Latest News From Feedlot

AI-Powered Feed Bunk Reader Launched by PLT
AI-Powered Feed Bunk Reader Launched by PLT

The first system to make feeding recommendations via artificial intelligence (AI) and machine vision has been announced by Precision Livestock Technologies.

Winter Cattle Yard Preparation Checklist
Winter Cattle Yard Preparation Checklist

University of Nebraska extension provides a checklist to prepare your feedyard for winter weather.

Post-Mortem of a Steer: What's Your Diagnosis?
Post-Mortem of a Steer: What's Your Diagnosis?

Animals that die as a result of this issue are often found dead in sternal recumbency with their legs tucked underneath them. Another hint: The disease most commonly occurs in newly arrived animals.

Calf Run: Best Feedlot Practices For New Arrivals
Calf Run: Best Feedlot Practices For New Arrivals

The goal of any feedlot receiving strategy is to make the transition from calf origin into the feedlot or backgrounding yard as seamless as possible in order to achieve best cattle performance.

Could BRD Cases Decline In High-Risk Cattle With Delayed Vaccination?
Could BRD Cases Decline In High-Risk Cattle With Delayed Vaccination?

While vaccination is widely considered a critical component of cattle health management, could the timing of vaccination impact the efficiency of the product?

How to Increase Water Access for Feedlot Cattle in Hot Weather
How to Increase Water Access for Feedlot Cattle in Hot Weather

The use of shades in feedlots has made a big difference in the effects of heat on fat cattle, but a few other strategies can help keep cattle cool, enabling cattle to keep gaining, even in the dog days of summer.

Proposed Bill Would Allow FDA to Probe Feedlots
Proposed Bill Would Allow FDA to Probe Feedlots

The Food and Drug Administration would have authority to inspect large feedlots linked to salmonella outbreaks and other foodborne illnesses under the Expanded Food Safety Investigation Act.

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Fatigued Cattle Syndrome: What It Is and What to Do About It

As temperatures ratchet up, the disorder is more frequently seen in fed cattle ready for slaughter. Veterinarians offer their take on what contributes to the problem and seven recommendations to help prevent it.

Feedlot Cattle Health Summit in Kearney Neb., July 12
Feedlot Cattle Health Summit in Kearney Neb., July 12

The PAC Summit for Industry Leaders will be held July 12, 2023, at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska. The event features an exciting line-up of speakers and topics.

Label Changes for Implant Use are Coming in June
Label Changes for Implant Use are Coming in June

The new guidance from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine redefines beef cattle's production phases, which will affect the label claims of existing and new drugs, including implants.

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Beef Cattle Implant Changes: What You Need to Know

While over-the-counter livestock antibiotics are set to require a prescription as of June 11, there will also be updates to FDA guidelines and product labels regarding reimplantation of growth-promoting implants.

12 Ways to Prevent the Spread of Disease in Feedlots
12 Ways to Prevent the Spread of Disease in Feedlots

Sound management, health protocols and facilities maintenance can help achieve the ultimate goal of keeping cattle healthy and productive.

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New Science-Based Probiotic Introduced for Feedlot Cattle

Chr. Hansen introduces Bovamine Defend Plus for U.S. feedlot cattle. The product helps improve average daily gains and feed conversation and establish normal gastrointestinal functions, even under stressful conditions.

 Elanco Enhances PenPoint Offering for Feedyards
Elanco Enhances PenPoint Offering for Feedyards

PenPoint Sort is a bolt-on chute technology system that helps simplify the difficult task of objectively measuring and sorting cattle.

Categorizing Feedlot Cattle for better BRD Management   
Categorizing Feedlot Cattle for better BRD Management   

Preventing and managing bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is an ongoing challenge for beef cattle, especially for stocker and feedlot operations, as well as for dairy youngstock.

Santa Gertrudis cattle eat at the Tungali feedlot in South Australia.
New Fermentation Product Supports Feed Efficiency in Finishing Cattle Rations

Purina introduces EfficienZ, a non-nutritive feed additive available in select supplements marketed by the company.

Panhandle Ranch, Environmental Technology Co. Plan New 'Sustainable' Feedlot
Panhandle Ranch, Environmental Technology Co. Plan New 'Sustainable' Feedlot

A developer of an advanced waste treatment technology says it will partner with a cattle ranch to build a 15,000 head sustainable beef feedlot near Dalhart, Texas.

High Temperatures Take a Toll on Fed Cattle. DVM Weighs In
High Temperatures Take a Toll on Fed Cattle. DVM Weighs In

A heat index crisis hit in southwest Kansas on June 11. Cattle were lost. Dr. Tera Barnhardt, DVM, MS, shared what happened to educate people and counter misinformation. Our condolences to those affected by the tragedy.

Post-Mortem: What is this Metabolic Problem?
Post-Mortem: What is this Metabolic Problem?

These images depict a steer calf that had been on feed for 272 days with no treatment history when it was found dead in the pen.

Meeting Water Needs of Cattle in the Feedlot
Meeting Water Needs of Cattle in the Feedlot

Late May and June typically produce the first heat events of the season when temperature, humidity and feed intake will significantly impact water consumption by feedlot cattle.

Best Practices for Post-Mortems
Best Practices for Post-Mortems

Three bovine veterinarians share some of their best practices, tools and insights for conducting necropsies more effectively and efficiently. 

Tools Of The Trade for In-Field Necropsies
Tools Of The Trade for In-Field Necropsies

The right tools can make quick work of a routine necropsy, according to Dr. Dee Griffin. The opposite is true, too. He says buy a motorized sharpener, a single bit ax and. of course, the best knives you can afford.

Merck Donates $500,000 to West Texas A&M University
Merck Donates $500,000 to West Texas A&M University

The funding supports a feedlot renovation and expansion project to advance student education, according to the company.

Tyson CEO Provides Statement Ahead of House Agriculture Committee Hearing
Tyson CEO Provides Statement Ahead of House Agriculture Committee Hearing

Prior to testimony at the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Wednesday, Tyson Foods Inc. President and CEO Donnie King released a statement to give his perspective about cattle and beef market practices.

JBS USA Gives $700,000 to Nebraska Feedlot Innovation Center
JBS USA Gives $700,000 to Nebraska Feedlot Innovation Center

JBS USA has made a gift of $700,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and its plans for a new Feedlot Innovation Center near Mead.

Unique Ear Tag can help Detect Sick Cattle in the Feedyard
Unique Ear Tag can help Detect Sick Cattle in the Feedyard

SenseHub Feedlot offers those who manage and care for cattle an innovative new approach to detecting illness, including bovine respiratory disease.

ICASA Grant Examines Feedlot Heart Disease in Beef Cattle
ICASA Grant Examines Feedlot Heart Disease in Beef Cattle

Colorado State University will receive grants totaling nearly $1 million to study ways to reduce the risk of feedlot heart disease (FHD), a disease which has increased in recent years.

Post-Mortem reveals Toe Tip Necrosis Syndrome
Post-Mortem reveals Toe Tip Necrosis Syndrome

The prevailing hypothesis is that P3 necrosis begins with damage to the hoof’s white line following excessive toe-tip wear after transportation, or handling events on abrasive flooring like concrete or gravel.

Apley provides VFD Clarifications specific to Beef Cattle
Apley provides VFD Clarifications specific to Beef Cattle

Veterinarians have questions and Dr. Mike Apley offered answers, during a recent webinar, for two he commonly receives.

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New Tool Predicts Animals That Can Benefit From Treatment For BRD

The technology was developed exclusively for feedlot and backgrounded cattle for use on arrival.

Tips And Techniques For Post-Mortems
Tips And Techniques For Post-Mortems

Bovine veterinarians share some of their best practices, ideas and recommendations for conducting in-field necropsies effectively and efficiently.

Post Mortem Question: What is the diagnosis for this steer found dead at 85 days on feed?
Post Mortem Question: What is the diagnosis for this steer found dead at 85 days on feed?

Answer: The Feedlot Health Management Services team diagnosed this case as right-sided congestive heart failure, an acquired cattle disease resulting from chronic alveolar hypoxia and subsequent pulmonary hypertension.

Post-Mortem: Grain Overload
Post-Mortem: Grain Overload

In a pen of yearlings there were multiple dead animals found at three days on feed, with others showing clinical signs of disease.

Feedyard cattle
Optigrid 45 Receives Combination Approvals For Finishing Feedlot Cattle

The combination approvals allow Optigrid 45 to be used with other feed additives commonly fed to feedlot cattle, including monensin, tylosin and melengestrol.

U.S. feedlots will be selected at random.
National Feedlot Health Study Gets Underway In 2021

USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System wants to get the word out now to raise awareness for the study and encourage them to let feedlot owners and operators they work with know about the project.

Post-Mortem: Caudal Vena Cava Thrombosis
Post-Mortem: Caudal Vena Cava Thrombosis

These images depict a steer calf that had been on feed for 152 days when it was found dead in the home pen.

Post-Mortem: Ruminal Tympany Or Bloat in the Feedlot?
Post-Mortem: Ruminal Tympany Or Bloat in the Feedlot?

These images depict a steer calf that had been on feed for 272 days with no treatment history when it was found dead in the pen.

Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed
Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed

The images depict a heifer calf that had been on feed for 78 days, at which time it was found dead in the pen. Two other post-mortems from the same pen were found to have similar lesions.

Fig. 1. The heart image depicts serous atrophy of cardiac fat.
Post-Mortem of a Feedlot Steer

These images depict a steer calf that had been on feed for 87 days, at which time it was found dead after a period of losing weight through the winter months.

Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed: Answer
Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed: Answer

The images depict a heifer calf that had been on feed for 78 days, at which time it was found dead in the pen. Two other post-mortems from the same pen were found to have similar lesions.

Post-Mortem on a Lame Feedlot Heifer
Post-Mortem on a Lame Feedlot Heifer

These images show a yearling heifer that died at 19 days on feed after having been treated for signs of lameness two days prior to death.

Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed
Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed

Can you diagnose cause of death for this feedlot heifer?

During the PMI, the calves acclimate to their new environment, stress levels decline, feed intake increases and immune suppression drops off, in part due to immune response to existing pathogens.
How Metaphylaxis Controls Disease

Numerous controlled and blinded trials have shown that in high-risk calves arriving at feedlots or stocker operations, mass treatment with an antibiotic significantly reduces BRD sick pulls and mortality.

Fig. 1. The heart image depicts serous atrophy of cardiac fat.
Post-Mortem of a Feedlot Steer: Answer

These images depict a steer calf that had been on feed for 87 days, at which time it was found dead after a period of losing weight through the winter months.

Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed: Answer
Post-Mortem of a Heifer on Feed: Answer

Can you diagnose cause of death for this feedlot heifer?

Post-Mortem on a Lame Feedlot Heifer: Answer
Post-Mortem on a Lame Feedlot Heifer: Answer

These images show a yearling heifer that died at 19 days on feed after having been treated for signs of lameness two days prior to death.

Del Miles Says Show Me the Data

Feedyard Veterinary Consultant Del Miles combines rigorous science with good-old hard work.

Feedyard Veterinary Consultant Del Miles combines rigorous science with good-old hard work.
Del Miles Says Show Me the Data

Feedyard Veterinary Consultant Del Miles combines rigorous science with good-old hard work.

Automated greenhouse gas sampling chambers were set up in a Texas Panhandle feedyard.
Feedyard Greenhouse Gas Study Analyzes Emissions, Mitigation Factors

A week spent in a feedyard pen is helping researchers gain a better understanding of greenhouse gas emissions.