Cattle producers are continually looking for ways to add premiums to their calf crop and put some extra dollars of profit in the bank. A simple partnership created earlier this year between Superior Livestock Auction and BioZyme® Inc., creates added value for the producer when it’s time to market calves.
The VitaFerm® Raised and Gain Smart® programs are the 2017 exclusive nutrition value-added partnerships with Superior Livestock and promote recognizable nutrition programs to Superior customers.
Keith Rand, the owner of Gro-Tex Supply at Groesbeck, Texas, said the exclusive partnership goes a long way to add value to the cattle on sale day, and that value can be seen by both the seller and the buyer.
“This partnership gives the producer that is selling the cattle the upper hand, not only on sale day but all along, because by feeding a quality mineral program, the producer has been saving money on sick calves,” Rand said. “The buyer should also see the value in the VitaFerm-verified or Gain Smart-verified program because he knows there is value added to the calves he’s buying that come backed by a reputable mineral program that includes Amaferm®.”
Rand, has used the BioZyme products for years and decided this spring to become a dealer so they would be more readily available to him and other neighboring producers. He started using Sure Champ on show cattle that his kids exhibited, then eventually started using VitaFerm Concept•Aid® on his cow herd and now uses VitaFerm on all his calves.
“We saw an opportunity to provide for our own needs and to other producers, so became a dealer,” Rand said. And that dealership has also experienced growth due to the Superior and VitaFerm partnership.
Rand gives a lot of credit to his Superior Livestock Rep, Ty de Cordova, who has helped promote the products to his Superior customers, which in turn has increased sales for Gro-Tex.
“Ty got some of his customers on the VitaFerm and Gain Smart program,” Rand said. “This program adds value all the way around. It adds value to the producers, and it adds value to the dealers because we can market more of this product to help make them money in the end.”
“If an animal is already healthy, that just helps the medicine protocols we go through be twice as good,” de Cordova said on a recent episode of The American Rancher. He adds that the a premium nutrition program like the VitaFerm raised or Gain Smart Raised programs will help keep calves healthy and help feeders reach other goals like raising all-natural calves or NHTC-animals.
In addition to assisting his Superior customers sell calves through these value-added programs, he has also fed the supplements to his own animals.
“If it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for you,” de Cordova said.
For more information about VitaFerm Raised or Gain Smart Raised calves, visit www.vitaferm.com/superior or contact a Superior Rep near you.
