Last updated on April 7th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
good doin' cattle for the northern rancher
how dean found himself on the right track with value for his dollars.
MEET DEAN WIEGAND
Westlock, Alberta
Dean Wiegand of Westlock, Alberta hasn't always been in the ranching business. He's also a heavy-duty mechanic, working for John Deere before striking out on his own. “My dream was always to farm,” he says. That dream became reality when his parents helped him buy a section of land near Westlock, Alberta. Like many who dream of working the land, he started out in the cattle business as a stocker operator, buying around 800 in the fall and backgrounding them over the winter.
That ended when bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) hit. “We ran into a big BSE problem in this part of the world,” he remembers. “Everybody did, but we ran into it hard.”
He got out of the cattle business and went to the oilfield. That went south as the business cycle twisted and turned, so he returned to his first love, the land.
He started focusing just on crops. His first year, he battled drought. The next four years, it was excess precipitation and flooding. “At that point, I decided grain farming on its own was not sustainable. I need to incorporate animals into my operation.”
His parents were about to retire, so he bought 26 first calf heifers they kept the year before. And he found himself back in the cattle business. These days, he runs about 130 cows.
“Between looking into how to produce a healthy cow and how to produce healthy crops, I’m trying to get into a more regenerative motion here, to work with nature instead of against it.”
To that end, Riomax® is a perfect fit. It’s a natural way to help his cattle be more efficient, which helps him be more efficient and have a much better shot at profitability.
Dean Wiegand’s journey to using Riomax® tubs, like many, was one of exploration and learning.
He started on Riomax® in the fall of 2020 after he saw a flyer for the product. That intrigued him, so he sat in on a series of Riomax® webinars. What he learned there sealed the deal.
“I had a really good vibe when I watched the webinars that Riomax® puts on, having producers who have been into it for five, seven, 10 years,” he says. “I’ll never forget one gentleman, someone asked him about the product. He said, '...all I know is now, my cows, you can see them smile.”
Those words stuck in Wiegand’s mind. “Now, over time, I’m starting to feel that’s where my animals are at. They’ve calmed down. We don’t have a lot of interaction with the animals. Yet, when I do get out of the tractor and walk through them, they don’t bolt to the other end like I’ve seen in the past.”
Shiny haircoats & smooth calving seasons
And that’s not the only changes he’s seen in his cattle. “When I first started feeding them Riomax®, their coat just absolutely changed. It went from something I’d call dull and now it shines.” He also noticed their winter hair was longer.
Wiegand mentioned the change to his Riomax® rep and was told to watch the manure. “I’ve definitely noticed it’s much less fibrous,” he says. “The gut is doing a better job of breaking down whatever they’re eating.”
He’s also raising much healthier calves. Traditionally, calving season in his country was February-March. He moved his calving season to start in April to take advantage of warmer weather and green-up. That alone is a big change in favor of the cattle.
But his first calf crop after his cows had been on Riomax® for a full season made even more difference. “At birth, the calves had even more vigor than previous years,” he says. “I would watch them calve and within 10 minutes, that calf was up and trying to suck. Nothing seemed to hold them down.”
Even more impressive was calf health. “I would say I’ve cut my health problems in half,” he says.
That carried through the summer grazing season and into weaning time.
He sorted the calves off when they gathered off grass and put the calves in a pen with ample access to the orange Riomax® tubs, another idea he gleaned from watching the webinars. “They said the calves are familiar with the orange tubs (having been on Riomax® during the summer) and that gives them some comfort.”
Turns out they were right. “My calves went to it right away. The calves were eating consistently. They lick the tubs and health-wise, they looked great.”
Winter grazing is not an option for the most part, so Wiegand drylots his cattle. Feeding good groceries has always been a priority. In 2021, he took that idea a step higher and planted cover crops, which he put up in small silage bales.
The multi-species cover crop gives him high-quality feed with different plants that fulfill different nutritional needs. He also has crop byproducts and because of the severe drought in 2021, was able to bale some low-quality lowland grass that usually grows on land too wet to work.
“So I’m able to mix and match and throw into my vertical mixer a bale of this and a bale of that. Because, with the Riomax®, I think good health also comes down to what you’re feeding the animal.”
Tracking hard numbers & data
Given his observations, he’s even more interested in tracking his calves’ performance. But prior to 2022, all Wiegand had to evaluate his cattle was the eye of the master. Going forward, he’ll have hard proof of the advantages Riomax® offers. So he bought a scale and plans to track changes in weaning weights.
That was driven home when he weaned his 2021 calf crop, his first calf crop after his cows and heifers had been on Riomax® for a full year. “I really felt that the calves coming off pasture looked better. I would say they looked healthier but I also guarantee they were bigger than what I had the prior year, before they had Riomax® from birth to weaning time.”
Wiegand hadn’t sold his calf crop as this was being written, so he didn’t have weight and price information to compare. But he’s convinced his calves will be ready to handle what comes next. “They should have a good start coming from my house. They should be able to deal with anything that’s thrown at them.”
In the meantime, all his neighbors have to do is peek over the fence to see the improvement in Wiegand’s cattle. And Wiegand isn’t shy about telling them why they should put their cattle on the orange tubs.
It’s all about people watching what other people are doing, he says. “If my story stays the same and I’m having good luck with my calves, with growth and health, I’m not treating, I think it’s only time where people will say, ‘Oh, let’s give it a try.’”
He’s got five neighbors who are now using Riomax®. “But I keep telling them it has to be a commitment of a longer term to really see the value.”
When Wiegand jumped on the Riomax® train, he did so with that commitment in mind. He had been feeding an inorganic loose mineral, but his research and the testimonials from the Riomax® webinars showed him why his cattle weren’t getting their vitamin and mineral needs fulfilled. “I knew in my mind that it had to be a longer-term try than just a few months. I’ve got to see it through and see it through to the point that I could see a full year of what it looks like.”
He likes what he sees. “A lot of what was spoken of in the webinars, what people have seen in their animals, I’m seeing it in my own.”
Overcoming hurdles.
Like many, however, who first look at adding Riomax® to their nutritional management plan, the upfront cost was a hurdle he had to get over. He’s glad he did.
“I really feel, because they’re getting better nutrition, combined with the Riomax®, there are so many principles now that I feel it’s even more affordable.”
That’s the story he shares with others. “I know Riomax® seems expensive upfront, but in the end, you get full value through your dollars, whether it’s increased health, better gain.” Or both. “If you have better health and better gain, it’s going to equate to more at the end.”
