across the state an opportunity to retain ownership of a portion of their calf crop and received feedlot performance, health and carcass data. From October 2016 through December 2020, 3,200 calves from 98 Alabama farms and 1 farm in southern Tennessee were commingled at central shipping locations and transported to Hy-Plains Feedyard in Montezuma, KS to be fed until harvest. Of these, 2,188 were harvested and data collected at the time this abstract was written. Overall, these calves averaged 1.55 ± 0.38 kg/d ADG, 94.45 ± 11.70 cm² Ribeye Area (REA), 1.51 ± 0.51 cm Backfat Thickness (BF), 385.32 ± 45.21 kg Hot Carcass Weight (HCW), and a 473.84 ± 98.17 Marbling Score (MS), with 76.10% grading Choice or Higher and 90.07% Yield Grade 3 or Lower. From a cattle heath perspective, 11.88% of the cattle were treated at some point during the feeding period, with 2.65% of calves dying or being sold as chronically sick calves prior to harvest of their respective groups. Compared to the estimated value of the calves prior to shipping to the feedyard, calves generated an average of $77.17/hd additional profit for consignors for a total of $168,855.69 profit. At the conclusion of the program, each producer received a summary of the performance of the calves on the truckload which their calves shipped, the individual data for all of their calves, payment for the calves based on a grid pricing system, and an individual analysis of the performance of their calves and how they might improve them in the future. Additionally, producers were asked to complete a survey on their satisfaction with the program and how they intend to use the data in the future. On a scale from 1 to 6 (6 being extremely satisfied), producers were asked to rank their satisfaction with the overall program (5.56), shipping protocols (5.67), data and summaries (5.78), and performance of their cattle (4.89).