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Implants at Glance

Implants of Choice for Performance, Yield and Premiums

Study Design

Conducted in a Texas Research Center.
350 steers of moderate frame size and weighing 556 pounds.
Divided calves into seven treatment strategy groups of 50 calves each.
Evaluated Ralgro^® implants, Ralgro^® Magnum™ implants , Revalor^®-S, and Synovex^® Plus.
Products administered on feeding day 1 and after 70 or 100 days on feed.

Treatment Groups and Strategies

Implant and Day
Group	Day 1	Day 70	Day 100
1	-	-	-
2	Ralgro	Ralgro Magnum	-
3	Ralgro	Revalor-S	-
4	Ralgro	Synovex Plus
5	Ralgro Magnum	-	Ralgro Magnum
6	Ralgro Magnum	-	Revalor-S
7	Ralgro Magnum	-	Synovex Plus

Cattler were processed at a major commercial packer.
Carcass data collected by cattleman's carcass service.

Results

Performance Summary
	Treatment and Day
	Control (no implant)	Ral 1 Mag 70	Ral 1 Rev 70	Ral 1 Plus 70	Mag 1 Mag 100	Mag 1 Rev 100	Mag 1 Plus 100
Final Weight, lbs	1186	1244	1314	1287	1278	1311	1310
Average Daily Gain	2.99	3.28	3.60	3.48	3.44	3.59	3.58
Dry Matter Intake	16.78	18.57	18.52	18.53	19.02	19.56	19.03
Feed-to-Gain Ratio	5.62	5.66	5.15	5.33	5.53	5.45	5.31

Carcass Data Summary
	Treatment and Day
	Control (no implant)	Ral 1 Mag 70	Ral 1 Rev 70	Ral 1 Plus 70	Mag 1 Mag 100	Mag 1 Rev 100	Mag 1 Plus 100
Dressing Percent	61.0	60.8	61.4	61.0	61.4	61.2	61.5
Hot Carcass Wt, lbs	728	764	798	790	784	804	811
Ribeye Area, sq in	12.8	12.8	13.4	13.5	13.1	13.8	13.8
Ribfat, in	.63	.69	.67	.73	.66	.68	.59
Marbling*	4.82	4.85	4.69	4.42	4.59	4.57	4.26
Yield Grade	3.17	3.43	3.36	3.41	3.35	3.26	3.05
% Choice & Better	77	76	81	57	73	78	59
% Select	23	24	19	43	28	23	41

*4.0 = small

RALGRO ON DAY 1 FOLLOWED BY REVALOR-S ON DAY 70

Highest final weight among all groups.
Highest average daily gain among all groups.
Lowest dry matter intake among implanted groups.
Best feed-to-gain ratio among all groups.

When you feed for Performance, start with Ralgro implants.

RALGRO MAGNUM ON DAY 1 FOLLOWED BY SYNOVEX PLUS ON DAY 100

Highest dressing percentage.
Highest hot carcass weight
Largest ribeye area.
Smallest ribfat depth.
Best Yield Grade

When you feed for Yield, start with Ralgro Magnum implants.

RALGRO ON DAY 1 FOLLOWED BY RALGRO MAGNUM ON DAY 70

Highest marbling score.

RALGRO ON DAY 1 FOLLOWED BY REVALOR-S ON DAY 70

Highest percent Choice.
Lowest percent Select.

When you feed for Quality, start with Ralgro implants.

Total Premiums* for Choice and C.A.B.**
Premium	Treatment Group
$4,572.54	Ralgro/Revalor-S
$4,510.44	Magnum/Revalor-S
$4,254.80	Ralgro/Magnum
$4,045.44	Magnum/Magnum
$3,983.08	Control (no implant)
$3,357.54	Magnum/Synovex Plus
$3,128.40	Ralgro/Synovex Plus

*Per 100 head. Includes $6/cwt HCW as average Choice–Select spread and $3/cwt HCW for C.A.B.

**C.A.B. - Certified Angus Beef

When you feed for Premiums, Start with Ralgro implants or Ralgro Magnum implants.

Conclusions

Ralgro implants on Day 1 followed by Revalor-S on Day 70 was the most appropriate implant strategy for improving performance and carcass variables.
Ralgro Magnum implants were effective both as an initial implant and as a terminal implant.
Ralgro Magnum implants, as a terminal implant following Ralgro implants, yielded 21% more Choice and better carcasses than Synovex Plus as the terminal implant.
Ralgro implant products, together or in combination with Revalor-S, were the most profitable implant strategies.
The Ralgro implant brand remains the implant of Choice.

Ralgro is a registered trademark, and Magnum is a trademark of Intervet Inc.
Revalor is a registered trademark of Hoechst Roussel Vet.
Synovex is a registered trademark of Fort Dodge Animal Health.