Sharing information from Boehringer-Ingelheim, Audrey Schmitz’s article addresses some challenges at dry-off with high-producing cows. Teat sealants are frequently used to close teats in top milk producers as they are less likely to form a natural keratin plug. She shares the importance of keeping milking employees trained on identifying milk versus teat sealants, as well as … [Read more...]
Search Results for: VFD
Help for an anxious horse
A perpetually anxious horse can be helped with some simple management changes. The author offers tips for helping a horse relax including: More frequent exercise Examine the horse’s environment Provide more turnout Source: EQUUS, September 24, 2022. Link. … [Read more...]
Get ready! All livestock antibiotics will be prescription-only in 2023.
The clock is ticking. Start now to educate producers ahead of this important transition to livestock antibiotics being available by prescription-only status. The new rule covers injectable tylosin, injectable and intramammary penicillin, injectable and oral tetracycline, sulfadimethoxine and sulfamethazine, and cephapirin and cephapirin benzathine intramammary tubes. Also, … [Read more...]
New, on-farm pregnancy test kit from Idexx Laboratories
Complimentary Commercial Content With results available in 5 to 20 minutes, the Alertys OnFarm Pregnancy Test from Idexx Laboratories can be used cowside to determine pregnancy as early as 28 days post-breeding or 70 days post-calving. The new test gives producers time savings and convenience because they can preg test whenever they want." Source: Dairy Herd Management, … [Read more...]
Over-the-counter access to antibiotics is going away
Medically important antibiotics in feed and water were removed from OTC channels when the Veterinary Feed Directive was implemented in 2017. The first phase of the VFD regulations did not address OTC antibiotics delivered via other methods like injectables, boluses and intramammary mastitis tubes. . . . the FDA has issued a new directive to bring all OTC drugs under veterinary … [Read more...]
Benefits and challenges with multi-species grazing
Land use and stewardship are two of the hot topics producers and landowners face. Adaptive grazing with more than one species of livestock can multiply regenerative benefits, shape landscape, and add income to operations. Source: Noble Research Institute. Link. Adaptive grazing uses higher livestock densities for short durations between long periods of rest to allow complete … [Read more...]
3 Ways telemedicine improves veterinary care for livestock
Opinion It is no secret livestock owners, farmers and ranchers have challenges accessing qualified veterinary care. The Veterinary Feed Directive put added requirements on available food animal veterinarians. Many equine and livestock veterinarians have used the telephone effectively for years. Now, new digital tools offer potentially more efficiency and effectiveness for … [Read more...]
Straw diet can benefit horses
Researchers suggest straw is a good forage option for overweight horses and others who might benefit from reduced energy intake and the resultant lower blood insulin levels. Blood collected from the researchers’ horses revealed that in addition to satisfying hunger, the half-straw diets altered each horse’s metabolic profile in beneficial ways. Straw is a useful supplement to … [Read more...]
Honeybees on the move
The USDA report on bee movement adds an additional dimension to beekeeping and survival as more animal health pros are engaged in bee health initiatives. Similar to food animals, bees experiences stress during transportation and more risks as they are deployed in monocultures. Honeybees fall into veterinarians' purview because of the VFD rule and changes in FDA policy on … [Read more...]
Are farmers teaching cows bad habits?
It could be that slug feeding methods are forcing dairy cattle to eat too much too quickly causing a negative impact on the rumen environment. Management plays a role in feed bunk behavior, as farmers don’t have to just think about what feed animals consume, but also the manner in which they eat it. Source: Hoard’s Dairyman, February 25, 20212. Link. Factors to consider when … [Read more...]
University of Georgia program teaching vet students about bees
One of the more uncomfortable side challenges with VFD rules remains the required interaction of veterinarians with apiarists when prescription drugs are needed. Dr. Jörg Mayer at the University of Georgia is leading the implementation of a first-of-its-kind program on bee medicine. Mayer recognizes many veterinary students have no relevant experience with some animals and that … [Read more...]
Fast tracking psychological safety
“This is NOT a DRILL,” writes Natalie Richardson who says psychological safety has emerged as a golden child in the field of team development. She shares current challenges against a historical perspective along with five tested safety tools you can use to support teams and rapidly develop psychological safety. Psychological safety is defined as a shared belief among teams … [Read more...]
Where’s the beef? The pork? The chicken?
Our meat supply channels face some bottlenecks as packing plants close to protect workers, deeply disinfect and determine potential fomite risks in their throughput. Our meat industry is built to have inventories moving all the time. There are challenges facing producers who now have limited options for moving animals ready for slaughter on their terminal schedules. It is … [Read more...]
Veterinary Feed Directives improving use of medically important products
VFDs imposed by the Food and Drug Administration in January 2017 are required for livestock feed products that contain medically important ingredients, such as tetracyclines. David Williams, owner-operator of Burkmann Nutrition, explains how feed retailers can play a leading role helping livestock operators and their veterinarians operate well with VFDs. His and other … [Read more...]
COVID-19 could be lemons or lemonade. We can make the difference.
March 2020: Update on SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 it causes Hundreds of coronaviruses circulate among animals including cattle, camels, bats, pigs, cats and dogs. Sometimes these viruses jump to humans (a spillover event) and may cause disease. SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. All three have origins in bats. SARS-CoV-2 causes the disease … [Read more...]
BCS: low cost, big impact
VFD regulations are driving more productive interactions between livestock producers and their veterinarians. Routine site visits including face-to-face meetings are important to the success of this initiative and improve VCPR. <link> Matt Hersom is an advocate for body condition scoring (BCS). It has a low cost and high value that can help any cattle producer make good … [Read more...]
Castrating pigs, lambs, and goat kids
Janet Garman’s article on castration appeared a few weeks after we updated our readers on how dehorning and castration guidelines have been updated to include pain mitigation <link>. Garman’s review is a good reason to communicate about pain management to animal owners. Castrations are routinely done on the farm without veterinarian support, so determining how to … [Read more...]
Rethinking dairy footbath use
The dairy business is carried on cows' hooves. Digital dermatitis (DD, also known as hairy warts, strawberry warts) remains the number 1 cause of lameness in dairy herds with increasing concern among feedlot cattle. Hoof trimmer Jamie Sullivan suggests DD remains prevalent due to the way we have been trying to prevent or treat the lesions in the first place. He shares research … [Read more...]
Dehorning, castration guidelines updated to include pain mitigation
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners is the go-to organization for government and policymakers when it comes to cattle health, production and well-being issues. Its animal welfare committee has updated the sections in the guidelines on proper restraint, local anesthesia and systemic pain relief. Source: Bovine Veterinarian, December 30, 2019. Link. In 2019, the … [Read more...]
Reduce mud at hay feeding locations
Paralleling methods used to build roads through swamps, Mark Hilton, DVM, shares methods for using hay pads to keep cattle less muddy as winter hay feeding begins. He also shares the benefits of limiting 24/7 free access to hay and includes study results. Source: BEEF, November 2019. Link. When asked, 100 percent of beef producers who have built hay pads and now use time … [Read more...]
GlobalVetLink releases platform updates to all users
GlobalVetLink (GVL®) updated navigation and functionality in the GVL platform applications. The new workflows streamline the user experience and affects all products. Training videos and resources for the new platform are available to users at www.globalvetlink.com. GVL also provides customer support daily from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central time. Source: GlobalVetLink, … [Read more...]
24 years, 25 million cattle prove what affects prices
The biggest value-added protocol in calf health is weaning, not vaccination. This, according to 24 years of big data generated from 25,000 million cattle by Superior Livestock Auction. Ken Odde, Kansas State University animal science professor, revealed which calf health programs, premiums and genetic breeds have on prices during the recent National Red Angus Conference. . . . … [Read more...]
Long-term effects of postpartum clinical disease in dairy cows
Researchers continue to study various effects of postpartum clinical disease to dairy production. The transition period will make or break a lactation and quite possibly the entire productive life of a cow. Considering the performance of a dairy cow over several years and lactations makes disease incidents during her production lifetime important considerations. A recent … [Read more...]
Veterinary telemedicine is a sticky legal wicket
Christopher J. Allen, DVM, JD, discusses the challenges of using non-face-to-face interactions in veterinary medicine. He calls the various segments of teledoctors a confusing jungle of legal fact, opinion and outright speculation. For each segment, primary concerns fall into three general categories: 1) malpractice liability, 2) licensing and 3) criminal … [Read more...]
Strategic deworming important to cattle management
“Controlling parasites is a proven practice to improve performance in all stages of cattle production while also giving a significant return on investment,” says Boehringer Ingelheim’s Joe Gillespie, DVM. He reinforces the importance of understanding parasite life cycles and strategic treatment to improve cattle performance in all stages of production. Source: Feedstuffs, … [Read more...]
DVM shares farm safety tips
Dairy veterinarian Kelly Reed reminds us how easily people can get hurt during routine farming activities. She promotes protocols to cover aspects a farmer may not typically consider. This includes when to treat a worker on-farm instead of calling emergency services and which supervisor to contact in off hours based on who can respond quickest to a specific location. In … [Read more...]
Where’s the beef?
Greg Henderson shares shares the top 25 counties and some individual county metrics to help us understand the population dynamics in cow country. Source: Drovers, July 4, 2019. Link. Nebraska, with 1.9 million beef cows, the fourth-largest state by beef cow numbers, is home to the nation’s top four beef counties. Texas is America’s top beef cow state. Missouri is the … [Read more...]
AVMA offers bee information to DVMs
Beekeepers have faced many challenges with disease pressure, habitat loss, and colony collapse. Veterinarians are needed to assist beekeepers with hive management, as well as disease identification, prevention, and treatment. The AVMA has provided information about the specifics < link > in the VFD and how it applies to veterinarians. The AVMA was involved in providing … [Read more...]
Genetic audits help dairies keep pace
Genetic audits can show whether a dairy is keeping pace with national genetic trends and where production is missing its potential due to management bottlenecks. Jim Dickrell shares the experiences of several dairymen who use genetic audits as part of their management metrics. . . . cows may have the genetics to perform at a certain level but aren’t doing so. The problem … [Read more...]
McDonald’s announces new antibiotic policy for beef
McDonald’s announced a policy to reduce the overall use of antibiotics important to human health. This applies across 85 percent of its global beef supply chain. The company is going to monitor antibiotic use in its top 10 beef sourcing markets and set reduction targets for medically important antibiotic use by the end of 2020. It is the first burger chain to announce a … [Read more...]