**1. Introduction**

In animal agriculture, well managed businesses are structured around important intricacies that maintain and improve efficiencies, and managers of beef cattle enterprises continually strive to reduce production cost. The cow-calf business generates calves from which the entire remaining cattle industry relies upon and as

such initial management weighs heavily on how feeder cattle perform from weaning to final harvest. Sound management is key to animal wellbeing and the methods used to minimize stress. Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in North America is the most studied beef cattle illness costing the beef cattle industry in excess of three billion dollars annually due to reduced animal performance and depressed carcass quality, death loss, pharmaceuticals, and expenses related to treatment [1]. Due to stressors such as commingling, transportation and dehydration a number of calves will experience BRD after feedlot arrival. To reduce the risk of early onset BRD, feedlot operators will administer antimicrobials to animals during processing. This process known as metaphylaxis or prophylactic use is applied to all animals in the high-risk group [2]. Abrupt weaning is a stressful event, when coupled with commingling on the ranch of origin adds further stress that increases the risk of BRD. Therefore, stepwise preweaning management strategies to reduce stress prior to weaning that includes specific vaccination protocols, and commingling prior to weaning will reduce the impact of separating calves from their dams. In addition to calf hood vaccination protocols at one to two months of age, a 42-day pre-weaning vaccination preconditioning program beginning six and three (booster) weeks before weaning that includes introduction to dry feed (self-fed creep feed supplement) reduces stress and results in a greater number of animals developing a protective immune response before weaning. An extensive BRD metanalysis review conducted by Taylor et al. [3] revealed inconsistencies that made across study evaluations difficult when evaluating processing methods, vaccination, preconditioning, nutritional factors, and prophylactic methods that include administration of antimicrobial metaphylaxis. The authors concluded that BRD can be best managed using preconditioning techniques coupled with weaning before selling and that calf age is important. Calves that experience more viral and microbial challenges develop immune defenses with aging and are more resilient to viral and microbial insults after feedlot arrival.

The beef cattle industry is segmented into geographical regions based on available feed, water, labor supply, environment, and ease of ground transport. Confinement cattle feeding businesses cannot operate without a supply of feeder cattle from cowcalf producers. For the most part, cows that produce a supply of calves for the cattle feeding industry are managed in geographical regions unsuitable for crop production and from mixed crop and livestock farms. As such, cow-calf producers selling calves as the first point of sale is the time that new wealth is generated. All future purchases and sales are based on a buy/sell margin plus interest expense culminating in either profit or loss. Based on market conditions and the potential for future profit (loss), cow-calf producers can decide to sell 6–8-month-old calves after weaning and repeat the cycle annually, or retain ownership through a growing period (backgrounding) and sell their calves after approximately 100 days on feed. Thus, producers are subject to a series of keep/sell marketing management decisions occurring from weaning through finishing and final harvest. Keep/sell decisions parallel seasonal management and availability of sufficient winter feed supply, spring-summer-fall pasture, and market projections that either do, or do not, support retained ownership. With respect to BRD morbidity and mortality, weaning prior to sale is the largest contributor to the reduction in BRD morbidity. Therefore, when calves have been weaned, processed (viral and clostridial pathogen vaccinations, castration, and dehorned) and fed post-weaning diets for at least six weeks (preconditioned), the incidence of BRD morbidity and mortality is reduced 4.5 times, but not eliminated [4].

Retaining ownership in a vertically integrated business model from birth to final harvest has been shown to result in enhanced compensatory gain and efficiency,

*Perspective Chapter: Alternative Intensive Animal Farming Tactics That Minimize Negative… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108339*

reduced days on feed and breakeven expense, and profitability increase, when feedlot entry was delayed until after extended grazing of forages [5–7]. Research involving the integration of a diverse multi-crop farming system coupled with beef cattle grazing was designed to evaluate the impact of combining the two enterprises on extensive rearing and animal health, soil health, crop production, grazing animal performance and economics, and the effect of delayed feedlot entry on system profitability.
