Herd Health

We’ve learned a lot from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have learned to stock up their pantries and the basics of home cooking; businesses have learned productivity can be maintained while working from home. And, beef veterinarians, well, they have learned there are similarities between managing cattle and human health.

COVID-19-related impacts on the beef industry have many producers wondering when the best time is to market this year’s calf crop and asking if it pays to hold calves and put extra weight on them.

The decision on which replacement females to keep for your breeding herd is one of the more important decisions you make.

Selection of replacement heifers should happen at pregnancy diagnosis, not at weaning. Not every heifer that gets bred is a profitable investment to retain.

With many producers’ cows safely calved and the youngsters looking shiny, a natural question arises – what will keep them healthy and growing through the remainder of the hot summer?

Some cattle at high elevations suffer pulmonary artery hypertension (brisket disease), which leads to congestive heart failure. Cattle at low elevations are also susceptible to bovine congestive heart failure (BCHF).