Stump the Experts, Prevention Calf Scours, Colostrum Follow-Up, Bull Spring Training

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

1:42 Stump the experts

7:55 Preventing calf scours

17:19 Listener question: colostrum follow-up

23:45 Bull Spring Training

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Synchronization Programs in Heifers, Cold Stress Management, Sustainability in Grasslands

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4:01 Planning synchronization programs for heifers

13:15 Cold stress management

22:22 Sustainability in grasslands

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Eric Atkinson, Technology for Information, Ag Innovations, Trends in Information Gathering

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Guest: Eric Atkinson

2:00 Introduction to Eric Atkinson

4:05 Technology for Information

14:55 Upcoming agriculture innovations

21:15 Trends in information gathering

Agriculture Today

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Regenerative vs. Sustainable Agriculture: What is the difference?

By Phillip Lancaster

In the last 20 to 30 years, there has been a lot of discussion about sustainable agriculture. ‘Sustainable’ has been a buzzword in many industries for the last 20 years with everybody from farmers and ranchers to multi-billion-dollar corporations trying to find ways to be more sustainable. But what does the word sustainable really mean? If we break down the word, ‘sustain’ means to strengthen or support according to Oxford Dictionary. In the context of agriculture, we generally think of sustainability as the ability to support or maintain food production into the future, which suggests more efficient resource use. Agriculture has made tremendous strides in efficiency of resource use over the last 50 years.

Lately, the term regenerative agriculture has become a new buzz word, but it is really not a new concept. Robert Rodale coined the term ‘regenerative organic agriculture’ in the late 1970s as an approach that encouraged continuous innovation and improvement. Breaking down the word, regenerate means to regrow or replace what is lost. In the context of agriculture, we generally think of regenerative as replacing soil carbon/organic matter that was lost due to soil tillage or overgrazing. Again, agriculture has made tremendous strides in replacing soil carbon with adoption of no-till and cover cropping practices, and management intensive grazing in the last 30 years.

There are other aspects of the ecosystem such as plant and animal biodiversity that also fall under the idea of regenerative agriculture. Researchers are beginning to understand how grassland and rangeland management impacts plant species composition and wildlife populations, and developing novel management strategies to such as patch burning to enhance plant and animal biodiversity.

Many of the agricultural management practices that we considered sustainable are also regenerative. Whether the practice is sustainable or regenerative depends on the context of the situation in which the practice is being used. All soils have a maximum attainable soil organic carbon content based on physical characteristics (clay content, bulk density) and climate (rainfall, temperature). For example, a rancher whose soil has reached its maximum attainable soil organic carbon and practices management intensive grazing is sustaining the level of carbon. A second rancher whose soil has not reached its maximum attainable soil organic carbon and practices management intensive grazing is regenerating the level of carbon. Thus, even though they are using the same management practice, the first rancher is practicing sustainable agriculture whereas the second rancher is practicing regenerative agriculture.

As with soil organic carbon, a maximum attainable level of other aspects of the ecosystem will be achieved with regenerative agriculture.  At this point, we will move from replacing what was lost to maintaining the new level, and from regenerative agriculture to sustainable agriculture.

Breeding and Heterogeneity, Colostrum, International Trade, Bull Social Introduction

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

3:40 Listener question: breeding and heterogeneity

7:47 Colostrum

17:59 International trade

22:53 Listener question: bull social introduction

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Lead Poisoning

Bob L. Larson, DVM, PhD
Beef Cattle Institute
Kansas State University

Many times when we think of cattle diseases we concentrate on infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses, or we may think of parasites such as worms, lice, and flies. But, it is important to remember that poisons can also cause rapid death and severe illness in cattle. Cattle, especially young calves, can be very curious about unusual items found in their environment, and they often explore with their tongues and mouths. Sometimes cattle will find and consume improperly disposed of farm chemicals or industrial chemicals around discard piles, electrical transformers and power line poles, or oil pump jacks, but the most common form of poisoning in cattle is due to eating lead. The most common sources of lead include batteries from electric fences and discarded vehicles, old radiators, used crankcase oil, grease from machinery, lead shotgun pellets, construction materials such as putty, lead plumbing, and old paint, and ash from fires where lead-contaminated construction materials were burned. If you ranch in an area with lead mines, the soil and water can be high in lead.

High levels of lead in the body affect red blood cells, bone marrow, and small blood vessels. It will cause abnormal signaling between nerve cells, and will severely damage the kidneys and other organs. In fact lead can have many different negative effects on the body because it can interfere with many different types of enzymes and chemicals necessary for normal body function.

Cattle are more sensitive to lead than most other species and don’t have to consume very much lead to have very sudden and severe problems. Many times, the first sign that a rancher notices is one or more dead calves within a day or two of being exposed to a source of lead. Other calves (and occasionally older cattle) in the group may appear to be blind or they may circle or press their heads against solid objects, cattle may have muscle tremors, teeth grinding, frothing at the mouth, or signs of colic. Cattle with any of these symptoms usually die within 12 to 24 hours. These signs can be very similar to other diseases such as grass tetany, polio, nervous coccidiosis, listeriosis, or rabies, so a veterinarian should be called to investigate the problem.

Because cattle are very sensitive to lead, even small amounts cause severe disease and death in at least part of the herd. Other species are not as sensitive to lead and my show mild signs of illness when exposed. Occasionally, rather than dying, older cattle or cattle exposed to very low doses of lead may show digestive tract problems such as going off feed, becoming constipated or colicky, or having diarrhea. This may be followed by signs of brain or nervous system problems such as blindness, head pressing, or staggering. Infertility of both bulls and cows has been reported following exposure to low levels of lead over a long period of time.

If calves that die due to lead poisoning are necropsied (cut open to examine the body organs), the veterinarian may find nothing that indicates the cause of death, or he/she may find some reddened intestines or lungs – which could look like a clostridial disease or pneumonia. Occasionally, the veterinarian may find evidence of unusual stomach contents, but samples of blood or kidneys are the best samples to diagnose lead poisoning.

It is generally not recommended to treat cattle with signs of lead poisoning because the treatment is very unlikely to be successful. Cattle with lead toxicity are not fit for human consumption because high lead levels can be passed to consumers through the meat. In fact, up to a year or longer after a confirmed lead exposure, cattle that were possibly exposed to lead should have a blood sample tested before they are sold into marketing channels leading to human consumption because they may be carrying high levels of the dangerous mineral. There is no known use for lead in the human body and no acceptable level in the human diet because of its severe negative effects; therefore, every attempt must be made to keep lead out of the food chain.

If lead poisoning is suspected, immediately remove all cattle from the pasture. Treatment begun before signs of disease are noticed may be helpful, and you and your veterinarian may choose to treat young calves that were exposed to lead but that are not showing signs of poisoning. There are treatments given by stomach tube to try to flush the lead out of the digestive tract (magnesium sulfate – Epsom salts), high doses of thiamin (a B-vitamin), and a compound administered into the bloodstream (calcium-EDTA) to tie-up lead circulating in the blood. The treatment of lead poisoning requires multiple treatments per day over several days of therapy and calcium-EDTA administered into the blood is expensive.

This serious problem can be prevented by making sure that your cattle cannot come into contact with old cars or farm equipment, batteries, construction materials, lead paint, or old burn piles. Many times, old equipment or trash piles have been present in a pasture for many years with no problems and then because something disturbs the trash, a fence is moved, or younger cattle are placed in the pasture, cattle can suddenly die of lead poisoning.