Jentech Ultrasound

The next step

2011-10-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

This past week was Animal Health Week, many people wonder about my day job, currently I am employed by Coaldale Pet Clinic and Livestock Veterinary Services. My title...I'm an Animal Health Technologist.

Logo of the Alberta Association of Animal Health Technologists back when I graduated.

The easiest way to describe what I do is legally I can do everything a veterinarian can do except diagnose, prescribe and preform surgeries. I feel Michele Gerrard describes it perfectly " IN human health care we have nurses, medical radiation technologists, pharmacy technicians, anesthesiologists, laboratory technologists, microbiologists, respiratory therapists, dietitians, physiotherapists, managers, accountants, and teachers, just to name a few. In Animal Health we have the RVT." An RVT is a Registered Veterinary Technician, our American counterpart. Everyday I that I am not ultrasounding I have the privilege of helping in various clinic duties described above.

For the past nine years I've prepped animals for surgery,

Dog neuter

scrubbed in to help with surgeries, anaesthetised patients, placed IV catheters, taken countless x-rays,

Fractured Radius and Ulna

collected multiple blood tests, made diet recommendations, removed stitches, preformed pre-exams,exported thousands of feedlot cattle, analyzed hundreds of bull semen samples, just to name a few. The name of the game is keeping the clinic organized and functional and I've enjoyed a great deal of diversity over the years.

As I branch out into a new venture I like keeping my feet wet in the clinic situation. I've made many contacts throughout the feedlot industry within my role as an AHT. By exporting cattle I learned to watch fat cattle markets, optimal ship times, and gained a better understanding of feedlot operation as a whole.

With these insights as well as my farm background I feel that I can bring a new tool to feedlots to help improve margins. With modern technology we can better tell what is under the hide. Ultrasound gives us the cutting edge as we can see the amount of back and percent of intramuscular fat. With the data gained from these images we can better tell when the best time to ship cattle would be. We can also allow cattle to be shipped on a grid, allowing producers once again to increase margins. I look forward to moving forward within the feedlot industry.

I can't wait to see where the future takes me!

The Season is Upon Us

2011-10-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

The fall season is now here and I truly believe there isn't a better time to be an Alberta. Calf prices are proving higher than they have been in years, and the crops continue to be harvested across the province. This past 4 weeks have been busy on the farm, but as agricultural producers it's time we look forward to.

We started with combining wheat

swathing oats, harvesting fresh corn,

digging potatoes, weaning calves

and one of my personal favorites, the start of cattle shows and sales.

I was fortunate enough this past weekend to be a clerk for the Alberta Angus Show held in Olds.

I feel this was a rewarding experience as I saw the show from an angle I haven't seen before. During previous shows I've been the wash girl, feed girl, fitter, handler, but this was my first run at being on the organizational side. From this angle I better appreciate those who make the show run smoothly. I would like to give a shout out to those behind the scenes that we don't always remember when we're the ones with the cattle. This includes those who line the cattle up behind the ring prior to their entrance, and that 1 lucky person running thru the barn looking for the animal that hasn't made it to the line up. I better appreciated the ring men (women) that kept the cattle moving.

Now many of you may wonder what all this has to do with ultrasound...It all boils down the basic carcass again. Cattle that have been shown will scan differently than if they hadn't been shown. Stress affects marbling. The more stress an animal is put thru the less marbling it will have. Halter breaking, and long trailer rides take its toll and we will see it during carcass evaluation. Show cattle are managed differently than cattle that are turned out to feed. Show cattle are given extra feed to make them look the part. This is not a negative attribute but it will increase the amount of fat coverage the animal is carrying, thus increasing the back fat measurements of the cattle. All in all the same components apply to all cattle, to reach the carcass potential the genetics have to be present, feed, handling, and environment all play a part.

The best part of the weekend is coming home to fresh steak and mom's potato salad!

What it takes

2011-09-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Many people ask me..."how did you become and ultrasound technician"

Here's my story...

Five and half years ago I was looking to change my career path, a successful AHT, I was looking for something more. A purebred breeder told me to look into carcass data ultrasound as they felt it was an important tool for evaluating cattle.

I started looking into ultrasound, and low and behold training started in 3 weeks. Having the support of breeders I took the plunge (and I haven't looked back). I spent 1 week at Lakeland College in Vermillion learning to read ultrasound scans and after 3 days they turned us loose with an ultrasound. This beginner training week was a blast! I met so many talented & diversified people, many of whom I still keep in contact with. From the beginner training 3 of us made the trek to the Iowa State University campus where advanced training took place for another week, put on by Walter & Associates LLC.

Everyday we would scan cattle for 6 hours and then back to the hotel conference room where we looked at multiple images. When I say multiple I'm talking 20+ training technicians and reviewing all our scans for the day. This lessons these training sessions taught is amazing as we looked at thousands of images differentiating between acceptable, marginal and rejected images. I successfully passed my testing in 2006! But the training doesn't stop there.

To maintain my license I have to re-certify every 2 years. Re-certification includes the written test, the practical test & and continuing education. The written test is exactly what it sounds like, the practical test is a bit more involved. Prior to technicians scanning 3 of the top scanners are brought in and they scan the cattle, then we scan the same 20 head, twice. We are then graded against the original scans and repeatability. Half of the cattle are sent to slaughter and we judged against the actual carcass data.

I love my trips south every other year. I've seen some amazing places, drove some big roads (16 lane freeway in Atlanta during rush hour!) passed some interesting road kill (armadillos in Arkansas)and met some amazing people (to many to list). I'm grateful everyday for the opportunities owning my own business gives me and I'm looking forward to the future!

What Do I See?

2011-09-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Many people wonder when they look at my ultrasound screen when scanning...What do I see? I see exactly what is under the hide. Carcass Ultrasound gives us valuable information that could otherwise not be obtained on live animals.

Cattle are clipped prior to scanning to give us the best contact with the hide. Vegetable oil is then poured over the clipped area. The oil acts as a couplant, giving us direct contact without air.

We measure the ribeye, this is the largest muscle in the bovine body, the measurement from this muscle gives us the lean meat yield of the animal. In other words how much meat we would obtain if we send the animal to slaughter. The image we see on the ultrasound screen is exactly what you would see if we looked at a ribeye steak in the grocery store.

We also scan across the ribs, the muscling in the image gives us the amount of intramuscular fat (% IMF). The amount of IMF tells us the eating experience we have. The higher the %IMF the better the eating experience. Intramuscular fat is what makes meat tender and adds flavor!

back fat.

The last measurement is the amount of fat coverage an animal has (back fat). When selecting for back fat you want a happy medium. Too little back fat and the carcass will dry while hanging, whereas too much back fat will decrease the lean meat yield. Back fat will decrease lean meat yield faster than the ribeye can increase yield.

Ultrasound is the most cost effective resource to gain carcass data without having to send thousands of progeny to slaughter. The time, money, and traceability of trying to gain carcass data without ultrasound is prohibitive. With carcass traits being highly heritable we are able to get accurate data for the future.

So the next time you look at an carcass ultrasound image you really are seeing whats "under the hide"!

National Western

2011-08-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

With the fall show season fast approaching questions are starting to build. Many Canadian seed stock breeders understand the importance of ultrasounding, any even more know that American clients want ultrasound data. For those of you traveling with cattle to the National Western Stock Show in January, now is the time to start thinking about having your cattle scanned before you go. With the show being early - mid January we have a bit of a time crunch to get data back between Christmas and New Years and travelling across the border with cattle. Call us now to determine the best time to scan prior to your departure. We can easily calculate for you the age window and when to scan. The best option is to have 3 animals from the same contemporary group scanned at the same time so you can obtain both the actual data and EPD version. The best option is to start scanning both bulls and heifers in the spring, you will have EPD data on calves faster and can avoid the time crunch in the new year. This option will also give you EPD data for other American shows when cattle are too young to be scanned. Good luck to everyone this fall & we'll see you at the shows!

A Whole New World.

2011-08-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

I've always been intrigued by blogs. I follow a few quite religiously and I guess I now have the chance to return the favor! I'm grateful for the opportunity to give a "new to me" type of social networking a try. On August 10th I was fortunate enough to advance to the "Top 5" from The Perfect Pitch. With looking to expand Jentech Ultrasound you have the opportunity to follow our business plan for the next 3 months, until the finals November 9th to be held during Farmfair. I would like to say a HUGE Thank-you to the sponsors and organizers of this amazing competition and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Happy blogging!