Veterinary Education

Practical Nutrition Strategies to Maintain Rumen Health in Weaned Calves

Wed, 27 May 2026 15:00:58 GMT

At weaning, calves are suddenly introduced to new feeds, new environments and new feeding behaviors — all while the rumen microbial population tries to adapt to completely different nutrient sources. Many of the problems that show up after weaning, including inconsistent gains, digestive upset, acidosis and increased disease susceptibility, can often be traced back to instability within the rumen and lower gastrointestinal tract.

Greg Eckerle, technical services manager with Novonesis, says one of the biggest challenges is managing the transition away from forage-heavy diets without overwhelming the rumen too quickly.

“They’ve been on a high-forage diet, and we’re going to start introducing feedstuffs like corn, distillers grain, gluten feeds,” Eckerle explains.

Rapid dietary changes alter fermentation patterns, disrupt microbial populations and create inconsistent feed intake patterns that can become difficult to correct once calves begin cycling through digestive setbacks.

What Early Rumen Dysfunction Looks Like in Weaned Calves

Identifying early signs of digestive instability remains critical during the first weeks after weaning.

Early warning signs of rumen instability may include:

Loose or bubbling manure
Gray-colored feces
Mild bloat
Reduced bunk attendance
Sluggish behavior
Inconsistent intake patterns
Calves isolating themselves from the group

Eckerle notes manure consistency is the first indicator he watches for when evaluating calf gut health during transitions. In some situations, calves may need to be temporarily pulled back onto a higher-forage ration to stabilize rumen function before resuming the transition process.

How Gradual Feed Transitions Support Rumen Adaptation in Weaned Calves

Eckerle emphasizes maintaining high-quality forage early in the weaning period remains one of the best ways to stabilize intake and support rumen adaptation.

“Alfalfa is still probably one of the best weaning forages out there,” he says. Alfalfa offers high protein, vitamins and minerals that support rumen development and growth.

While calves may eventually transition toward more energy-dense rations, gradually introducing those ingredients gives microbial populations time to adapt to increasing starch levels and changing fermentation patterns. According to Eckerle, that process should happen slowly rather than through abrupt ration changes.

“It’s going to be about a 10- to 14-day process where we’re slowly moving those animals forward,” he says.

He also notes the importance of ration consistency. Newly weaned calves are highly capable of sorting feed ingredients, often selecting more palatable concentrates while avoiding longer forage particles. Maintaining appropriate chop length, forage quality and bunk consistency can help reduce slug feeding behavior and support more stable fermentation.

Emerging Understanding of Gut Health and Acidosis in Weaned Calves

When we think about rumen health and weaning, rumen acidosis is often the focus. However, Eckerle says newer research is pointing toward a broader gastrointestinal component.

“A quality direct-fed microbial is going to help keep the gut balanced and keep the rumen in line,” Eckerle says.

Direct-fed microbials and probiotics are increasingly being used during transition periods to help stabilize microbial populations and maintain rumen pH. According to Eckerle, disruptions lower in the gastrointestinal tract may contribute to rumen instability more than previously recognized.

When calves experience digestive upset, the resulting reduction in intake can quickly create a cycle that is hard to break.

“They’ll drop off intake for three days, and then they’ll pick back up and have a rollercoaster of events take place,” Eckerle warns.

This rollercoaster includes repeated setbacks in intake, gain and overall calf performance.

How Microbials May Support Rumen Stability During Weaning

The goal of microbial technologies during weaning is not simply to add bacteria, but to help create a more stable digestive environment during a stressful transition. Eckerle explains that many of the microbial populations needed to digest starch and ferment feed are already present within the rumen. The challenge is supporting the right balance of those organisms as diets change.

Some direct-fed microbials contain both lactic acid-producing and lactic acid-utilizing bacteria designed to help stabilize rumen fermentation and reduce major pH swings during feed transitions. Reducing harmful bacterial activity may also support calf health.

“The bacteria themselves aren’t the problem. It’s their endotoxins that become the problem,” Eckerle says.

Maintaining gut integrity may have impacts beyond digestion alone, especially during stressful post-weaning periods when calves are already immunologically challenged.

As interest in direct-fed microbials continues to grow, Eckerle encourages a focus on products supported by research rather than simply selecting products based on the number of bacterial strains included. Strain selection and compatibility are important, and products should be evaluated based on demonstrated stability, efficacy and supporting research.

Why Hydration Is Critical for Gut Health and Feed Intake

Water management is another frequently overlooked component of rumen health during weaning. Newly weaned calves commonly experience periods of reduced feed intake, making hydration especially important for maintaining rumen function and preventing larger digestive disturbances.

“If we don’t have quality access to water, it generally creates a bigger negative cascade of events,” Eckerle warns.

Tank cleanliness, water availability and easy access become particularly important during periods of stress when calves may already be reluctant to eat or explore unfamiliar environments.

Ultimately, maintaining rumen stability during weaning comes down to creating consistency in intake, hydration, fermentation and microbial balance.

“Having that overall healthier animal is good from a production standpoint, good from a welfare standpoint and good from an overall cost perspective,” Eckerle concludes.

How to Be the Best Veterinary Mentor

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 22:03:08 GMT

Mentorship in veterinary medicine is often treated as something informal. A student rides along, watches a few cases, asks a few questions and moves on.

In reality, those early experiences shape how new veterinarians think, work and handle pressure. The difference between a student who leaves confident and one who leaves overwhelmed often comes down to how intentional that mentorship was.

These mentorships can be just as beneficial for the mentor veterinarian. Dr. Erika Nagorske, bovine veterinarian with Four Star Veterinary Service, regularly takes on mentees as a mutually beneficial scenario.

“It’s like the refresher of the medicine and the science, because they ask so many good questions. And that’s what I want it to be. I want it to be very open and fluid,” Nagorske says.

Good mentorship does not require a complete overhaul of the day. It requires a shift in mindset. When a student is with you, the goal is no longer efficiency, but education.

1. Prepare for the Day to Take Longer

The simplest adjustment is also the most important: expect the day to slow down.

“Just mentally prepare yourself. Things are going to take longer. And that’s okay,” Nagorske says.

Explaining decisions, answering questions and creating space for hands-on learning all take time. Trying to maintain a full-speed schedule while mentoring often leads to frustration for both the veterinarian and the student.

Planning ahead can help. That might mean building extra time into certain calls or accepting that the day will not run as tightly as usual. When that expectation is set early, the experience improves for everyone involved.

2. Let Them do the Work

Observation alone is not enough to prepare students for practice. They need the opportunity to participate.

“Even if it’s just letting them close one layer of an incision. That’s not going to ruin your day, but it’s going to make their day really, really good,” Nagorske says.

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Hands-on experience builds confidence in a way that observation cannot. Even small tasks can help students feel engaged and capable, rather than passive.

Those opportunities also make the transition into practice less abrupt. When students have already performed parts of a procedure or worked through a case, they are better prepared for the moment when they are the one making decisions.

“The next time they see it, they might be the doctor. So let them do it, let them ask all the questions and walk them through everything,” Nagorske encourages.

3. Create a Safe Space to Fail

One of the most valuable things a mentor can provide is a controlled environment where mistakes are allowed.

“You need a safe place to fail, because the last thing you want is your failure to totally ruin you,” Nagorske says.

Students often come into clinical settings with high expectations of themselves. When something goes wrong, it can feel disproportionately significant. A strong mentor helps reframe those moments.

That does not mean ignoring risk. Patient safety comes first. It does mean allowing students to work through situations when appropriate, stepping in when necessary and using those moments as teaching opportunities rather than failures.

4. Take Care of the Basics

Mentorship is not only about medicine. It is also about recognizing the student is navigating a new, and often uncomfortable, environment.

“That sounds so silly, but I remember many situations where I was like, ‘I think I might pee my pants, and I feel so bad asking to stop,’” Nagorske says.

Students are often hesitant to speak up about basic needs. They do not want to interrupt the flow of the day or create inconvenience. That hesitation can turn what should be a positive experience into a stressful one.

Taking a moment to check in about food, breaks and expectations for the day creates a more supportive environment and allows the student to focus on learning.

5. Take Photos of Them

Some of the most impactful parts of mentorship are also the easiest to overlook.

“They love it. I’m always just like their personal paparazzi, taking pictures while they’re doing stuff,” Nagorske says.

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With permission from both the student and the producer, capturing those moments can be meaningful. It gives students something tangible to take away from the experience and reinforces that they were an active participant, not just an observer.

6. Be Intentional About the Experience

Not every veterinarian enjoys teaching, and that is worth acknowledging. Mentorship takes time, patience and effort.

When a student is present, the experience should be purposeful. That does not mean every moment needs to be structured, but it does mean making an effort to include them, challenge them and support them.

Mentorship does not need to be perfect to be effective, but in a profession where the transition into practice can be difficult, intentional mentorship can make a lasting difference.

Thoracic Ultrasound is Changing How We Detect Pneumonia in Calves

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:11:50 GMT

“If you don’t use lung ultrasound, you won’t catch a lot of pneumonia cases,” says Sebastián Umaña Sedó, assistant professor of production management medicine, VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

That statement reflects a growing reality in calf health, and it is backed by field data.

In a new multistate dataset presented by Umaña Sedó of 357 dairy calves across 34 farms in Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, roughly 30% of calves showed some form of respiratory disease between 22 and 60 days of age. Clinical pneumonia and subclinical pneumonia occurred at nearly identical rates, each accounting for about 10% to 11% of cases.

This is a substantial portion of pneumonia occurring in calves that would appear normal during routine observation.

Why Health Scoring Alone Isn’t Enough

Subclinical pneumonia often goes undetected because calves can appear healthy despite significant lung lesions. Standard respiratory scoring systems remain useful, but they have a critical blind spot.

“Clinical pneumonia is when we have a positive health score and positive ultrasound … subclinical pneumonia is when the health score is negative but the ultrasound is positive,” Umaña Sedó says, emphasizing that ultrasound is essential to identify subclinical cases. Calves can pass a health exam and still have meaningful lung pathology.

“If you do a health score on one calf, you might say the calf is healthy, but in reality it has a compromised lung. So there can be a disassociation between what you see clinically and what is actually happening in the lung,” he explains.

This gap between appearance and pathology allows disease to progress unnoticed, often until treatment becomes more difficult and more costly.

The Real Cost of Delayed Detection

Missed or late-detected pneumonia carries real economic consequences, even when cases are eventually treated.

“A case of pneumonia is around $300, and this is just the first treatment. Most of these animals need two treatments,” Umaña Sedó says.

In addition to direct treatment costs, delayed pneumonia detection is associated with higher retreatment rates, increased antimicrobial use and reduced growth and future productivity. At the same time, subclinical cases may go undetected entirely, quietly impacting performance without ever being formally diagnosed.

What Thoracic Ultrasound Changes

Thoracic ultrasound addresses this gap by allowing veterinarians to assess the lung directly rather than relying solely on outward signs.

“It really helped to change the health of these calves by detecting pneumonia way earlier,” Umaña Sedó says.

With ultrasound, practitioners can:

Detect lung consolidation earlier
Differentiate upper versus lower respiratory disease
Identify cases that actually require antimicrobial treatment
Monitor response to therapy

This shift enables earlier, more precise and more confident intervention.

Set Ultrasound Benchmarks

As adoption increases, thoracic ultrasound is moving beyond diagnosis and becoming a tool for herd-level monitoring and decision-making.

Umaña Sedó highlights practical Wean Clean benchmarks set forth by The Dairyland Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that farms can use to evaluate their respiratory programs:

At the start of weaning: Fewer than 15% of calves should have evidence of pneumonia
At first treatment: Fewer than 15% of calves should have advanced lung lesions (score greater than 3)
→ Higher levels suggest disease is being detected too late
7 to 10 days after treatment: Fewer than 15% of calves should still show significant lesions (score greater than 2)
→ Higher levels may indicate treatment failure or relapse

Together, these benchmarks provide a way to evaluate both timing and effectiveness of intervention.

How to Start Using Ultrasound On-Farm

For many operations, implementation begins with a simple, targeted approach.

“The way I started with this was scanning animals that were not getting better … and then showing the producer what we were finding and how treatment could change based on that,” Umaña Sedó explains.

That initial step helps demonstrate value quickly and builds confidence in the tool.

“You start with a few animals, and as you get results, you can expand — scan 10 to 12 calves every week and follow them through weaning,” he suggests.

One structured approach is the 12 × 7 strategy, which involves beginning scans at seven days of age, evaluating a group of 12 calves and repeating that process every seven days. Over time, this helps identify when calves are most at risk and supports more proactive management.

From Better Decisions to Proactive Care

Thoracic ultrasound is not only improving how pneumonia is detected; it is also reshaping how treatment decisions are made.

“Right now, we’re treating some of those cases with anti-inflammatories instead of antimicrobials, because we’re scanning constantly and we have that data,” Umaña Sedó says.

By distinguishing true pneumonia from upper respiratory disease, ultrasound allows for more targeted antimicrobial use, reduces unnecessary treatments and better aligns calf health programs with antimicrobial stewardship goals.

More broadly, thoracic ultrasound reflects a shift in how calf respiratory disease is managed. Instead of reacting to visible illness, veterinarians can detect disease earlier, better understand its true prevalence within a herd and continuously refine treatment protocols based on real data.

In doing so, they are not just improving detection, but redefining what effective pneumonia management looks like.

Rethinking Milk Fever in Dairy Cows: How the Immune System Impacts Calcium Levels

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:50:26 GMT

Milk fever has long been framed as a calcium problem. But what if that framing is too narrow and part of the reason prevention strategies don’t always deliver consistent results?

Work from Burim Ametaj , Professor at the University of Alberta and recent guest on “The Bovine Vet Podcast” , is helping reframe hypocalcemia through what he terms the calci-inflammatory network — a model that links calcium dynamics directly to immune function during the transition period.

A Common Problem, Often Hidden

Milk fever remains one of the most widespread metabolic disorders in dairy cattle, but much of its impact is hidden in subclinical cases.

“Milk fever is widespread, but now we have this subclinical part of milk fever that is not visible. You need to get a blood sample to measure calcium to determine, based on the concentration of calcium in blood, whether the cow is going through subclinical milk fever or clinical milk fever,” Ametaj says.

These subclinical cases lack obvious signs, yet they are consistently linked to reduced intake, impaired immune function and increased risk of diseases such as mastitis , metritis and ketosis.

Despite decades of focus on calcium supplementation and DCAD strategies, hypocalcemia remains prevalent. This has prompted a closer look at the underlying biology.

(Farm Journal)

Total Versus Ionized Calcium: A Critical Distinction

A key refinement in this emerging framework is the distinction between total calcium and ionized calcium. While total calcium is commonly measured, much of it is bound to proteins like albumin or other molecules. Only a fraction exists as ionized calcium — the biologically active form required for muscle contraction, nerve signaling and immune cell function.

This distinction has important implications for treatment. While calcium borogluconate is a known treatment for hypocalcemia in cattle, Ametaj suggests it may not be ideal for ionized calcium availability.

“What happens?” asks Ametaj about blood ionized calcium levels when an animal receives calcium borogluconate. “It is decreased, in fact. In 1985 , there was a scientist who injected sheep with calcium borogluconate. He reported that ionized calcium decreased.”

Calcium therapy can improve clinical signs, particularly in recumbent cows, but it may not consistently restore the functional calcium pool. This helps explain why some cows respond only temporarily or relapse after treatment.

A Shift in Thinking: Hypocalcemia as Part of Immunity

Ametaj’s work proposes a fundamental shift in how hypocalcemia is interpreted — not simply as a failure of calcium supply, but as part of a broader physiological response.

“Hypocalcemia is important, because it’s not a deficiency, but part of immunity,” Ametaj says. “That’s where the entire new concept starts.”

In this model, calcium dynamics are closely tied to immune activity, particularly during the stress of calving and early lactation.

This model builds on another important shift: transition cows are not immunosuppressed, but are actively responding to inflammatory signals.

“Usually, the dogma is that the cows around calving are immunosuppressed, but in fact, they are mounting an immune response, especially the innate immunity is very active and acute phase response,” Ametaj explains.

Inflammatory markers begin to rise weeks before calving and peak around parturition. Cytokines such as TNF-alpha, interleukin-1 and interleukin-6, along with acute phase proteins, are consistently elevated during this period. Rather than a failure of immunity, this suggests the cow is managing a significant inflammatory load at the same time she is adapting metabolically to lactation.

In the framework of the calci-inflammatory network, bacterial endotoxins from conditions like mastitis or acidosis trigger an inflammatory response that suppresses parathyroid hormone secretion. This cascade ultimately inhibits calcium absorption and bone resorption, leading to hypocalcemia, commonly known as milk fever in cattle.

(Farm Journal)

Endotoxin: A Likely Trigger

One of the proposed drivers of this inflammation is endotoxin, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), originating from the gastrointestinal tract.

Transition diets high in fermentable carbohydrates can lower rumen pH, disrupt epithelial integrity and increase endotoxin release and absorption. As rumen conditions become more acidic, Gram-negative bacteria break down and release LPS into the rumen environment.

“When you feed different amounts of grain, you increase the amount of endotoxin in the rumen fluid by 18- to 20-fold,” Ametaj says, noting these shifts were also seen in the blood along with changes in cytokines and acute phase proteins.

Once endotoxin enters circulation, it contributes to systemic inflammation, linking nutritional management directly to immune activation. The immune system responds rapidly to endotoxin exposure by activating macrophages and triggering signaling pathways designed to neutralize and remove the threat.

“If macrophages are activated, they release pro-inflammatory cytokines: tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1, interleukin-6. Why do they do that? Because they invite more cells, immune cells, to come there to remove endotoxin,” Ametaj explains.

This response is essential, but also metabolically demanding. Nutrients and minerals are redirected to support immune function, and physiology shifts to prioritize survival over production.

Calcium as an Active Player in Immunity

Within this framework, calcium is not simply a nutrient to maintain but an active participant in immune function.

One key role is in endotoxin handling. Lipopolysaccharide carries a strong negative charge, allowing calcium to bind and promote aggregation. This clustering makes endotoxin easier for immune cells to recognize and remove.

“Endotoxin is very negatively charged. And calcium binds to molecules of endotoxin and brings them together and creates aggregates,” Ametaj explains.

Endotoxin can also bind to lipoproteins in circulation and be transported to the liver, where it is neutralized and excreted in bile. This process is rapid and tightly regulated, linking inflammatory load to liver function and lipid metabolism.

Together, these pathways suggest calcium is being actively used and redistributed during immune responses, not simply depleted.

Current Strategies

Current approaches to milk fever focus on increasing calcium availability, either through supplementation or dietary strategies, such as DCAD. These tools remain valuable, but they operate within a more complex biological system than previously appreciated.

“By triggering metabolic acidosis, you also trigger elimination of calcium from the blood through urine outside. Why? Because calcium and other cationic ions bind these acids, and they are eliminated,” Ametaj says.

DCAD programs improve calcium mobilization, but they also shift systemic mineral balance. Similarly, calcium therapy can resolve clinical signs without addressing the underlying drivers of inflammation. This may help explain why these strategies work well in some situations but inconsistently in others.

What This Means for Veterinarians and Producers

This evolving perspective does not replace current practices, but it does broaden the approach to prevention.

In addition to managing calcium, attention may need to shift toward upstream factors that influence both inflammation and mineral balance, including:

Maintaining rumen stability and avoiding sharp drops in pH
Managing starch levels and fermentation rates
Supporting gut barrier integrity
Reducing systemic inflammatory load

These areas may offer opportunities to improve consistency in transition cow outcomes.

The immune–calcium network offers a more integrated way to understand milk fever — one that connects metabolism, inflammation and mineral dynamics.

Rather than asking only how to raise calcium status, a more useful question may be: Why is calcium low in the first place?

Answering that question may be key to improving transition cow health and to making existing prevention strategies work more consistently.

To hear more from Ametaj on the immune-calcium network and the management of transition cows to avoid hypocalcemia, listen to the full conversation on the latest episode of “The Bovine Vet Podcast.”

Calf Survival Tips For Before, During and After Birth

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:13:09 GMT

Most discussions around calf loss begin at calving. But by then, much of the outcome has already been set in motion.

Across veterinary perspectives from different production environments, a consistent picture emerges. Calf outcomes are shaped over time, influenced by a series of decisions and conditions that build on one another.

It is important to note these patterns may look different depending on region — whether driven by cold stress, heat, drought or mud. The underlying process, however, remains consistent across systems.

Before Birth: Build Resilience Early

Calf outcomes begin to take shape during gestation. Nutrition, stress and overall maternal management all contribute to how the calf develops before it is ever born.

“Poor nutrition of the cow is a stress on the fetus … any stress on the cow can affect the development of the placenta and also of the calf,” says Dr. Katie Waine, veterinary pathologist at the University of Calgary. “Maternal stress around breeding and pregnancy can also have much longer-term effects on calf health, production and reproductive performance way off into the future.”

This concept, known as fetal programming, highlights how early conditions influence organ development, immune function and long-term performance. Calves may appear normal at birth while still benefiting from stronger developmental foundations established during gestation.

Key risk factors before birth include:

Inadequate maternal nutrition or poor body condition
Environmental or physiological stress during gestation
Inconsistent feed quality
Health challenges
Gaps in vaccination or biosecurity planning

Nutritional management during gestation plays a central role in setting the foundation for calf health. Cows entering calving in appropriate body condition are better positioned to support both fetal growth and colostrum quality. Reducing stress during pregnancy further supports placental function and fetal development. Consistent feed quality, stable environments and proactive health management all contribute to a stronger starting point for the calf.

At Birth: Support a Strong Transition

Calving represents a key opportunity to support the calf’s transition into early life. While it can reveal existing vulnerabilities, it also provides a chance to reinforce resilience.

“The effects of a difficult calving don’t stop at birth — they carry forward into immunity, vigor and overall survivability,” says Dr. Lisa Freeze, field veterinarian supervisor with the Government of New Brunswick.

A smooth calving process helps calves stand, nurse and absorb colostrum more effectively. Timely intervention when needed can prevent minor challenges from becoming larger setbacks.

“When calves are delayed during calving or we have to intervene late, they’re already starting life at a disadvantage,” Freeze says.

Key risk factors at birth include:

Prolonged or difficult calving (dystocia)
Delayed standing or nursing
Inadequate or delayed colostrum intake
Early-life stress or trauma

Focusing on calving ease, monitoring progress and ensuring early colostrum intake all support a stronger start. These early actions directly influence immune transfer and overall vigor.

“What we see with the sickness and death of calves all depends on how much pathogen they get exposed to and how resistant they are to it,” says Dr. Van Mitchell of Metzger Veterinary Services.

Supporting resistance through colostrum and minimizing early stress helps calves respond effectively to their environment.

After Birth: Manage Exposure and Reinforcing Success

After birth, management focuses on maintaining the balance between exposure and resistance. Even well-prepared calves benefit from environments that support their continued development.

In practical settings, multiple factors often interact. Recognizing these interactions allows producers to stay ahead of potential challenges.

“It’s rarely just one thing. A calf that struggles at birth, doesn’t get enough colostrum, and then is exposed to a challenging environment — those risks stack on top of each other,” says Dr. Allison Pylypjuk of Beausejour Animal Hospital.

Dr. Lauren Wilson of Peterborough Veterinary Services agrees: “Those calves that don’t receive adequate colostrum are much more susceptible to disease, and when you combine that with environmental exposure, that’s when we start to see problems like scours and pneumonia.”

The same principle applies in a positive direction. When calves receive timely colostrum, experience minimal stress at birth and are raised in clean environments, those advantages build as well.

Key risk factors after birth include:

High pathogen load in calving or housing areas
Overcrowding or poor stocking density
Mixing age groups, especially older calves with newborns
Delayed identification and isolation of sick animals

Clean calving areas, appropriate stocking density and thoughtful grouping strategies help limit pathogen exposure. These practices support calves as they continue to develop immunity and resilience.

“We can eliminate a lot of exposure to the pathogens by keeping our calving areas clean, keeping the sick animals away,” Mitchell says.

Managing these factors helps maintain momentum established earlier, allowing calves to continue on a positive trajectory.

A Proactive Approach to Calf Survival

Viewing calf outcomes as a cumulative process creates more opportunities for intervention. Each stage — before birth, at calving and after birth — offers a chance to support the calf’s success.

Rather than focusing only on problems after they appear, this approach emphasizes building resilience early and reinforcing it over time. The goal is not to eliminate all challenges, but to create conditions where calves are better prepared to respond. Consistent management, early attention and thoughtful decision-making all contribute to improved outcomes.

Calf survival is not determined in a single moment. It develops step by step, shaped by a series of actions that build on one another from gestation through early life.

Precision Genomics: The Veterinarian’s Role in Commercial Herd Rebuilding

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 18:38:02 GMT

With the U.S. beef herd at historic lows , rebuilding is no longer just about numbers. It is about keeping the right females. Today, every retained replacement heifer represents years of genetic influence, input costs and production risk. For the bovine practitioner, this is an opportunity to move beyond traditional “chute-side technician” roles and become a strategic data consultant. Selection is no longer just about phenotype; it is about mitigating biological and economic risks.

The following strategies for precision genomics are pulled from a deep-dive discussion with Dr. Kent Andersen and Dr. Tom Short on The Bovine Vet Podcast . By pairing clinical experience with genomic tools, practitioners can better navigate the current rebuilding phase.

Moving Beyond Visual Appraisal

Visual selection remains a cornerstone of cattle management. Structural soundness, disposition and obvious developmental concerns cannot be ignored. However, phenotype alone does not tell the whole story of an animal’s future productivity.

The Trap of Size: Selecting the largest heifers often inadvertently selects for higher maintenance requirements and increased feed intake.

“Traditionally, commercial cow-calf producers have selected their replacement heifers based on visual appraisal — and perhaps, the ones that are born earliest and just have the look of making a good cow,” says Andersen, director of global beef genetic technical services for Zoetis Animal Health. “Unfortunately, when you select based on looks and size, sometimes you’re picking the biggest ones. So, you’re picking the heifers that may turn out to be the bigger cows that have higher maintenance requirements.”

The Genomic Advantage: Genetic predictions provide insight into metabolic efficiency, fertility, and longevity before a single dollar is spent on development.

“There’s a lot of traits in the unseen world, such as cow fertility, intake, feed conversion, bovine respiratory disease health, that you really can’t gauge by just looking at them,” Andersen says. “The new tools allow the producer to pick heifers that are less risky of dropping out early and maybe not being very profitable.”

Clinical Genomics: Disease Risk and Wellness

One of the more significant recent advancements is the ability to generate genomic predictions related to disease risk, particularly bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Developing those metrics required assembling large populations of cattle with detailed health records and corresponding genotypes. Understanding the value of those predictions requires a clear understanding of heritability.

Heritability vs. Management: Genetics do not replace vaccinations, but they lower the baseline risk. Selecting for higher “Wellness” scores builds a more resilient herd that responds better to clinical protocols.

“Heritability is kind of a term a lot of people don’t understand in a way, but it’s basically just the amount of variation in a trait that we see that’s due to additive genetics, meaning that we can measure it, select for it and improve it,” says Short, associate director in outcomes research with Zoetis Animal Health.

The Data Gap: Historically, commercial heifers lacked the Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) available to seedstock. Genomic testing (e.g., Inherit Select) bridges this gap, providing EPD-level accuracy on unproven females.

“With this technology, we’re getting genetic predictions in commercial cattle that, if you think about it historically, have had very little, if any, information recorded on them,” Short says. “All the data recording and genetic selection and prediction and everything has really occurred at the seedstock level.”

By combining DNA information with national cattle evaluation systems, commercial heifers can now receive EPDs across a range of economically important traits, from fertility and growth to structural and health-related measures.

Managing Genetic Antagonisms

Selecting for a single trait, such as extreme growth, often comes at a cost to others, such as calving ease or fertility.

“Selecting to increase one trait may actually decrease another, but in an undesirable direction,” Short explains. “That’s where you have to weigh the two traits in an index appropriately, knowing that there’s antagonisms there.”

Economic Indices: Use weighted indices to manage these trade-offs. These tools balance production and maternal performance to ensure overall operation profitability rather than chasing outlier data points.

Precision Culling: Identifying “bottom-tier” genetics early allows producers to divert resources toward high-potential females, optimizing the client’s input costs and long-term sustainability.

The DVM as the “Trusted Adviser”

The veterinarian is often the most influential voice in a producer’s decision-making process, making them the ideal conduit for genomic integration.

“In our interactions with commercial cow-calf producers, it’s almost always the veterinarian that is the most trusted adviser,” Andersen says. “The veterinarian is helping them with their herd health program, so we think it’s a natural fit for the bovine practitioner to also assist with getting DNA collected and using the results.”

Short echoes that sentiment. “Most cow-calf herds that have a valid client-patient relationship with their veterinarian trust them as a resource, and especially when it comes to things like health and genetics, which are more technical aspects of what they have to do in their everyday jobs,” he says.

Workflow Integration: DNA collection via ear punch is easily integrated into routine pregnancy diagnosis, vaccination, or breeding soundness exams.

Consultative Value: By interpreting genomic results, veterinarians can guide mating strategies and marketing decisions—such as selling “value-added” replacements—strengthening the Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR).

The Economic Reality of Genomic Testing

Early adopters in the commercial space are capturing disproportionate value in a tight market.

“Early adopters are the ones that get the biggest reward,“ Short says. “Not only am I going to select the very best heifers I test for my own replacements, I’ve got a next group here that are pretty good. I’m going to sell them as value-added replacements to my neighbors.”

Genomic testing, often costing between $15 and $40 per head, can lead to significantly higher lifetime returns by ensuring only the most efficient, fertile, and healthy females enter the breeding herd. While visual appraisal and experience are still important, pairing intuition with genomic insight defines the next generation of decision-making.

Summary for the Practitioner

“I think the sail has been set to evolve from real group herd-based to more individual animal-based in our selections, in our matings, in our management protocols, in our days on feed and harvest time protocols,” Andersen concludes. “The individual animal information, I think, paves the way for that.”

As the industry shifts toward individual animal management, genomic data is the next essential “diagnostic tool.” It allows the practitioner to move from managing groups to optimizing individuals, ultimately building a more profitable operation for the client.

To hear more from Andersen and Short on how genomics is redefining the commercial cow-calf industry, including more information on Inherit Select and the newly introduced BRD selection indices, listen to the full conversation on the latest episode of The Bovine Vet Podcast .

4 Tips for Assessing Hydration Status in Calves

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 14:56:39 GMT

Assessing dehydration status is the first step in managing a scouring calf, but it’s not as simple as assigning a percentage. Dehydration, acidemia and neurologic function do not progress at the same rate. A calf may not look profoundly dehydrated but still require intravenous correction.

Speaking at the AABP Recent Grad conference, Dr. Blake Balog, professional services veterinarian with TELUS Agriculture, outlined some tips for assessing hydration status in calves.

1. Start with the Eye

Globe recession remains one of the most reliable field indicators of dehydration, but only if it is measured correctly.

Balog recommends rolling down the lower eyelid to look for space.

“Make sure when you’re assessing that you’re rolling that lower eyelid out to a more normal position and measure that depth,” Balog says. “If it’s hitting somewhere in the 4 mm range, that’s going to be close to 8% dehydration, which is the point where we want to use IV fluids.”

Measure deliberately and determine whether oral fluids will be enough.

2. Check Peripheral Profusion

As dehydration progresses, circulation shifts centrally and causes the extremities to cool. While you could invest in an infrared thermometer, using your hands to feel whether the peripheral distal limbs are cold or cool will likely suffice.

Cold limbs alone may not indicate dehydration, but they certainly reinforce that it may be the case.

3. Separate Dehydration from Acidemia

“The level of dehydration doesn’t always linearly go along with the level of acidemia,” Balog says.

This is a crossroads at which decisions can go wrong. A calf may not appear severely dehydrated and still be acidemic. Relying on percent dehydration alone can miss calves that require escalation.

Balog suggests testing the palpebral reflex.

“When you tap that medial canthus and you get a delayed or sluggish palpebral reflex, that’s an indicator of lactic acid that’s accumulated in that animal,” Balog says.

Delayed reflexes, weakness and failure to suckle suggest metabolic compromise. If the calf cannot suckle, oral therapy alone is unlikely to be enough.

4. Use Supporting Findings

Urine concentration can reinforce your assessment. If a refractometer is available, specific gravity could be used. Otherwise, dark, concentrated urine supports systemic dehydration.

Skin tenting is another quick way to evaluate hydration. Pinch a fold of skin on the neck or around the eyes and count the number of seconds it takes to flatten. Skin flattening in less than 2 seconds indicates normal hydration, 2 to 5 seconds to flatten indicates 8% dehydration and over five seconds would indicate severe dehydration over 10%.

Placing an IV Catheter in Calves

Placing an IV catheter in a dehydrated calf can be more difficult because the skin is thick and the jugular vein does not present well.

Balog recommends focusing on mechanics.

Position the head on a downward slope.
“We’re going to have the head of that calf dropping downward. That’s going to help fill the jugular vein a little bit easier,” Balog says.

Lowering the head improves venous fill and simplifies placement.
Clip and prep generously.
Dehydrated skin offers more resistance. A wide clip and thorough prep make catheter passage smoother.
Perform a cut down incision.
“This is the key part that I think we’ll struggle with: Not doing a cut down. Cut down to me is not sawing with the scalpel blade down toward the jugular. We’re going to tent the skin up and we’re going to go straight down with our 22 blade until it finally releases through there and then we’re going to lay that down,” Balog says.

This incision is vertical and controlled, not a sweeping motion toward the vein. This is critical in dehydrated calves when the skin is super thick and difficult to get through.
Secure the catheter carefully.
Tape and suture so access remains stable during fluid delivery. Balog likes to use a butterfly catheter secured with a couple sutures. He’ll then do an additional suture up on the head so the line remains straight.

The goal is straightforward: assess accurately and intervene appropriately. When dehydration approaches 8% or acidemia affects function, oral therapy may not be sufficient. At that point, gain access, deliver fluids and reassess.

$120 Million Gift Sets the Stage for a New Era in Veterinary Education at UC Davis

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:41:19 GMT

Today, the University of California, Davis announced a historic $120-million philanthropic commitment to their veterinary program. This gift from Joan and Sanford I. Weill, through the Weill Family Foundation, will help expand clinical capacity, modernize teaching infrastructure and address workforce shortages.

This gift represents one of the largest ever made to veterinary medicine worldwide. In response to the generosity, the university has renamed the school the University of California, Davis, Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, or the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine in short.

“Joan and Sandy Weill’s extraordinary generosity will allow UC Davis to move faster, think bigger and rise to meet the most urgent challenges facing our world,” says Dr. Mark Stettler, dean of the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. “This gift empowers us to drive discoveries, expand access to world-class education, and develop new insights at the intersection of veterinary and human health. It launches an exciting new era in veterinary medicine and provides the catalyst needed to advance the construction of our new hospital. With continued support from our philanthropic community, we can bring this vision to completion.”

Expanding Capacity as Demand for Veterinary Care Grows

The transformative impact of this gift will center an $80-million investment toward the construction of a new small animal teaching hospital designed to support a significantly higher caseload while serving as an advanced training platform for veterinary students, interns and residents. This is a part of the school’s ongoing initiative to expand their Veterinary Medical Complex. The current UC Davis veterinary hospital treats approximately 50,000 patients annually; the new facility is expected to enable care for up to 20,000 more across species while relieving capacity constraints that can limit teaching exposure.

This expansion means students will be exposed to larger and more diverse clinical caseloads allowing them to encounter a broader range of conditions, gain earlier responsibility under supervision and train in high-demand specialties such as neurology, oncology, cardiology, and primary, emergency and critical care. These updated facilities will also allow for the enrollment of more students, supporting the current veterinary shortage.

The remaining $40 million will be directed toward fundamental and clinical research, strengthening the link between education and discovery. By supporting team-based science and early-stage projects, the funding is expected to give faculty greater flexibility to pursue high-impact ideas that can lead directly into advanced training opportunities.

A Longstanding Connection to Veterinary Medicine

The contributions of Joan and Sanford I. Weill to medical research, education and cultural institutions spans decades. Their support has led to advancements in cancer, immunology and neuroscience research. Their connection to UC Davis veterinary medicine includes earlier support for clinical research initiatives and personal experience as clients of the veterinary hospital. Further, Sanford Weill has served on the UC Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisors since 2014, helping influence long-term strategy for the university.

“Joan and Sandy have been extraordinary champions for UC Davis,” says Shaun B. Keister, vice chancellor for development and alumni relations. “Their leadership over the years has made a remarkable difference, and I’m truly inspired by their dedication.”

How USDA and Veterinary Schools are Rebuilding the Rural Animal Health Pipeline

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:30:42 GMT

When the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins formally elevated the rural veterinary shortage to a national priority on Sept. 19 , it marked a shift from long-standing concern to coordinated action. Since that announcement, a wave of federal initiatives, state investments and veterinary school-led programs has begun reshaping how the profession approaches rural workforce development, moving beyond loan repayment alone toward structural, pipeline-based solutions.

The announcement, introducing USDA’s Rural Veterinary Action Plan , acknowledges what producers and veterinarians have long warned: Insufficient access to food-animal and rural veterinary care poses risks to animal health, biosecurity and food system stability. USDA committed to expanding incentives, streamlining grant programs and actively engaging veterinary schools as workforce partners rather than passive beneficiaries.

Since then, USDA NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) has announced an investment of $3.8 million in the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) to mitigate food animal veterinary shortages. This investment was divided into 22 VSGP awards including eight Education, Extension, and Training (EET) grants and 14 Rural Practice Enhancement (RPT) grants. The complete list of awardees can be found here.

Innovative Training: How Veterinary Schools Are Closing the Gap

The EET awarded schools have not hesitated in taking action on their proposed strategies to improve and support rural veterinary education.

Texas Tech University’s School of Veterinary Medicine is creating the school’s first food animal residency program , planned to launch in 2026. This program will recruit early-career veterinarians to provide them with advanced clinical and research training to help them become future educators in food animal medicine. It is the hope that veterinarians trained through this residency will work to influence more students to pursue careers in food animal, large animal or mixed animal practice.

“This residency program is transformative for our school and the cattle industry,” says Guy Loneragan, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine. “A capstone professional achievement for the residents in this program is attainment of diplomate status in the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. This is a national recognition as an elite specialist in all things cattle. The residents will provide leadership to advance livestock health and protect the national interest in U.S. food production.”

Colorado State University will be amping up their existing virtual reality (VR) offerings , implementing livestock focused VR education into the curricula. The project will design and evaluate game-like VR modules where students can practice biosecurity, infection prevention and farm management.

The University of Alaska plans to enhance local access to scientific resources that support livestock production through updated veterinary instruction to increase student comfort with livestock medicine and increased Extension resources supporting livestock producers of Alaska. These resources will uniquely focus on supporting care for the local reindeer industry.

The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL) of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University (ISU) has used the funding to open a new anatomical pathology residency program addressing the national shortage of veterinary pathologists.

“The ISU VDL is uniquely positioned to offer this training given our high caseload in swine, poultry and bovine relative to most traditional anatomic pathology residencies,” says Dr. Eric Burrough, professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine.

The University of Kentucky and the Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine are collaborating to address the Alabama-Kentucky specific shortage of rural veterinarians. Together, they aim to recruit students from USDA identified shortage counties and rural leadership and mentorship opportunities for upper-year veterinary students.

State-Led Initiatives and Regional Partnerships

Outside of these grants, Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has launched the Protect One Health in Ohio initiative (Protect OHIO) . This initiative, supported by a $30-million investment from the state, centers around enrolling more students from Ohio’s rural communities, mentoring large animal and rural veterinarians and expanding risk assessment and surveillance programs for the state.

“Feeding people is a shared responsibility and it starts with healthy animals, resilient communities and a strong veterinary workforce,” says Leah Dorman, director of Protect OHIO. “This work is deeply personal to me. I’ve spent my career listening to rural voices, mentoring passionate students and building trust with Ohio’s agricultural and veterinary communities.”

Meanwhile, Wisconsin lawmakers have proposed a student loan relief bill granting veterinarians who have graduated within the past seven years $25,000 in student loan repayment for each year that they practice in a rural county (up to four years). Applicants would need to spend 25% of their time working with farm animals.

New Mexico has also offered loan relief for rural veterinarians . The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, signed into law this year by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, offers up to $80,000 in debt relief to veterinarians who commit to working in underserved areas for at least four years.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in partnership with Gov. Jim Pillen and state leaders, has launched the Elite 11 Production Animal Health Scholarship Program . This program allows 20 incoming freshman students who have identified that they want to go down the path of veterinary practice in rural Nebraska with production animals to receive scholarships covering 50% of their tuition. After that, 11 students in their junior and senior years will receive full tuition scholarships.

From Recruitment to Long-Term Retention

Four months after the initial announcement, the response to the rural veterinary shortage looks less fragmented and more intentional. Federal incentives, state investments and veterinary school-led training pipelines are beginning to align around a shared goal: making rural practice viable, visible and sustainable. The challenge is now execution; ensuring these programs translate into long-term retention, not just short-term recruitment.

Rep. Cleaver Requests Information from U.S. Veterinary Schools Over Student Workload Concerns

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:04:41 GMT

U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., has formally requested information from 36 accredited colleges of veterinary medicine, raising concerts about student workload and clinical training practices. Letters sent last week to schools across the country are seeking details on how institutions monitor clinical duty hours, ensure student welfare and prevent students from being overextended during required rotations.

While colleges should provide rigorous curriculums that guarantee students will receive the best education and experience possible, we must also ensure students are not being exploited.

With numerous allegations of abuse at veterinary schools, I’m demanding answers.…
— Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (@repcleaver) December 10, 2025

“I write today concerning troubling allegations of systemic abuse taking place within American veterinary medicine schools,” Cleaver wrote. “Despite a relatively small number of veterinary schools across the country, recent years have seen an explosion of students speaking out about the conditions at these programs.”

In December 2023 , fourth-year veterinary students from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania penned a letter to their administration outlining how they were consistently working 100 hour weeks, when the Student American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines call for a cap of 80 hours per week. A similar situation was revealed at the College of Veterinary Medicine Iowa State University, with students lacking the required eight hour rest period between shifts and not having proper time for meals while on shift, despite university policies on duty hours.

“I believe strongly that our higher education institutions should provide rigorous curriculums that guarantee students will receive the best education and experience possible, ensuring they are capable and qualified when they enter into the workforce,” Cleaver said in a press release . “However, just as we have taken steps to ensure colleges and universities are not taking advantage of student athletes for institutional monetary benefit, we must ensure that students at veterinary medicine schools are not being exploited. Unfortunately, with numerous allegations of abuse, it appears we have more work to do, and I’m hopeful that these institutions will provide information to address these concerns and ensure proper protections are in place.”

The letter underscores the tension in academic medicine of balancing clinical service demands with student learning, supervision and well-being. Excessive duty hours are not only a student wellness issue, but could also affect patient safety and education quality, particularly when fatigue limits learning or decision-making.

What Veterinary Schools are Being Asked to Provide

Rep. Cleaver’s letter requests information on:

Policies governing veterinary student clinical duty hours
How schools track and enforce workload limits
Mechanisms for students to report excessive hours or unsafe conditions
Protections against retaliation for students who raise concerns
How institutions balance educational objective with clinical service demands

Cleaver requested a response from schools by year-end.

Bugs Beware: Next Gen Prepares to Combat Insect Threats to Animal Health

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:46:17 GMT

The nation is facing a critical shortage of veterinary entomologists. Kansas State University is ramping up efforts to create awareness and opportunity for students interested in playing a crucial role in safeguarding livestock health and agricultural economies by studying insects and ticks that affect animals.

“With increasing insecticide resistance and the emergence of new tick and tick-borne pathogen species, our capacity to meet future research, extension and teaching needs in this area is more critical than ever,” Cassandra Olds, assistant professor of entomology at K-State, says in a release.

To address this increasing challenge, Olds collaborated with other university veterinary entomologists to develop the Research and Extension Experience in Veterinary Entomology for Students (REEVES) program .

“Despite the significant impact arthropods like ticks and insects have on livestock production, there’s a serious lack of trained veterinary entomologists,” Olds says. “Many students simply aren’t aware of this viable career path or what it entails.”

Funded by the USDA-NIFA and led by the University of Tennessee, the 8-week summer residential program offers an immersive, hands-on experience in veterinary entomology research and extension.

“The overarching goal of REEVES is to introduce and train talented individuals for graduate and professional programs, as well as livestock-associated careers that emphasize team science,” the release says. “The program educates them on the fundamentals of veterinary entomology and provides them with real-world project experience relevant to the needs of stakeholders.”

Two scholars are placed at each participating institution each year, K-State, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M and University of Georgia, and will run from 2025 till 2028.

Not only will REEVES scholars engage in impactful research, but they will also have the opportunity to present their research at the annual Livestock Insect Workers Conference and an online REEVES Expo. For example, K-State scholars evaluated the impact of stable flies on cattle performance in feedlots this year and investigated recent outbreaks of Theileria orientalis in the region.

“For me, the most exciting aspect of this field is the chance to do good at every level,” Olds adds. “You have the opportunity to positively impact both animal health and well-being, while simultaneously improving the livelihoods of the people who own them.”

Seeing the Whole Elephant: Systems Thinking and Animal Health

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 22:19:50 GMT

We all know the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant: each man touches a different part of the elephant and becomes convinced he knows the whole animal. One feels the trunk and declares it a snake, another the leg and insists it’s a tree. Each observation is accurate, but each conclusion is deeply incomplete.

Veterinary medicine often falls into the same trap, not because of a lack of care but because of training to look closely. In a world where disease emerges from the interactions of nutrition, immunity, environment, behavior and management, the old parable reminds us the truth isn’t found in any single part. It’s found in the relationships between them.

Why Looking Closely Isn’t Enough

Pattern recognition is one of our greatest strengths. You learn to see classic presentations and link them with a diagnosis. For example, ketosis in a fresh cow or BRD in a calf with a cough.

But disease rarely lives in one organ system or one management practice. A narrow focus can deceive us. We might fixate on the ‘tusk’ because it looks sharp and obvious, while missing the constellation of forces actually driving the animal’s response.

Examples crop up everywhere:

A dairy lameness problem blamed solely on digital dermatitis, when the root cause is chronic wet bedding, poor ventilation and subtle changes in stocking density.
A calf barn respiratory outbreak attributed to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, when the real sequence of events begins with colostrum quality, followed by fluctuating ventilation, then a weather front that pushes calves over the edge.
A feedlot dip in performance linked solely to a ration change, when heat stress, water access, bunk competition and handling stress created a cascade of interacting pressures.

Each diagnosis contains a piece of truth, but each is incomplete when treated in isolation.

Systems Thinking: Looking Between the Parts

Systems thinking is the discipline of understanding how elements interact to produce outcomes. It challenges us to stop asking what caused this and start asking how these factors combined to create this situation.

Dr. Brian Vander Ley of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently spoke on the topic.

“Systems thinking is actually a derivative of a field called ‘systems dynamics,’ which is a highly mathematical modeling field that’s used to predict the behavior of systems based on components in the system and relationships,” Vander Ley explains. However, systems thinking takes out the math component. “It’s a set of tools, processes and principles that enable us to focus on the relationship between parts of the system and not just some of the parts themselves.”

A system isn’t just a list of components. It is:

The feedback loops between nutrition and immunity
The way ventilation interacts with pathogen load
How handler behavior influences stress physiology
How management timing affects microbial dynamics
How one week’s decisions become the next month’s disease patterns

The iceberg analogy fits here too: What we see in the cow is only a small fraction of what’s really happening. The larger drivers of disease sit below the surface and remain invisible unless we deliberately go looking for them.

The heart of systems thinking is recognizing that diseases are rarely linear. They are networked. They emerge not from one factor but from several interacting simultaneously, sometimes amplifying, sometimes buffering each other.

In other words, the elephant is not just trunk + tusk + leg + ear. The elephant is the relationships that connect those parts into a living organism.

The Veterinarian as a Systems Navigator

Veterinarians already intuitively use systems thinking. You’re constantly piecing together physiology, environment and behavior. The challenge is doing it intentionally rather than incidentally.

This means asking broader questions:

Where did the system fail and why?
What feedback loops are reinforcing the problem?
Which variables are upstream versus downstream?
What invisible pressures are shaping what I can see?
What happens if one part of the system changes?

When we ask these questions, we stop thinking like the blind men — competing diagnoses based on isolated observations — and start thinking like systems analysts, integrating multiple perspectives into a coherent picture.

This is also dependent on communication within the animal care team.

“Communicating about it is really important, because we are really sure about our own experiences. When I go out and collect data with my own hands and my own eyes, I’m very confident in that data, and when I see information that’s very different, I tend to disregard that information,” Vander Ley says. “We want to engage in a kind of communication that allows us to appreciate that we’ve got different pieces of the elephant in hand.”

Having an open dialogue between owners, producers, veterinarians and academics allows for a broadened perspective for understanding what the problem is.

Case Example: Reframing a ‘Simple’ Mastitis Problem

Take a herd with climbing somatic cell count and increased clinical mastitis cases. A parts-focused approach might look at:

Teat-end condition
Milking protocols
Bedding
Culture results

A systems approach goes further:

How has cow flow changed through the parlor?
Are fresh cows being mixed too early?
Has ration moisture affected rumen health and lying time?
Are staff changes altering consistency in milking prep?
Has heat stress reduced rumination and immune resilience?
Are equipment cleaning routines changing due to workload?

Suddenly, the rising cell counts are no longer an udder health issue but a system problem — a signal, not a cause.

Stepping Back to See the Elephant

The parable of the blind men isn’t merely about limited perspectives; it’s about the illusion of certainty that comes from seeing only one piece of a larger, interconnected whole.

Veterinarians do some of their best work up close: palpating, listening to internal sounds, evaluating subtle signs. But the greatest diagnostic breakthroughs often come when we deliberately widen our view and consider not just the parts but the interplay between them.

Systems thinking doesn’t replace traditional diagnostic skills, it evaluates them. It turns isolated observations into meaningful patterns. It turns symptoms into stories. It turns disease into a map we can navigate instead of a puzzle we must solve.

In the end, seeing the ‘elephant’ means seeing not just the cow or the herd but the interconnected ecosystem that shapes every outcome.

Mooving Cows: A New Approach to Training Cow Handling

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:35:24 GMT

Veterinarians have long been advocates for animal welfare, not only in treatment, but in dairy management. Yet one of the most significant welfare determinants on dairy farms often lies outside the treatment pen: how cows are moved and handled. Cow-handling practices directly affect stress physiology, lameness risk, udder health, milk let-down and handler safety. Veterinarians are uniquely positioned to influence these routines.

Studies consistently show the way cows are approached, moved and restrained has measurable impacts on cortisol levels, heart rate and behavior. Handling stress can compromise immune function, increase the incidence of masitis and interfere with reproduction. Conversely, calm, predictable handling improves milk yield and reduces fear responses over time.

Proper cow handling is not just good practice in welfare terms, but it is central to safe farms and productive herds.

When Jennifer Van Os from the University of Wisconsin-Madison spoke with producers, the need for education on animal handling became clear.

“I met with a bunch of Wisconsin dairy farm owners and managers to ask them about some of the challenges that they face with animal care and animal welfare,” Van Os says. “One of the most popular requests that I got was: Can you please come to my farm and train my staff on proper handling?”

Unfortunately, this wasn’t feasible, but she took the message to heart and considered what she could do to address the request.

Reimagining Animal Handling Training

Enter a clever training twist: the serious game ‘Mooving Cows’. Developed by Van Os and the animal welfare team at the University of Wisconsin, this digital touchscreen game enables farm staff (and anyone interested) to practice moving cows in a simulated dairy farm environment. Van Os and colleagues conducted research with four focus groups including farm staff and decision-makers (farm owners, veterinarians) on the game prototype to help shape the 1.0 release.

“Animal handling is really important for animal welfare, as well as other aspects of productivity and profitability on the farm,” Van Os says. “We know that when we handle cows appropriately, this can reduce the risk of injury, both to the cows themselves and to the people who work with them. We also know that when we handle them appropriately, it reduces cow stress levels, which then helps with milk yield as well as efficiency in the milking parlor.”

Rather than simply reading a manual, trainees play through a series of scenarios: moving cows from pasture to barn, guiding them into the milking parlor and navigating when a cow is reluctant. The game rewards patience, calm movements and minimal startling gestures, while it penalizes rushing, shouting or forcing cows into motion. In effect, it applies the principles of low-stress livestock handling in a safe, virtual form: pressure and release, staying on the edge of an animal’s flight zone, moving at a walk and staying in the cow’s line of sight.

One of the key aspects of the application is the opportunity for failure.

“There is this principle in educational video games that it provides this safe environment where you can deliberately mess up,” Van Os explains. “It provides an opportunity for you to learn by making mistakes or learn by failure, and that’s something you can’t necessarily do in training. If it’s hands-on and active and interactive, there are real life stakes where you don’t want to get injured and you don’t want the animals getting stressed or injured.”

Research performed by Van Os’ group shows users found that the application to be an easy-to-use training tool and knowledge of best cow handling practices improved after playing through the game.

‘Mooving Cows’ is completely free and is available for both Apple and Android devices. The application has been approved by the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Animal Care program for continuing education on stockmanship; completion of the game provides users with a certificate.

Van Os and her team hope to continue developing interactive, gamified cow handling applications with their sights set on training for maternity pens, the parlor and down cows.

Keeping Livestock Shows Fair, Safe and Healthy

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:31:05 GMT

Big fairs, livestock shows and equine events are more than just exhibition grounds, they’re high-visibility stages where animal health, food safety, welfare and fair competition all come into focus. Veterinarians are often approached to serve as the veterinarian on record for such events, yet few have formal training in navigating the medical, regulatory and ethical responsibilities that come with the role.

Dr. Caitlin Dobecka, the current official vet for the State Fair of Texas, talks about her experience in the role, and how veterinarians can ensure everything behind the scenes is working, not just what the public sees. Dobecka hopes she can start a dialogue on working such events, as there are currently no official guidelines in place.

“I used to keep these kinds of jobs like my best kept secret and that was a huge mistake on my part,” Dobecka says. “I was younger in my career, and I was a little bit fearful of telling other veterinarians what my protocols were because, to be honest, I wasn’t very confident in them. I didn’t have a manual or a playbook to go by.”

She now embraces the value of sharing experiences, so that they can be collaborated on and built upon. While there might be a lot of variation across events, some key considerations should hold true.

Considerations for Veterinarians at Livestock Events

Clear Contract and Expectations

Before hooves hit the ground, a strong written contract is essential. This needs to detail exactly what the expectations are along with your ideal and non-negotiable items. Essential information includes:

What services will be provided and how much of your time do they need
What equipment and materials are required and what is provided
How much staff support is available
What paperwork is required (health certificates, proof of vaccination, licenses)
How compensation will be handled

Dobecka emphasizes: “Don’t forget that you are the expert when it comes to public health, veterinary medicine and animal welfare. So yes, they need to tell you what they need from you, but don’t be afraid to speak up and say: ‘Actually, based on this schedule and the number of animals, I think you need a lot more from me, or maybe less from me.’”

Biosecurity and Animal Health Protocols

Preventing disease is preferable to reacting to disease. Biosecurity starts before the animal leaves home with a thorough health inspection. Consider both what is required of incoming animals and how to best manage animal health on-site including certified veterinary inspections, arrival inspections, unloading procedures to catch issues early and securing isolation/quarantine areas for sick animals. Pre-event planning should solidify what to do with a sick animal

Event Rules and Regulations

Events are governed by state, federal and event-specific rules. Contract veterinarians need to be familiar with the event rules pertaining to animal health, welfare and exhibition rules. Further, they must have protocols in place and facilities ready for emergencies, mortalities, euthanasia or necropsy.

Drug Testing

Drug testing can be a major responsibility for event veterinarians to ensure fairness in competition. Be certain to have clear protocols for sample collection, chain of custody and who oversees testing. Ensure there are enough staff to separate emergency care from drug-testing duties to avoid conflict of interest and contamination

One other consideration is whether security is appropriate for your event.

“Professional security is recommended for high competition events,” Dobecka says. “When you’re focusing on the drug testing, you need someone else to be enforcing the rules. Sometimes, after a really long day of showing, there’s alcohol involved, there’s 45 people in the family, and some of them want to be the one to pull the blood … but just keep them out of the area.”

Facilities, Team and Logistics

Ensure the layout, staff, and available tools are appropriate for the tasks you need to perform. Have a separate veterinary space and an animal isolation area away from the public eye. Have a loose animal protocol in place to protect human and animal safety. To avoid fatigue, organize a capable team working in shifts with scheduled rest times.

Speaking on having animals inside show rings: “Event producers, exhibitors, stock contactors, organizers; everyone needs to be on board,” Dobecka says. “Anytime we have a rodeo, we have a preproduction meeting. … It gets really old, but it is really important. … We need to be on the same page about what’s going to happen if we have an animal emergency.”

Ethics, Public Relations and Communication

Along with medical care, veterinary staff at events are also stewards of public trust and animal welfare. Be transparent with exhibitors about what is or isn’t possible within the rules. Veterinarians are often pressured to work miracles for exhibitors, but the rules need to be prioritized. Establish beforehand who will communicate with the media about any questions, concerns or publicity; consider someone with specific media training.

Benefits and Challenges

Doing this type of veterinary work can be both demanding and rewarding. While you might face challenges related to taking time away from your regular practice, and potential emotional and physical stress with high-stakes events, the benefits are also very real. You take the credit for protecting animal welfare and maintaining public and exhibitor trust in the fairness of competition.

Livestock events are complex. The success of these events depends on advance planning, clear contracts and rules, appropriate infrastructure and staffing, rigorous biosecurity, and transparency. When all of that comes together and the show goes on, both animals and people come out better for it.

Boehringer Ingelheim Launches New Continuing Education Portal

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:53:59 GMT

Boehringer Ingelheim has launched a new veterinary education portal: VetED Academy . This portal offers free RACE-accredited courses for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, practice managers, clinic staff and students to further their professional development.

VetED Academy aims to serve as a centralized location for streamlined access to continuing education (CE) for veterinary professionals.

“This portal represents our commitment to championing veterinary care and supporting the veterinary community with tools that are both clinically relevant, user friendly and reflect the way that many veterinary professionals wish to learn and develop,” said Daniel Watkins, leader of Pet Business at Boeringer in the United States.

Along with the CE courses, the new veterinary education portal will allow users to learn where they want, when they want with a mobile-friendly design. Based on the professional’s interests and completed courses, the portal will provide personalized course suggestions and allow sharing within your professional network via email or social media. The platform will also allow users to view their completed courses and earned CE credits all in one place.

“Continuing education is essential to veterinary practice, and we’re proud to offer a solution that makes it easier for professionals to stay current, earn CE credits, and deepen their expertise,” Watkins says.

Existing Boehringer customers can log in with their credentials, while new users can register quickly to start learning today.

Your next read: Keeping Current: New Continuing Education Opportunities for Food Animal Veterinarians

Beyond the Nasal Swab: Diagnostic Value of TTW and BAL

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:52:44 GMT

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in both dairy and beef cattle and represents a major driver of antimicrobial use in the industry. For practitioners, accurate case diagnosis is often complicated by the multifactorial nature of BRD, the variability of clinical signs and the limitations of common sampling approaches.

There are a number of tools out there for veterinarians working with respiratory disease, including subjective clinical illness scores and necropsy data. Dr. Jenna Bayne from the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine reminds us that while it may be difficult to hear much through a stethoscope over the sound of hydraulic chutes and noisy fans, “the art of a good, thorough physical exam should not be forgotten.”

Using non-invasive tools, such as thoracic ultrasound, may be beneficial for identifying which animals could be best for more invasive — and perhaps more costly — diagnostic techniques.

While deep nasal swabs have their place, understanding their limitations and best use cases is important. Transtracheal washes (TTW) and bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) are valuable diagnostic tools that provide direct access to the lower respiratory tract. By generating samples that are less confounded by commensal flora than nasal swabs, they allow veterinarians to more accurately identify etiologic agents and guide evidence-based therapeutic decisions. While both TTW and BAL share a similar goal, their applications, benefits and practical considerations differ.

Diagnostic Techniques

Transtracheal Wash:

TTW is performed by passing a sterile catheter to the lower airways through an incision in the trachea. After instilling a small volume of sterile saline, fluid is aspirated and collected for analysis. Samples typically represent the trachea and bronchi, offering clinically useful information with minimal equipment. TTW can be performed on adult cattle chute-side with the animal standing restrained and on lightly sedated calves positioned in sternal recumbency.

Bronchoalveolar Lavage:

BAL requires more specialized equipment, such as an endoscope or a cuffed BAL catheter, which is passed into the trachea and guided down into a bronchus. Once the catheter is wedged in place, saline is instilled and aspirated, retrieving a sample directly from the alveolar spaces. This technique is particularly useful for diffuse or interstitial lung diseases.

If you think you may be using both techniques for sample collection, start with the TTW so you don’t contaminate the lower airways — which could happen when passing the BAL tube through the nose and into the trachea.

Advantages over Alternate Methods

Other methods, such as nasal or pharyngeal swabs, are inexpensive and non-invasive, but primarily recover upper respiratory flora — which may not correlate with pathogens in the lungs. TTW and BAL samples reflect the lower respiratory tract, improving diagnostic accuracy.

And while post-mortem examination remains the gold standard for characterizing BRD, it is retrospective. TTW and BAL permit antemortem sampling and allow practitioners to intervene therapeutically.

At the same time, coughing, nasal discharge, fever and depression are non-specific and cannot differentiate between bacterial, viral or non-infectious causes. Cytology and culture from TTW or BAL add objective laboratory data to refine diagnosis.

How to Choose Your Diagnostic Methods

You may wonder when TTW or BAL could be beneficial compared to a deep nasal swab. When will an upper respiratory tract sample suffice? Can we use an upper tract sample to make interpretations or decisions for lower respiratory disease?

According to Bayne: “It depends on what we’re asking as far as the clinical question. Is this an individual animal, or am I given a good representative sample of multiple calves and using deep nasal pharyngeal swabs — which do have good agreement at the herd level — with lower respiratory tract sampling methods? It’s not to say that you need to always use a transtracheal wash. But in the very refractory cases, if you need culture and susceptibility results or you’re struggling with responsive therapy, maybe you need to go deeper into the lungs and get the most valid sample.”

Clinical and Herd Applications

For practicing veterinarians, TTW and BAL can support antimicrobial therapy by linking culture and sensitivity results to pathogens recovered from the lung. These techniques can also aid outbreak investigations by identifying circulating pathogens within a group and contribute to antimicrobial stewardship by dictating drug selection.

At the herd level, TTW is often the more pragmatic option, while BAL is frequently reserved for referral cases, research trials or complex clinical scenarios where deeper sampling is warranted.

Respiratory diagnostics in cattle will demand tools that go beyond clinical impression and superficial sampling. TTW and BAL provide practitioners with direct, antemortem access to the lower respiratory tract — supporting more accurate diagnoses, guiding rational antibiotic use and ultimately improving animal outcomes. While TTW is typically the more accessible option for field practitioners, both techniques have distinct advantages and limitations. But when used judiciously, they can significantly elevate the quality of respiratory diagnostics in cattle practice.

Practical Tips for Practitioners

Animal Selection & Restraint

Choose animals in the early stage of disease for best diagnostic yield
Adequate chute restraint is essential. Cross-tie to stabilize the head
Position the head higher for a TTW to expose the neck and more horizontally for a BAL

Aseptic Techniques

Use sterile gloves, catheters and syringes
Avoid touching catheters as they are introduced
TTW: Clip and surgically prep the neck area to reduce contamination

Sample Collection & Handling

TTW: Introduce and immediately aspirate 30 mL to 50 mL of sterile saline
BAL: Use 0.2 mL/kg to 0.3 mL/kg of sterile saline
Submit promptly for culture, molecular diagnostics and/or cytology
Keep samples chilled but not frozen

Aftercare

Monitor cattle after the procedure for signs of swelling, emphysema or distress
TTW sites should be checked for infection or leakage
Observe animals until any sedation has fully worn off

Keeping Current: New Continuing Education Opportunities for Food Animal Veterinarians

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 13:49:23 GMT

Continuing education is important for any veterinarian looking to stay up to date with the constantly evolving field of veterinary medicine. Advances in diagnostic tools, treatment protocols, and animal health trends require ongoing learning to provide the best care. For food animal veterinarians especially, staying current isn’t just about professional development, it’s a key component of ensuring animal welfare, public health, and a secure food supply.

The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine recently announced they are expanding access to their veterinary education. Their aim is to ensure food animal veterinarians have the latest information to protect animal health and support producers.

According to Craig Payne, director of veterinary extension and continuing education, the recently launched continuing education courses for veterinarians feature experts from across the U.S. The five new courses provide practical education in food animal medicine and production and cover the following topics:

Bovine Pinkeye
Internal Parasite Management in the Cow Herd
Milk Residues and Withdrawals in Goats
Theileria orientalis in Missouri Cattle
Treatment/Control of Digital Dermatitis in Beef Cattle

Each of these new offerings is worth 0.5 hours of continuing education credit per course, and the college aims to release one new course every month.

Other Resources

For veterinarians seeking more continuing education opportunities, several national organizations provide robust libraries of approved courses, tools, and support.

American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB): AAVSB manages the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) program, which ensures continuing education courses meet standardized criteria. Veterinarians can search the RACE database to find approved online and in-person courses that comply with their state’s licensing requirements.
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA): The AVMA offers a wide range of online continuing education courses through its AVMA Axon platform. These courses span topics such as clinical medicine, practice management, and public health and well-being. Many are free for AVMA members and are RACE-approved for license renewal.
North American Veterinary Community (NAVC): Through its VetFolio platform, NAVC offers hundreds of continuing education courses, webinars, and podcasts across a wide range of species and specialties. VetFolio also features interactive content and modules that make it easy for busy professionals to learn on their own schedule.

These platforms are particularly valuable for veterinarians working in rural areas who may not have access to large conferences or in-person seminars. Whether you’re brushing up on clinical skills or diving into emerging topics, these trusted organizations offer flexible and comprehensive options for professional development.

Staying up to date on advancements in veterinary medicine is vital for veterinary professionals at all career stages. With the University of Missouri and other institutions expanding their offerings, there’s never been a better time to invest in your continued professional growth.

A Unique, Hands-On Approach to Training Tomorrow’s Dairy Veterinarians

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 19:34:28 GMT

Large animal veterinarians specializing in dairy have almost become the unicorns of the industry. In a space that is nearly dominated by small animal vets, finding young professionals interested in pursuing a dairy-focused practice has become increasingly rare. That’s why hands-on programs like the University of Vermont’s CREAM Program (Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management), are playing a vital role in developing the next generation of dairy veterinarians.

Stephen Wadsworth, the current director of CREAM, brings more than four decades of dairy veterinary experience to the role. As a teacher for the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, his background in private practice offers students a direct link between academic concepts and real-world applications in dairy herd management.

“The CREAM program was started in 1988 by an animal geneticist on faculty,” Wadsworth explains. “It’s a 60-cow tiestall, high-producing registered Holstein herd, currently averaging about 100 lb. per day, and it’s run almost exclusively by undergraduate animal science students, most of whom are pre-vet and have never even handled a dairy cow before.”

What began as a temporary teaching position in 2018 quickly became a full-time role that Wadsworth calls more rewarding than he ever expected. After four decades in a busy, six-person dairy practice in northwestern Vermont, he welcomed the opportunity to pass on his knowledge to those just entering the profession.

“Though I should be retired, it’s too much fun,” he says. “It’s been far more gratifying than I imagined.”

Beyond the Books: Learning by Doing
According to Wadsworth, the CREAM program offers more than just basic classroom learning. Students participate in every aspect of managing the university’s dairy herd, from milking and feeding to reproductive protocols and record-keeping. The immersive experience prepares them for future roles in veterinary school and beyond.

Currently, the program is divided into three core areas: academic instruction, work skill development, and community and personal growth.

“First, there’s lecture, about two and a half hours per week where I cover livestock medicine, herd health and management principles,” Wadsworth says. “Second is work skill development. Many of these students have never held jobs requiring punctuality or responsibility. So, they learn that when we say you have to be here at 3:30 a.m. for morning milking, it really means 3:20 a.m., or preferably 3:15 a.m. to set up the parlor.”

He adds that the third area, community and personal development, might be the most impactful.

“We talk about what it means to be a person of good character and how to work together in a group,” Wadsworth says, noting how the first few days learning how to operate a dairy is challenging for the students.

“You’ve got 20 students working together to milk 60 cows in a double-six parlor. Some days it’s like herding cats,” he laughs. “The first milking during the summer took seven hours, but now they’re down to an hour and a half. But in a few weeks, there’s this tight community and new friendships formed, and students leave the program saying it was the most transformative thing they’ve ever done in their life.”

While the program serves as a steppingstone for students applying to veterinary school, it often leads to a deeper transformation.

“Some students come in thinking this is just a box to check for their application,” Wadsworth says. “But many convert to being interested in a dairy practice. When they are accepted into vet school, many decide to pursue a career in dairy medicine as a result of their time here, which is gratifying beyond words.”

As the veterinary profession continues to evolve, programs like CREAM offer an essential on-ramp for students with little or no agricultural background.

“We know there isn’t necessarily a shortage of food animal veterinarians, but we do have geographic placement challenges,” Wadsworth says. “And fewer young people are growing up on farms. So, it’s vital to provide this kind of exposure to what dairy farming really looks like.”

That exposure includes full responsibility for the daily care of the UVM CREAM herd. Students handle all aspects of herd management, including milking three times per day as well as cleaning, feeding calves and administering medical treatments under guidance. Each student completes three to four chores weekly, one of which always includes the early morning milking. They’re also involved in calving, fresh cow and calf care, vaccinations and reproductive synchronization. Additionally, every student is assigned a specialty area and expected to keep the group informed on that topic throughout the program.

Wadsworth is careful to emphasize the skills students gain are universally applicable across herd sizes and management systems.

“If you understand the biology of a cow — the physiology of ketosis, reproduction and mastitis — those fundamentals apply whether you’re on a 60-cow tiestall or a 6,000-cow commercial dairy,” he says. “It may look different, but the principles are the same.”

To add to this experience, Wadsworth is currently organizing a six-farm tour for his students to further broaden their exposure to different dairy operations across northern Vermont.

“It gives them the opportunity to see firsthand how those principles scale and adapt,” he says. “The goal is to provide a strong foundation so they can walk into any herd and understand what’s happening.”

For students without previous large-animal experience, the smaller scale of the CREAM herd offers an ideal environment to build confidence and competence.

“You could argue that animal handling and husbandry are easier to learn in a 60-cow herd than a larger operation,” Wadsworth notes. “But here, they have more direct contact with the animals and more opportunities to take ownership of daily tasks. That kind of engagement really accelerates learning.”

For Wadsworth, transitioning from private practice to academia has brought a new and refreshing challenge.

“I feel privileged to be here,” he says. “Watching these students grow over the course of the program is something special.”

As the veterinary industry looks to the future, programs like CREAM are helping ensure the next generation of dairy veterinarians are equipped with knowledge, hands-on experience and respect for the work ahead.

To learn more about UVM’s CREAM Program, watch here:

Veterinary Medicine Leader Appointed Dean Of Texas A&M College Of Veterinary Medicine And Biomedical Sciences

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 17:50:43 GMT

Texas A&M University has appointed nationally recognized veterinary medical leader Dr. Bonnie R. Rush as the next dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS). She will begin her new role Aug. 1, 2025.

Rush currently serves as the Hodes Family Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University. Over more than 30 years at Kansas State, she has earned a national reputation for advancing veterinary education, student wellness, faculty development and community outreach, while championing research excellence and clinical service.

“Dr. Rush brings to Texas A&M an extraordinary record of academic leadership, clinical insight and institutional vision,” said Dr. Alan Sams, executive vice president and provost. “Her commitment to innovation, wellness and student success aligns perfectly with the mission of the university and the VMBS. I’m confident she will elevate the impact of our veterinary programs across Texas and beyond.”

Rush joined Kansas State’s faculty in 1993 as an associate professor of equine internal medicine and rose through the ranks to department head, then hospital director and, in 2017, to dean. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Large Animal) and an internationally respected voice in veterinary internal medicine, medical education and student well-being.

During her tenure as dean, she led the creation of multiple Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) certificate programs and expanded clinical outreach through high-impact shelter medicine and community rotations. She also launched a donor-funded student wellness program — now a national model for veterinary schools — and oversaw major faculty and staff development initiatives, as well as the renovation of teaching and hospital facilities.

Her leadership helped secure federal funding from the National Institutes of Health to support a new biomedical research facility on the Kansas State campus.

Rush currently serves as president of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, a role that gives her a national platform to address the future of veterinary education and workforce development.

“I’m deeply honored to join Texas A&M and lead a college with such a distinguished legacy in veterinary medicine, biomedical sciences and One Health research,” Rush said. “The faculty, staff and students at VMBS are at the forefront of the profession, and I’m excited to partner with them to advance education, research and service in ways that truly matter to animals, people and communities.”

Rush earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, summa cum laude, and a Master of Science in Veterinary Clinical Sciences from The Ohio State University. Her scholarship has focused on respiratory disease in horses, as well as evidence-based approaches to clinical teaching.

She succeeds Dr. John August, who has served as dean since 2020 and will remain in the role through July to ensure a smooth transition.

August, who has led VMBS since 2020, will continue supporting the college through the leadership transition. He is widely credited with strengthening clinical partnerships, expanding research programs and leading the college through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with integrity and compassion

OSU Receives $250M Investment to Build World-Class Veterinary Teaching Hospital

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:20:21 GMT

Veterinarians are essential, from rural ranches to urban centers, fueling economic growth and ensuring the safety of our food supply and public health. Last week, Oklahoma State University received $250-million state funding appropriation to support the construction of a new, state-of-the-art veterinary teaching hospital.

The current veterinary hospital was identified as a key concern when the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine was placed on probationary accreditation in the fall of 2024. The American Veterinary Medical Association has since returned the college to full accreditation status emphasizing that continued compliance is tied to facility upgrades.

“We have a building and equipment that is not reflective of the quality of people we have here,” says Rosslyn Biggs, DVM, OSU assistant clinical professor and director of the Center for Rural Veterinary Medicine.

Biggs says the program’s primary goal is to create practice-ready veterinarians, with a particular focus on mixed and large animal veterinary medicine.

She compares students trained in the current hospital to high-quality livestock coming off a used cattle trailer. “It’s not what the trailer looks like, it’s what stepped out of the trailer that matters, right? It was the product that we were producing.”

She explains that while the building is outdated and past its useful life, the quality of educational output remains exceptional. Just like a trailer’s appearance doesn’t define its value; the hospital’s old infrastructure doesn’t diminish the quality of veterinarians OSU produces or the service it provides. She further elaborates that just as a trailer might need new floors and lights, the hospital needs updates to match the quality of its faculty, staff and students.

“This investment is program-changing,” Biggs says. “It’s program-changing, not only for our students and faculty and staff, but also for animal owners across the state, particularly our farmers and ranchers in rural areas that need the support to do what they do — feed and clothe the world.”

This investment, the largest state appropriation in university history, combined with $78 million allocated in 2023, marks a significant step in advancing the future of veterinary education, food security and public health in Oklahoma.

“We have a great foundation, but this investment is positioning us to be where we should be,” Biggs adds. “We have a priority to serve rural areas, to serve the animal owners there, and help support the veterinarians and work with them, hand in hand.”

The new hospital will feature modern equipment and technologies essential for both large and small animal care, including advanced imaging tools (CT, MRI, radiography and ultrasound), a linear accelerator for oncology treatments and an aqua cow float tank.

The new 255,000-sq.-ft. facility will replace the existing 145,376-sq.-ft. veterinary hospital, which was built to serve 60 students but now supports more than 150. With this expansion, OSU will address one of the most urgent infrastructure needs in its veterinary program while expanding its ability to train the next generation of veterinarians.

Biggs summarizes the investment will allow OSU to upgrade its infrastructure, technology and diagnostic capabilities.

“The goal is to create a facility that meets modern standards and can serve the state and region for decades,” she says.

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AABP Annual Conference will 'Focus on Value'

Wed, 07 May 2025 14:32:28 GMT

The 58^th American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Annual Conference will be held Sept. 11-13 in Omaha, Neb., at the Chi Health Center Convention Center. Registration is open at https://aabp.org/meeting/ . Early registration ends July 31.

“The theme for this conference is ‘Focus on Value’,” says AABP President-Elect and 2025 Program Chair Dr. Callie Willingham.

“Thinking about being in Omaha, our program committee naturally thought of Warren Buffet, the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, and one of his quotes being along the lines of ‘cost is what you pay for something, but value is what you get’. That quote really hit home with us,” Dr. Willingham says.

“As veterinarians and business owners, we often focus on the costs charged to our clients and don’t always take the time to focus on the value that those services provide to our clients and their animals. Veterinary practices also provide immense value to their team members and their communities,” she adds.

Willingham says AABP is very excited to welcome keynote speaker Natasha Nicholes, founder of We Sow We Grow, and an urban farmer on the South Side Chicago. “She’ll touch on the importance of agriculture and food production, in all forms, in supporting and uniting communities.”

“The core mission of AABP has always been to provide continuing education to our members which includes cattle veterinarians, credentialed veterinary technicians and students,” adds AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich. “Omaha has historically been a great location for our annual conference and we look forward to inviting our members back to learn, network and socialize.”

The conference’s preconference seminar schedule offers something for everyone. “I am among the many bovine veterinarians who have said ‘an AABP preconference seminar that I took earlier in my career changed my life’,” says AABP Vice President and Preconference Seminar Chair Dr. Mark Hilton. “What I learned I immediately put to practice and allowed me to offer a service I would have never been able to offer if not for that seminar.” See preconference seminar information at https://aabp.org/meeting/preconference.asp .

Scientific sessions at the conference will include cutting-edge information on beef and dairy medicine and health, practice management, clinical skills, preconference seminars, clinical forums, research summaries, practice tips, student sessions, mental health sessions and more (see the schedule at https://aabp.org/meeting/conference.asp ). The American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners will meet jointly with AABP. The conference will be submitted for RACE-approved continuing education.

Other events include the student Quiz Bowl, student case presentations, research summaries, awards and scholarships, the Job Fair, the 12^th 5K Stampede Fun Run, the Amstutz live and silent scholarship auctions and more. Members and affiliated partners can donate and/or browse auction items at https://aabp.org/auction/ .

This will be the 12^th year for the 5K Stampede Fun Run sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, with proceeds benefitting the Amstutz Scholarship Fund. Conference attendees can sign up for the 5K when they register for the conference.

Family-friendly, the conference also offers a childcare/family room and complimentary registration for childcare givers.

Find all conference information at https://aabp.org under the Continuing Education tab.

#AABP2025

AABP is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization serving cattle veterinary medicine professionals across the United States, Canada and other countries. Visit https://aabp.org and like us on Facebook.

Mexico Takes Additional Measures to Help Fight New World Screwworm

Thu, 01 May 2025 20:55:30 GMT

USDA has announced that Mexico agreed to additional measures to help fight New World Screwworm (NWS). The U.S. had given Mexico a deadline of April 30 to follow protocols in place or the U.S. would put restrictions on cattle imports.

USDA Secretary Rollins posted on X.com that Mexico has resumed efforts to help fight NWS with the following:

Eliminate restrictions on USDA aircraft
Waive customs duties on eradication equipment
Increase surveillance

(X.com)

Rollins says ports will remain open to livestock imports at this time, however if at any time these terms are not upheld, port closure will be revisited. The secretary had sent a letter to Mexico outlining the expectations for cooperation on the issue.

Protocols had been established in February after the pest was discovered in southern Mexico in November 2024.

“I am happy to share Mexico has continued to partner in emergency efforts to eradicate the New World Screwworm,” Rollins says. “This pest is a devastating threat to both of our economies, and I am pleased to work together with Mexico in good faith to protect the livelihoods of our ranchers and producers who would have been hurt by this pest.”

Rollins reiterated that USDA is working every day to keep pests and disease from harming the agricultural industry.

“I thank our frontline USDA staff and their counterparts in Mexico for their work to ensure the screwworm does not harm our livestock industry,” she adds.

NWS is a deadly parasitic fly that infests warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds and complications that can lead to death.

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Milk Quality Seminar For Bovine Veterinarians Slated

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 15:28:32 GMT

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) is hosting its Milk Quality Seminar on May 16-17, 2025, in Ashland, Ohio. The seminar is approved for 15 hours of continuing education in jurisdictions that recognize RACE approval.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich will be joined by Dr. Brandon Treichler and Dr. Justine Britten at the event.

Dr. Treichler emphasizes that veterinarians are uniquely positioned to help their clients be successful and milk quality is an important part of that success. Somatic cell counts in U.S. and Canadian herds have been on the decline, but clinical mastitis rates can be problematic on dairies.

Dr. Britten will be leading the diagnostic portions of the seminar, including correct plating, reading plates and discussing other mastitis diagnostics which will be clinically relevant and practical. Event leaders will also discuss the farm visit portion of the seminar where you will participate in parlor observation, equipment evaluation, employee monitoring and training, environmental evaluation and stall evaluation.

The fee for the seminar is $450, and a local hotel block has been secured for just $129 per night, which includes breakfast. Attendees are also provided lunch on both days of the seminar.

AABP is offering these seminars outside of the annual and recent graduate conference to expand its continuing education opportunities for members at a lower cost and less time away from practice.

This seminar will be useful to the novice milk quality consultant, and will also provide information for those wanting to advance their current skill set, Dr. Gingrich says.

He adds that mastitis is the No. 1 disease affecting dairy cows and it is important for dairy veterinarians to understand how to develop comprehensive milk quality programs for their clients.

This seminar is limited to 25 attendees, and you must be an AABP member to attend. Veterinary technicians who are AABP members are also welcome to attend and practices can send technicians to learn these skills to support the veterinary team.

To find out more information and to register, visit this page . Find all AABP CE opportunities under the “Continuing Education” menu of the AABP website. All upcoming non-conference seminars are on this page .

Legislators Reintroduce Bill to Recruit and Retain Veterinarians in High-Need Areas

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 20:44:19 GMT

The Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, bipartisan legislation to help recruit and retain veterinarians in underserved and rural areas, was reintroduced by Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Representatives Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and John Larson (D-Conn.).

“In nearly every state in the country, there are shortages for veterinarians, especially in rural areas,” Sen. Smith says. “This record shortage causes serious harm to the health of animals and the public. Providing additional funding to the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) and updating the tax code to better serve veterinarians will allow more qualified vets to do vital work with our animals in underserved communities.”

Strongly endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), this would expand the reach and maximize the allocated funding of the highly successful VMLRP, which can help to attract veterinarians in USDA-designated veterinary shortage areas by assisting with the significant obstacle of educational debt. It would also end the federal taxation on VMLRP awards, allowing more veterinarians to participate in a program that offers up to $120,000 over three years for student loan repayment in exchange for service in one of the designated shortage areas. In addition, it would align the tax code with human and other healthcare professions’ award funds.

“Veterinarians are vital to the work of America’s farmers and ranchers and the integrity of our food supply chain. Yet many areas of the country suffer from lack of access to their services,” Rep. Smith says. “This bipartisan bill would make commonsense tax relief available to veterinarians who choose to live and work in the communities which need their help to care for their livestock and protect the agriculture industry from pests and disease. I thank my colleagues for joining me in reintroducing it.”

In 2025, the USDA declared 243 rural veterinary shortage areas in 46 states, which is the highest number of shortage areas ever, AVMA said in a release. Since 2010, the USDA has awarded 883 VMLRP awards to veterinarians; meanwhile, 2,197 applications have been received to participate in the program since its inception.

“Recruiting and retaining veterinarians through the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act is key to protecting our nation’s food supply, preserving animal welfare, and upholding public health,” Sandra Faeh, AVMA president, said in a release. “Livestock and public health veterinarians are essential to strengthening the nation’s animal health infrastructure and agricultural economy. We urge Congress to address this increasingly important issue by passing the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act.”

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$20,000 in Student Scholarships offered by Purina Animal Nutrition

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:31:35 GMT

Purina Animal Nutrition, along with the Land O’Lakes Foundation, has reopened its annual scholarship program designed to assist students with experience in livestock production and animal stewardship in pursuing their passions and furthering their education.

Undergraduate students and current high school seniors who have experience raising and caring for small or large livestock, equine and/or poultry are eligible to apply for a $5,000 scholarship. Four students will be awarded based on applications that illustrate the impact animal agriculture has had on their lives along with details on academic achievements, leadership skills, community involvement and a clear vision for their future.

Scholarship applications will be accepted March 18 through April 17, and awardees will be notified in June. Funds will be distributed for the Fall 2025 semester at their current or anticipated educational institution.

The scholarship is open to all high school seniors who plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school for the entire upcoming academic semester/term and undergraduate students enrolled in an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school.

To learn more about and apply to the Purina Animal Nutrition Scholarship, visit https://www.purinamills.com/scholarship .

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Gene Editing: Livestock Genetic Improvement Through DNA Editing

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 17:18:10 GMT

Traditional cattle breeding has always involved modifying the genetics of animals, but the term “genetic modification” is often associated with more modern biotechnologies like genetic engineering and gene editing.

“Often when people hear the expression ‘genetic modification’ what comes to mind is the whole GMO debate and scary memes on the Internet, or that if you eat GMOs something bad will happen to you,” says Alison Van Eenennaam, UC Davis animal biotechnology and genomics extension specialist. “That narrative has been very hard to correct.”

Van Eenennaam was a featured speaker during Kansas State University’s Cattlemen’s Day on March 7. Genetic engineering, which has been around for about 30 years, involves introducing transgenic constructs from other organisms, such as Bt corn. However, this technology has seen limited use in animal production due to consumer pushback against GMOs and the difficulty of introducing new traits into animals, Van Eenennaam says.

A newer technology called genome editing or gene editing has emerged in the last decade.

“Gene editing is basically just conventional breeding, but done more intelligently,” she summarizes. “This allows for the targeted manipulation of an animal’s DNA without introducing foreign genetic material. For example, researchers have developed a ‘PRRS-resistant’ pig by knocking out a gene that the virus uses to infect the animal. Gene editing can also be used to introduce beneficial alleles from one breed into the elite germplasm of another, without diluting the desired genetics.”

In cattle, gene editing has been used to create knockouts for traits like disease resistance and heat tolerance, as well as knock-ins to introduce desirable alleles like the polled trait.

“In 2009, we were able to define the entire sequence of the cattle genome, which gave us a look at the genetic variation that exists between cattle breeds,” Van Eenennaam says. “In the case of cattle, that’s about 3 billion base pairs of DNA that make up the cattle genome.”

She explained there are two ways to gene edit cattle — cloning and microinjection into zygotes. “The key difference is that cloning starts with an edited cell line, while microinjection edits the zygote directly,” she says. “Ultimately, the goal is to produce a homozygous, non-mosaic animal where both alleles carry the desired edit, ensuring the trait is passed on to offspring.”

Van Eenennaam explains a few of the cattle-focused gene editing projects have centered around traits like polled, disease resistance, heat tolerance and muscle development.

In the swine industry, she says gene editing is being used to improve a pig’s resistance to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRSV), a devastating disease that costs the swine industry about $1.2 billion per year in the U.S.

A gene editing project that could have a big impact the beef industry is surrogate sires or “artificial insemination on legs.” The process produces bulls that are generating semen from a different cell line. For example, a tropically adapted bull working in an environment where he is well suited, but his semen could be genetically, an Angus sire.

“You can basically do AI on legs, because you could naturally service with elite germplasm,” she says. “There’s a lot of different applications that have some potential to really benefit the beef industry.”

Gene editing technology still faces regulatory hurdles in the U.S., as well as the need to overcome perceptions among countries that buy U.S. beef.

Van Eenennaam says the main risks with gene editing are more reputational than safety-related, as activist groups may try to lump gene editing with GMOs. She encourages more discussion highlighting how gene editing can address issues like animal welfare and disease resistance in ways that align with consumer values.

Excited about the potential of gene editing to improve livestock production in a targeted and precise manner, she summarizes that regulatory approaches will be crucial in determining which applications reach the market and who can bring them forward.

You can watch her K-State Cattlemen’s Day presentation here: https://youtu.be/d7N7a6mYwDk

Your Next Read: Modern and Precise: Using Gene Editing to Change the Blueprint of an Organism

DCRC Webinar to Address Economics of Methane-Reducing Feed Additives

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 21:03:43 GMT

Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council’s (DCRC) April 3 webinar features the “economic considerations of methane-reducing feed additives.”

This free, one-hour educational offering starts at 2 p.m. Central time (Chicago time). Fernanda Ferreira, director, agriculture methane at Clean Air Task Force (CATF), will discuss methane-reducing feed additives and carbon markets.

The use of methane-reducing feed additives is a tool to reduce the methane impact from livestock. For dairy farmers and their technical team, it is important that the economic challenges and opportunities of these additives are well understood.

During this webinar, Ferreira will discuss these challenges and opportunities – focusing on voluntary carbon markets and inset markets, and sharing useful insights that will help dairy decision-makers make more informed decisions about methane-reducing feed additives.

To register for this DCRC webinar, go to: https://bit.ly/April3DCRCFerr . If you are a DCRC member and cannot attend the live program, you may access the webinar recording at www. dcrcouncil.org after April 17.

Ferreira’s work experience is a blend of industry, academia, public sector and management consulting, bringing more than 15 years of experience working with sustainable livestock production and management systems in the United States and Latin America.

Prior to joining CATF, Ferreira worked for the Brazilian government, evaluating sustainable food animal production systems in the Amazon region. As a professor at the University of California, Davis, Ferreira established a prolific research program focused on evaluating the economic feasibility of sustainable farm-level practices for the dairy and beef industries.

Ferreira earned a veterinary degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, a master’s degree in preventive veterinary medicine from the University of California, Davis, and a PhD in animal science from the University of Florida.

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians may earn one Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) credit for attending this DCRC webinar. To learn more about this opportunity, contact JoDee Sattler at: jodee@dcrcouncil.org .

For more information about DCRC’s webinars, e-mail Caio Figueiredo, DCRC Education Committee chair, at: caio.figueiredo@wsu.edu or e-mail DCRC at: jodee@dcrcouncil.org .

The Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council is focused on bringing together all sectors of the dairy industry – producers, consultants, academia and allied industry professionals – for improved reproductive performance. DCRC provides an unprecedented opportunity for all groups to work together to take dairy cattle reproduction to the next level.