Leading animal health company, Elanco, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its market-leading hormonal growth promotant (HGP), Compudose 400.
Elanco brand manager – cattle Kim Krilich said Compudose has played a major role in increasing productivity and profitability in the northern beef industry.
“Compudose has helped to shape today’s northern beef industry by allowing producers to turn off quality animals at a much younger age than previously possible,” she said.
Forty years ago northern producers were turning off bullocks for the processing sector that were over five years old.
“Together with improved nutrition, genetics and animal health products, the use of implants means producers are now achieving market specifications for a range of high-quality export and domestic markets with cattle that are only two or three years of age.
“Being able to turn cattle off sooner delivers other important benefits, such as managing pastures, increasing stocking rates and minimising supplementary feeding requirements.”
The use of growth-enhancing technologies, such as implants and rumen modifiers, also have an important role to play in maximising productivity from available resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of beef produced.
“Sustainability is rapidly becoming one of the key pillars of the beef industry,” she said.
Compudose 400 was released in 1984 and quickly became the highest-selling implant used in grassfed cattle.
Scientifically proven to maximise growth rates in grassfed cattle, Compudose 400 allows beef producers to meet market specifications quicker or increases total production.
“Compudose has stood the test of time.
“It remains the highest-selling implant used in grassfed cattle.
“Being the only implant with a specified pay-out period of 400 days, it’s ideal for northern conditions.
“Producers can implant their cattle at any time of the year and be confident that a functional implant will be in place throughout the entire year, regardless of seasonal conditions.
“Put simply, cattle implanted with Compudose 400 will gain more weight in the wet season and lose less weight in the dry.”
Cattle implanted with Compudose have a 15.8 per cent average liveweight gain advantage compared to non-implanted cattle based on an average from 134 trials conducted in Australia.
In typical conditions, Compudose 400 can reduce the time to gain 200kg by 55 days or increase liveweight gain by 32 kg over 400 days.
Implants have been widely used to improve growth rates and feed conversion for more than 40 years and it is estimated the vast majority of grainfed cattle in Australia and at least 20 per cent of grassfed cattle in northern Australia destined for turn-off, are treated with implants at some stage of their lives.
Independent research has shown the use of implants delivers an estimated $236.3 million in extra profit to Australian beef producers and feedlots each year.
“Compudose 400 is one of the most cost-effective inputs available for use in the beef production industry and at today’s beef prices, a single dose can easily increase your profit by more than $100/head – or even more if used as part of a whole-of-life implant strategy.
“The liveweight gain advantages provided by Compudose consistently deliver higher returns than implant-free cattle, even when market premiums or discounts are considered.
