This September, Bovine Veterinarian magazine will celebrate 20 years of serving the veterinary community. In recognition, we plan to compile and publish a list of the 20 most influential beef and dairy veterinarians, nominated by their peers and clients, over that time period. Nominees must be involved in beef or dairy veterinary medicine, and can be private practitioners, university faculty, consultants, government employees, industry researchers or technical-services specialists. We intend for this list to include veterinarians whose work over the past 20 years has had significant impact on veterinary science, beef and dairy health, industry issues or producer profitability. Feel free... View Blog Post »

The folks at the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), a division of APHIS Veterinary Services, have released two reports on feedlot management practices from their 2011 surveys. Part I focuses on feedlots with greater than 1,000 head capacity and Part II on those with fewer than 1,000 head. NAHMS also released several info sheets on specific topics drawn from the full reports. - Awareness of the Beef Quality Assurance Program Among Operators of Small Feedlots - Injection practices in U.S. feedlots - Types and costs of respiratory disease... View Blog Post »

The FDA and USDA have been conducting a series of half-day meetings around the country to allow public feedback on the challenges veterinarians and producers will face under proposed rules for veterinary oversight of antimicrobial use. This Wednesday, the road show visits Fort Collins, Colorado, a location central to significant beef and dairy production. The Fort Collins meeting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Natural Resource Research Center, USDA Animal and Plant Health & Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Centers for Epidemiology & Animal Health, 2150 Centre Ave., Building B, Gray’s Peak Conference Rooms A & B. The... View Blog Post »

At this week’s Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit, Washington DC attorney Elliot Belilos offered advice to avoid hiring individuals who apply under false pretenses, and on how to position yourself for recourse in case such an applicant is hired. He outlined several due-diligence steps employers can take during the application and review process. The concern over activists infiltrating businesses with intent to cause economic harm or damage their reputation applies mostly to livestock operations, but I can imagine there is some risk to food-animal veterinary practices as well. We posted a summary of the presentation to Drovers/CattleNetwork.com, titled “Spies, saboteurs... View Blog Post »

In early April, we ran an article titled “Detecting and preventing drug-resistant parasites,” based on an FDA publication outlining possible causes for the development of resistant parasites and potential management solutions. The paper focused, in part, on the concept of “refugia,” which is a portion of the parasite population not targeted for treatment. The strategy involves creating a “refuge” for some parasites by leaving them untreated. The idea is to maintain a population of drug-susceptible parasites to dilute the population of resistant ones. The authors suggest, for example, that treating just half the herd at one time could reduce parasite loads... View Blog Post »

A great steak doesn’t just happen. A long list of factors ranging from genetics to aging and cooking techniques influence the beef-eating experience, and as a meat scientist at Colorado State University, Dale Woerner, PhD, devotes considerable study to those factors. Woerner updated an international group of beef producers and processors on beef-quality research last week during Novus International’s Global Beef Roundtable in Colorado. Steady growth in carcass weights of U.S. beef cattle plays a role in efforts to maximize beef quality, Woerner explains. Economic signals generally provide incentives for feeders to finish cattle at... View Blog Post »

• Drug-resistant parasites: Share your thoughts
• Avoid hiring undercover activists
• Antimicrobial meeting in Fort Collins this week
• Nominate influential veterinarians
• NAHMS releases new feedlot reports
• Getting to know our true stakeholders
• Will we go over the dairy cliff?
• The science of beef quality
• U.S. oil glut makes $50 oil a possibility
• Questions continue on EHD