SweetPro Cattle Video Testimonies

"Stress and weaning weight loss were nearly zero because of the tubs."
John Hammons

New "Tool" Nets $110 More Per Calf

January 1996 • John Hammons has been in the cattle business for a long time. He knows how to adjust to changing conditions. Forks around his Sedalia, Missouri, farm are noticing the new tools John is using to cope with low calf prices, poor hay, and high grain prices. Those new tools are SweetPro lick blocks.

John started calves on SweetPro tubs before weaning and pushed them up to 700 pounds for a cost of only 26-cents per pound of gain. He netted an extra $80 per head selling "five-weight" calves. Plus, he picked up an additional six cents per pound on the first 500 pounds --or $30 per calf.

Instead of selling 500 pound calves at 60 cents per pound, Hammons sold 700 pound calves at 66 cents per pound. He netted $110 more per calf.

John had decided to use SweetPro tubs for his calves after seeing good results with his cows. "We had some pretty poor pasture this August," Hammons acknowledged. "The cows were walking the fence looking for anything they could find to eat. After I put out the tubs, they were quiet and content three days later."

Hammons used SweetPro on two different groups of calves. Both groups were out of Simbrah (Simmental/ Brahama) cows sired by Gelbvieh or Red Angus bulls. One group had fescue and mixed grass hay with the tub. Consumption on the tub was 3/4 a pound per day.

These calves gained over two pounds a day. The second group of calves were fed the same hay and also received three pounds of supplemental grain -- a mix corn, wheat and oat with a small amount of soybean meal. Consumption of SweetPro was lower, a 1/2 pound per day. These calves 3.5 pounds per day.

Even though the calves gained over three pounds a day, they were still "framey"- an attractive quality to feedlot buyers.

Hammons was also pleased with the way these calves weaned. "Stress and weaning weight loss were nearly zero because of the tubs," reported Hammons. "I used to creep-feed before weaning but this did the same job."

"My neighbor knows the cattle pretty well," John continued, "he knew when we weaned them, he knew when we sold them and he knew how well we did. He just kept asking what we did."

The economic benefits were important to Hammons, as was the convenience of using the product. Hammons needed an easy-to-use product to fit into his busy schedule. In addition to raising cattle, Hammons runs Show-Me Manufacturing which produces unique concession trailors sold nationwide.

"You have a good thing going on," Hammons told a SweetPro representative, "It is a good program."

• New "Tool" nets $110 more per calf - Jan.1996
• Faster Pasture Gains with Tubs - Mar.1997
• Golden Glover - Not Your average Cow Puncher - Dec.1997
• Fresh Start for Stress Calves, with Sweet Pro Kaf Starter - June1999
• Straight From The Horse's Mouth! - Jan. 2000
• Heifer Breed-back Improves Sharply With SweetPro Tub - June 2000
• Stressed Calves Never Look Back, with SweetPro¨ Kaf Starter. - Jan./Feb.2001
• Weaning Bigger, Healthier Calves After Year 'round Supplementing with SweetPro¨ Lick Blocks - Sept./Oct.2001
• Breedback and weaning at the 7P - March 2004
• Stalwart Ranch - September 2004
• Dairy Cows recover from DA - March 2005
• A.J. Starr's Story - July 2005
• Milk Production came up and stayed up - August 2005
• Dairy Calves recover and mature faster on Fresh Start - May 2006
• Double O Charolais - June 2006