Herd Health

Costing an estimated $900 million to cattle producers each year, it’s no secret bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the biggest threats to the profitability of feedlots in the U.S.

Despite producers’ best efforts, sometimes silage will succumb to yeasts, molds and other microbes that can cause spoilage. Heating, mold growth or mustiness are all signs the silage is aerobically unstable. The losses due to unstable silage can be huge: The most highly digestible nutrients go first, and then the tonnage of feed available starts to really drop.

The mosquito bites from yet another post-tornadic storm fence check are a clear reminder it’s time to fill the cattle backrubs.

There are few diseases to cross headlines that equally capture the attention of cattle producers and the general public like bovine tuberculosis (TB).

The mysterious foothill abortion disease in cattle was first seen in the foothill regions of coastal and central California – and recognized in the 1940s as different from brucellosis. It also occurs in southern Oregon and Nevada.

We have all quoted, or at least heard, the age-old adage: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the old saying is the go-to phrase for opening discussions everywhere regarding biosecurity.