BCI hosts Canadian livestock traceability expert

By Shelby Mettlen, communications  and marketing specialist

The Beef Cattle Institute (BCI) at Kansas State University hosted Anne Brunet-Burgess, general manager of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA), at the Innovation Center at K-State’s Research Park on May 17. Her presentation coincided with a discussion on livestock traceability in the United States among the BCI, Kansas Livestock Association, Kansas Department of Agriculture and private industry stakeholders.

The CCIA provides oversight for the Canadian Cattle Identification Program, Canada’s industry-initiated and -established trace-back system designed for the containment and eradication of animal disease. The program is led by a board of directors representing livestock producers, auction markets, livestock dealers, feedlots, veterinarians and processors.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) requires all regulated species –– beef and dairy cattle, bison, sheep, and goats –– to have RFID indicators.

“The intent is all about health,” Brunet-Burgess said, “At the end of the day, our mandate is to have that information in the event of a disease outbreak.”

“We appreciated the opportunity to have Ms. Brunet-Burgess join us in Manhattan for a discussion on Canada’s implementation of a disease traceability system,” said Cassie Kniebel, BCI program manager. “As we (beef industry stakeholders) evaluate the potential infrastructure for a system in Kansas and across the country, understanding current systems and their role in resuming and maintaining commerce in the event of a disease outbreak is important.”

While the concept of traceability is not new, Dr. Brad White, BCI director, noted a mindset shift in recent years.

“Historically, concerns about technology, privacy and economic costs have challenged the development of a cattle disease traceability system,” he said. “Today, industry stakeholders recognize the need for a viable end-to-end cattle disease traceability system which provides critical tools to manage a disease outbreak and may provide opportunities to add value to the industry.”

Vet Call: The role of research in the future of beef production

By Dr. Bob Larson, DVM
Reprinted with permission from the Angus Journal.

Known cattle production efficiency and health problems, new challenges and opportunities, changing economic and societal situations, and human curiosity all drive the need for beef cattle research. Recognizing the need for research means that cattle producers, scientists, and many other stake-holders agree that there are opportunities to improve diverse areas of cattle health and well-being, production, and economics. From a veterinary perspective, investigations of management, genetic selection, and technology interventions to increase reproductive efficiency, improve forage utilization, increase disease avoidance, and enhance disease treatment effectiveness are exciting areas of research. Because of ongoing research, veterinarians and beef cattle producers can look forward to having more information and new tools to improve cattle health and well-being, production efficiency, and long-term sustainability.

Careful and accurate observation of cattle and their environments plays an essential role in scientific research, but observation alone will not lead to new understanding about how to improve cattle production. Research combines careful observation with specific strategies to account for the natural variation that occurs when different individual cattle are treated identically, and with methods to limit unintended biases from interfering with a true interpretation of how cattle behave and respond to different environments and treatments.

The reason that cattle research must be carefully planned is that cattle health and well-being and production efficiency are influenced by a complex interaction of many biologic and economic factors. The biologic factors include: cattle genetics, forage quality and availability, the presence and types of different disease risks, the varying impact of temperature, humidity, and other environmental features on different cattle, how cattle respond to the stresses they encounter, and many other factors. Observations of relatively few animals or observations taken over a short period of time often fail to allow a person to accurately understand the many factors that interact to cause an outcome.

Because of these challenges, even very well-planned research projects can only answer one or two fairly limited questions at a time. But a long-term approach to solving the important questions facing cattle veterinarians and producers through a series of studies carried out on a variety of cattle types, ages, and environments, slowly allows researchers to build an understanding of the interacting factors that can be managed to improve cattle production.

Some of the interesting areas being researched now include: investigations into the role that genetics plays on which cattle are most likely to be resistant to various diseases, research comparing the ability of diagnostic tests to more accurately identify cattle that can spread disease to other animals, and comparisons between different methods of preventing or treating diseases that commonly affect cattle. In addition, there are very interesting investigations that ask if managing cattle in certain ways will enhance their ability to graze and utilize available forages, other studies concerned with finding how cattle best utilize different types of feeds, and studies that investigate how nutrition at one stage of life affect other stages of life (even years later). There are also exciting areas of research to improve reproductive efficiency of cattle by investigating more accurate ways to sort bulls into high- and low-reproductively sound classifications, to enhance the fertility of cows, and to reduce the risk of abortion in pregnant cows. Many studies are looking for ways to utilize new technologies such as computers, genetic testing, GPS tracking, and miniature robots to improve cattle production. Other areas of study include investigations of cattle behavior, grazing patterns, rumen function, growth efficiency, response to vaccinations, and resistance to disease based on time-tested production methods.

Regardless of the area being studied, research is a slow, step-by-step process with very few leaps in new knowledge. But the results of multiple well-planned research studies evaluated over time and across different production situations gradually adds to our understanding of the factors that impact cattle health and well-being and production efficiency. Current cattle producers and veterinarians benefit from many decades of research that has provided valuable strategies and tools that are used daily. The research that is being conducted today will provide additional breakthroughs in the coming years.

Dr. Larson is a professor of production medicine with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, Edgar E. and Elizabeth Coleman Chair of Food Animal Production Medicine, executive director of Veterinary Medical Continuing Education, and faculty member with the Beef Cattle Institute. His area of specialization is the integration of animal health, production efficiency and economic considerations in beef cattle production. This column is reprinted and redistributed with permission from the Angus Journal

Research Update: Beating BRD

By Shelby Mettlen, communications and marketing specialist

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the most common –– and one of the most costly –– diseases affecting North American feedlots. The USDA-APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) reports that more than 21% of cattle are affected by BRD, and previous estimates of the annual economic losses due to death, reduced feed efficiency and treatment cost related to the disease are between $800-900 million.

A recent study conducted by Dr. Dustin Pendell, associate professor of agricultural economics and faculty member with the Beef Cattle Institute, and Kamina Johnson, USDA-APHIS, focused on discussions surrounding new technologies and management strategies that could result in lower BRD prevalence.

“Kamina and I were interested in understanding how a new technology or management program with widespread adoption would affect the beef industry and allied industries,” Dr. Pendell says. A better understanding of the impacts of BRD on beef and allied industries should lead to better decisions being made.

Reduction of BRD prevalence in feedlots translates to an increase in the supply of beef due to lower morbidity and mortality, Dr. Pendell explains. “With an increase in beef cattle supplies, there is a higher demand for feedstuffs leading to higher feedstuff prices.”

Of course, increased cattle supply and downward pressure on beef prices means a loss in returns to beef cattle producers. The silver lining lies with consumers, who benefit from lower beef prices.

“The positive impact on consumers outweighs the negative impact on producers, resulting in an overall positive net impact to society,” Dr. Pendell says.

Early adoption has benefits
“With new technologies related to animal health issues, there will be some winners and some losers,” Dr. Pendell says. “Although the aggregated U.S. beef cattle industry sees a negative return, it is most likely that the early adopters will experience positive returns.”

Market impacts of reducing BRD in feedlots result in lower prices on beef cattle due to increased supply. More beef cattle means higher demand for feedstuffs (and higher prices for feedstuffs, providing greater profits to those producers). As the supply of beef cattle increases and puts downward pressure on the price of beef, consumers will substitute away from other protein sources (pork, poultry and lamb) to beef.

“This information will hopefully help the industry better understand how new technologies and management strategies that come online for BRD, or any other animal health issue, will impact not only their industry, but the allied industries as well in terms of both the magnitude and scope,” Dr. Pendell says.

See the published research paper.

Dr. Dustin Pendell is an associate professor of agricultural economics with Kansas State University and a faculty member with the Beef Cattle Institute. His areas of specialization include animal identification and traceability, animal health economics, and livestock and meat economics.

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Young Bull Management, Drought and AI Synchronization

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! Our podcast was developed with the on-the-go listener in mind. Drs. Brad White, Bob Larson, Bob Weaber and Dustin Pendell contribute to the podcast. Listen for discussion on topics relevant to today’s beef industry professionals.

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