The Anderson Experiment: 12 Months of Zoetis on a Cattle Ranch
While animal health companies are riddled with hundreds of stats about how much healthier, heavier, and better your cattle herds will be using their product... so we asked Zoetis to prove it, and to our surprise they took us up on it.
Next step was to bring on Vic Anderson and get him to go all Zoetis in 2016 on his cattle ranch on the Smith River in Montana. No real science here... this is just a real life, cattle rancher's experiment doing what Zoetis recommends for cattle health and productivity.
And so begins North 40 Outfitter's Anderson Experiment...
Money Talks
Trying to get a rancher to spend more money can be, well, difficult at times. You combine that with the fact that if a rancher has had success in the past using his current methods and you are in for an uphill battle come time to try and get him to try something new. "We've done it this way, and it has worked before."
Sound familiar?
It did to us. And it did to Vic Anderson as well. Vic is a long time Montana rancher and friend of North 40 Outfitters. Vic and his family have managed their ranch successfully for many years so when the idea of changing his methods came up he was a little hesitant.
In the past for Vic, his choice NOT to use some of the Zoetis products came down to price. "We've always just run the generic stuff because it's cheaper, and it's worked for us. Why try and fix something that isn't broken?"
Combine that ^ with the fact that the products he would be changing to were more expensive initially than those generics... and we once again found ourselves in a familiar conversation.
But after some finagling and the promise of North 40 blog fame, we finally got Vic on board with our Anderson Experiment. Here's what's new and what we will be investigating over the next year.
Changes in the Line-up: Zoetis & Dectomax Gamble
As a company, we're hoping to prove to Vic, and by extension to our readership, that by using the products that Zoetis recommends, he will see an improvement in his herd's health... and an increase in his bottom line.
What claims are we looking at specifically? Well one that comes to mind is the Dectomax claim, "With one more pound on the hoof, you make up the initial cost of going with Dectomax... plus, we think twenty pounds is a more reasonable number." And while we already have anecdotal evidence that this claim is true, we want to be there in person to put Zoetis through the paces on Vic's ranch and bring you hard evidence.
Another addition to the pre-season lineup is Zoetis INFORCE3 which claims to be the first and only respiratory vaccine that prevents respiratory disease cause by BRSV, while also aiding in the prevention of IBR and PI3, to help get cattle off to a healthier, more productive start.
With both of those products as new additions to Vic's lineup, we hope to see a noticeable difference in how his cattle progress this year, and we will be following the herd (literally) to make sure we bring you everything we learn.
Here's the products that are new to Vic's regime: Dectomax & INFORCE 3.
If you're a rancher and want to see what's new with INFORCE3 and Dectomax--read the second installment of this blog and find out what's new during branding, and how this experiment in progressing.