The Benefits of Growth-Promoting Implants for Beef Cattle Caleb Reichhardt, Reganne Briggs, Laura Motsinger, Kara Thornton, Matthew Garcia
A valuable tool for beef producers, growthpromoting implants are regularly used to improve the beef industry’s environmental and economic sustainability by increasing the efficiency and growth rate of beef cattle (Duckett et al., 1997; Duckett & Andrae, 2001; Duckett & Pratt, 2014). Implants increase economically viable traits such as average daily gain (ADG) by 18%, feed intake and efficiency by 6%, and carcass weight and ribeye area (Duckett & Pratt, 2014), ultimately increasing economic return to producers. Depending on cattle prices and anabolic implant protocol used, economic returns for producers can be anywhere from $15 to $163 per head, depending on production practices and the type of implant used (Donovan et al., 1983; Duckett & Pratt, 2014). Environmental sustainability also improves with use of growth-promoting implants because there is a positive correlation between improved production and environmental sustainability (Capper & Hayes, 2012). Current research shows that implanted cattle decrease: • Land usage by 7.8% to 9.1% (Basarab et al., 2012; Capper & Hayes, 2012). • Water usage by 5.5% (Webb et al., 2020). • Greenhouse gas emissions by 5.1% to 8.9% within the beef industry (Basarab et al., 2012; Capper & Hayes, 2012).
Overall, growth-promoting implants help producers by increasing production and environmental sustainability.
History of Implants In the U.S., over 40 commercially available growthpromoting implants are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These implants are approved for all stages of cattle production, from suckling calves to finishing beef cattle, with different implants having different hormonal payout periods (Duckett & Andrae, 2001). As such, over 90% of cattle on feed receive implants during production, with 80% receiving two or more (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [APHIS, 2013]). These implants are administered as pellets in the middle-third section of the ear under the skin as a fail-safe, as the ear is rarely consumed. Growth-promoting implants have routinely been used in the U.S. since the late 1950s (Smith & Johnson, 2020). The hormones currently used in beef cattle production have routinely been proven safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (Smith & Johnson, 2020); however, the FDA is currently reviewing re-implanting protocols (FDA, 2021).