Processing Babies, Listener Question, Gut Health: not just the rumen

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3:00: Processing Babies, labor and facility

11:00: Listener Question

17:30: Gut Health: not just the rumen

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!

Preconditioning as a marketing strategy for feeder cattle 

Cattle producers who manage newly-weaned feeder cattle recognize that calves that are castrated and dehorned, trucked, commingled with new pen-mates, and given a completely new diet – all near the time of weaning, are at high risk for bovine respiratory disease. Pneumonia or bovine respiratory disease (also known as BRD) can be caused by a combination of several factors. These factors are stress (shipment, mixing with new cattle, and diet change), viral infection, and bacterial infection. BRD is generally considered to be a disease of stocker or feedlot cattle that are trucked to a feeding facility, commingled with new animals, and exposed to new feed and water sources. Age is also a factor with recently weaned calves and light stocker calves having higher sickness and death risk than yearling cattle.  

Preconditioning programs aim to reduce the number of stressful situations that a feeder calf has to deal with as it is moved from the ranch of origin to a stocker or feedlot operation. Trucking and exposure to new animals is unavoidable in most situations, but other known stresses can be managed. Preconditioning programs have been designed by universities, pharmaceutical and biological companies, marketing groups, and integrated production chain alliances.  The overall target of decreasing the risk of BRD and other diseases is the same among different preconditioning programs, yet specific requirements can vary widely.  For example, preconditioning programs for cattle entering an all-natural program may differ from programs for cattle in a traditional management scheme.  Other examples include the utilization or prohibition of specific vaccines, dewormers, growth implants, feed additives, and feed ingredients. 

Castration and dehorning have been shown to severely decrease feed intake and gain and increase the risk of disease when done at the feedlot. If these stresses can be done earlier in life (<2-4 months of age), the negative effects are greatly reduced. Castration prior to shipment is one of the oldest and most common components of preconditioning programs.  Bull calves that are not castrated until they arrive at a feedyard or stocker facility have higher risk of illness and death and decreased performance relative to comparable steer mates.  Whether or not bull calves have been castrated is easy to tell, and castrated calves typically garner higher prices than comparable intact bull calves. 

Because viral diseases such as IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis) and BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) are associated with BRD, vaccination programs to decrease the risk of infection with these viruses are key components of preconditioning programs. Vaccines directed against bacteria that are associated with BRD such as Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, and Haemophilus somnus are included in some preconditioning programs, but not all. The challenge in developing the best vaccination strategy is to select the correct vaccines and to deliver them in the best fashion and at the correct times to create a response that will protect the calves. 

Weaning on the ranch of origin for 30 to 45 days is a component of many preconditioning programs.  Calves in these systems face relatively low levels of disease challenge because they are not trucked or commingled with new cattle during the stressful period immediately following separation from their dams and tend to have comparatively low risk of becoming sick.   

Preconditioning programs may also require that calves become accustomed to grain-based feeds fed in a feedbunk. The greatest risk for BRD occurs soon after arrival to the feedyard, and adequate nutrition in the first weeks is critical to allow the animal to overcome stress and disease challenges. Better feed intake in the arrival period is believed to be strongly influenced by familiarity with feeds other than grass or hay and by feeding behaviors other than grazing. Inclusion of a period allowing cattle to understand the procedure for eating from a bunk in the low-stress environment of their home ranch is a valuable component of a complete preconditioning program.   

Feeder calf nutritional status is difficult to evaluate visually, but body condition is often used as a gauge of previous management.  Preconditioning programs that incorporate weaning and feeding for a period of time may result in cattle with good flesh scores at the time of sale.  Fleshy cattle may be viewed as healthier, yet still garner a price discount because buyers will be unable to capture compensatory gains.  The goal is to find a balance between healthy calves with adequate nutritional status and the potential for rapid, efficient weight gains after the calves leave the ranch. 

Adding management such as dehorning and castration, vaccinating, weaning and starting on a grain-based diet are designed to reduce the risk of disease once an animal has left the ranch of origin, but these activities will increase costs for cow-calf producers. In order to benefit from these expenditures, producers must increase the income they receive for their calves (price ´ pounds). Preconditioned calves routinely receive a higher price than similar calves that have not been preconditioned, but net income includes not only the price received, but also the total weight sold and costs incurred; therefore, producers considering a preconditioning program should calculate the difference between their cost of weight gain and the increased value of the weight gain. Before determining the economic risks and rewards of preconditioning, several factors including the marketing method and timing, cyclical market fluctuations, fixed costs (overhead), variable costs (primarily feed), and the goals of the producer should be considered.  

Cow-calf producers may face obstacles to implement preconditioning management on their ranch due to lack of facilities and labor necessary to keep weaned calves on the farm, or from a reluctance to bear the health risks for post-weaning calves. In some areas of the country, raised or local feedstuffs are not available at a price that allows low cost of gain. These obstacles are legitimate reasons that some producers should not precondition their calves. To overcome these obstacles, producers must be able to utilize cost-effective weaning, working, and feeding facilities, obtain feed at a competitive cost, grow the calves at a high enough rate of gain to allow a low cost of gain, and sell the calves in marketing channels and to buyers that reward preconditioning. Another consideration that supports increased utilization of precondition by cow-calf producers is that beef production is shifting toward a consumer focus and new areas are achieving more attention including: individual animal identification, value-based marketing, animal health and welfare, food safety, as well as source, process, and age verification.  These changes in the beef industry are compatible with concepts of preconditioning management and should serve to generate further interest in preconditioning throughout the beef production chain. 

Diving into Diets: Grass Tetany

Grass tetany is caused by low levels of magnesium in the blood and normally strikes in late spring during peak lactation. Join Dr. Phillip Lancaster and Dr. Brad White as they discuss multiple ways to combat grass tetany in cattle herds.

Lameness, Factors Impacting Birth Weight, Research Round-Up 

 

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.

2:41  Lameness; is it all foot rot? 

10:58  Factors Impacting Birth Weight 

17:09 Research Round-Up 

Guest: Rachel Brown Master and Vet Student 

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!

Tox Talk: Girl’s Night Out Gone Wrong

We’ve all had cows get out, but it’s especially frustrating when they get into things they aren’t supposed to. Check out what happened in this case when a girl’s night out took a turn for the worst…

Male Fertility, Value Proposition Of Reproduction Technology And Genomic Selection

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2:54 – Male Fertility 

11:32 – Value Proposition Of Reproduction Technology 

17:30 – Genomic Selection 

Guest: Dr. Clay Briener, Veterinary for Cross Country Genetics

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!

After the Abstract: Lung lesions effect on relapse rate and growth performance

When treating cattle for bovine respiratory disease, it is difficult to know whether or not the treatment will be successful. Join Dr. Brian Lubbers and Dr. Brad White as they discuss a paper focused on lung lesions and the affect they have on relapse rate and growth performance.

View the discussed paper here: Association of lung lesions measured by thoracic ultrasonography at first diagnosis of bronchopneumonia with relapse rate and growth performance in feedlot cattle

Grass Tetany, Hidden Operational Costs, Listener Question

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2:43 Grass Tetany

11:29 Hidden Operational Costs

17:06 Listener Question: Calf is Not Doing Well

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!

Seasonal Vitamin A Supplementation to Beef Cows and Calves 

The nutritional value of forage changes throughout the growing season and changes in crude protein and digestibility are often discussed. However, other nutrients also change in forage throughout the growing season such as vitamin A. Vitamin A is a dietary essential nutrient, meaning that the animal cannot synthesize it, important for vision, immune function, and reproduction. The estimated vitamin A requirement for gestating cows, lactating cows, and growing calves is 1,270, 1,770, and 1,000 IU/lb dry feed or 27, 38, and 21 IU/lb body weight. Thus, a 1300-lb spring calving cow would need to consume 50,000 IU from March to October and 35,000 from October to March. 

The vitamin A content of forages is not equal across species or locations. Figure 1 illustrates the vitamin A content of forages in Ohio and North Carolina. Fescue pasture easily meets the nutritional requirements of gestating and lactating cows, but alfalfa, fescue, and orchardgrass hay may be marginal to deficient. Additionally, growing native prairie grasses exceed the Vitamin A requirement of beef cows, but dormant forages are deficient (Figure 2). Thus, vitamin A supplementation is probably not necessary during the grazing season to meet the current nutritional requirements, but dry conditions can significantly decrease vitamin A in grazed forage.  

Beef cows can store vitamin A in their liver for 4 to 6 months and so may be able to go through the fall with minimal supplementation. We have little information on the amount of vitamin A necessary to build up liver stores and, thus, summer mineral supplements often contain enough vitamin A to meet the current requirements. There is little chance of toxicity problems with over feeding vitamin A. 

Vitamin A needs to be supplemented from late fall through early spring until cows are grazing green pastures. A vitamin and mineral supplement with a target intake of 4 oz/head/day should contain 150,000 to 200,000 IU/lb of vitamin A. 

Changing vitamin A content of forages throughout the year, the species of forage, and the storage method and time is important to consider when evaluating vitamin and mineral supplements. Work with your veterinarian or nutritionist to make sure the supplementation program is adequate, but not overly costly. 

Figure 1. Vitamin A content of forages harvested in June or July then sampled for analysis in September or October. Pasture was harvested and sampled in August and September. Lines represent the nutritional requirement for gestating and lactating cows. Adapted from Pickworth et al. (2012). 
Figure 2. Changes in Vitamin A throughout the year in comparison with the nutritional requirement for gestating and lactating cows.  

Bright, Alert, and Responsive Down Cows

When you find a down cow, it can be easy to assume she is sick, but what if she isn’t showing any sickness signs? She’s bright, alert, and responsive, but the problem is that she can’t stand. Dr. Matt Mesiner and Dr. Brad White talk through this case on Bovine Science with BCI.

Cross-sectional study to describe bovine leukemia virus herd and within-herd ELISA prevalence and bovine leukemia virus proviral load of convenience-sampled Kansas beef cow-calf herds

No evidence for a negative association between bovine leukemia virus status and fertility in Kansas beef herds: a cross-sectional study

Listener Question, NIAA, Economic Questions, Electric Fencing

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.

1:32 – -Listener Question – Daylight and Breeding for Cows
Reference Article

6:11 National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) Update

10:39 Economic Questions

17:01 Electric Fencing for Grazing

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!

Herd Health: Keep or Cull?

A common question we get asked is what to do about open two year olds. Should a producer keep or cull them? Dr. Bob Larson answers questions about cost breakdowns and more on this episode of Herd Health.

To see the spread sheet referenced in the episode, visit our Calculators page.

Processing Calves, Implanting Bulls, Pre-Pasture Turnout Checklist

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3:08 Processing Calves at Turnout

11:26 Listener Question: Implanting Bulls  

16:20 Pre-pasture Turnout Checklist
Beef Quality Assurance  

Guest: Julia Herman, Beef Cattle Specialist Veterinary

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!

Summer Pneumonia of Suckling Calves 

Calves running with their dams on grass pastures are considered to be at low risk for developing pneumonia because they are not facing any of the risks typically associated with bovine respiratory disease (i.e. trucking, commingling, diet change, etc.). However, every year, outbreaks of “summer pneumonia” in calves occur in some herds. The viruses and bacteria that are associated with summer pneumonia of suckling calves are very common and it is assumed that they are present in every herd of cattle. Therefore, these disease-causing germs are only a problem if they are able to multiply in the lungs to the point where they cause enough damage for the calf to show signs of illness.  

Even though the well-known stresses that often contribute to pneumonia in weaned calves are not present in suckling calves on pasture; stresses such as dust, temperature swings between afternoon highs and nighttime lows, or close contact with other calves are believed to increase the risk of summer pneumonia.  

Because cattle grazing pastures are not typically observed daily, the first sign of problems may be finding one or more dead calves with other calves showing signs of pneumonia such as rapid breathing, laying down and being reluctant to rise, and having a high rectal temperature. I recommend that a necropsy be performed on calves that are found dead in the pasture in order to look for signs of pneumonia or other potential causes of death. A number of other causes of loss in suckling calves such as: blackleg, sudden death caused by Clostridial perfringens, trauma, and digestive tract disease can be differentiated from pneumonia by a necropsy examination. In some situations, tissue samples may be sent to a diagnostic laboratory for further investigation.  

Calves that exhibit signs of pneumonia should be treated with injectable antibiotics to combat bacterial causes of respiratory disease. If treated early enough in the disease process, many calves are likely to recover; however, calves with advanced lung damage may not respond to treatment. If the pneumonia is caused by a virus such as bovine respiratory syncitial virus (BRSV), antibiotic treatment will not be a directly effective treatment. In addition to antibiotic treatment, young calves with pneumonia should be protected from weather extremes, dusty conditions, and poor forage – this may require moving them and their dam to a new pasture or grass-trap.  

Because a number of different bacteria and viruses can cause pneumonia in suckling calves, prevention is focused on: protecting calves from environmental stress, ensuring that adequate forage is available for the dam and calf, as well as maintaining good herd immunity with available vaccines. Some veterinarians recommend that herds with a history of summer pneumonia vaccinate young calves at “turn-out” or “branding time” with vaccines against the viruses IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis), BVD (bovine viral diarrhea), PI3 (parainfluenza 3), and BRSV (bovine respiratory syncitial virus) as well as bacteria that are associated with pneumonia such as Mannheimia haemolytica, or possibly Pasturella multocida and Histophilus somni. The theory behind this strategy is that summer pneumonia is most likely to occur as the immune protection from the dam that the calf received in colostrum is declining and before the calf develops its own immunity to common pneumonia-causing germs. The specific vaccines that you should consider should be decided by working with your veterinarian to identify your risk and likely effectiveness of calf vaccinations. Following the label directions and working with your veterinarian will help guide the selection of the type and timing of vaccination to reduce the risk of summer pneumonia. 

It may not be possible to completely avoid the risk of an outbreak of pneumonia in suckling calves, but focusing on good overall health of the cows and calves by: meeting the herd’s nutritional needs, providing a good environment, and timely use of vaccinations in the cows and calves are important tools. If calves are affected with pneumonia while suckling their dams on summer range, they should be given the best possible care and treated with appropriate antibiotics. No one likes dealing with summer pneumonia of calves, but working to decrease the risk and being prepared to recognize and treat cases early are the best methods to be prepared to minimize losses. 

Diving into Diets: Minerals

What type of mineral should you be using on your cows? Does the time of year have an impact on mineral requirement? What economical factors effect mineral choice? These questions and more are answered by Dr. Phillip Lancaster and Dr. Brad White on this episode of Diving into Diets.

Feeding Cows, Dairy Beef, Front End Loading

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2:28 Feeding Cows Too Much or Not Enough

10:28 Dairy Beef Changes/Expansion 

16:40 Potential Solutions to Front End Loading

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!

Tox Talk: Freezing Conditions and 20 Dead

What would cause only 30 out of 50 head to make it through the night after they were put in the barn, shielded from the winter storm? This case had everyone scratching their heads trying to figure out what had happened. Listen to this episode to hear toxicologist Scott Fritz and Dr. Brad White work through this bizarre case.

IVF/Reproduction, Breeding Questions, Fertility in Herds

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3:04 IVF/Reproduction

10:05 Breeding Questions  

16:57 What Have You Learned About Fertility in Herds

Guest: Dr. Clay Briener, Veterinary for Cross Country Genetics

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!

Soybean vs. Corn Processing Coproducts: The Changing Feed Ingredient Landscape 

The push for renewable energy has a full head of steam and is and will cause changes in how we feed cattle. Many remember the ethanol boom in the 2000s that resulted in a run up in corn prices and a large supply of corn ethanol coproducts (distillers grains, corn steep, etc.). The beef industry adapted by replacing corn in feedlot rations and using distillers grains in supplements for cows and calves grazing pasture.  

During the ethanol process, corn starch is fermented to ethanol resulting in the distillers grains consisting of the corn hull, protein, and fat making it an excellent feed source for cattle. The hull is a highly digestible fiber that works well in supplements for cattle consuming high forage diets as it does not decrease rumen pH like starch and consequently decrease forage digestion. If dried correctly, the protein in distillers grains provides a good balance of rumen degradable and undegradable protein, and the fat increases the energy value without negatively affecting forage digestion as it is not free oil. 

The new wave of renewable energy is focused on biodiesel, which at this point is primarily coming from production of oilseed crops – soybeans, canola, cottonseed, etc. Thus, we expect to see a shift in acres of oilseed crops replacing acres of corn. Reduced production of corn will again increase the price of corn as ethanol and livestock vie for the lower supply. However, the increased crush of oilseeds will result in a larger supply of coproducts from these manufacturing processes. The supply of oilseed meals – soybean meal, cottonseed meal, and canola meal – will increase making them more cost effective for cattle diets and supplements. Additionally, soybean hulls are a high fiber coproduct of the soybean crushing process. 

Potential nutritional deficiencies exist with replacing distillers grains with oilseed meal and soybean hulls in beef cattle diets. Soybean hulls are a highly digestible fiber like distillers grains, but lack protein and fat; thus, have a lower energy value than distillers grains (Figure 1). Oilseed meals are high in protein (soybean meal = 54%; cottonseed meal = 45%; canola meal = 41%), but obviously low in fat. Thus, coproducts of the oilseed crushing process lack some nutritional aspects of distillers grains. 

A recent study evaluated replacing distillers grains in a feedlot finishing ration with a combination of soybean meal and soybean hulls. In this study, there was no difference in cattle performance or carcass quality between treatments. Thus, a combination of soybean meal and hulls was able to adequately replace distillers grains at 15% of a dry rolled corn diet. Further research is needed to evaluate these types of scenarios in various diets and production systems. 

In conclusion, feed ingredient availability is changing, which will affect diet formulations for drylot cattle and supplements for pasture cattle. The availability of distillers grains may decrease and ethanol manufacturing may look to remove the fat and protein from distillers grains for more valuable markets in order to offset the increased cost of corn. However, the availability of coproducts from oilseed manufacturing will increase and can, at least partially, replace the nutrients in distillers grains. 

Figure 1. Nutrient profile of distillers grains (DDG), soybean hulls (SBH), and soybean meal (SBM). NDF = neutral detergent fiber; ME = metabolizable energy. 

After the Abstract: Enrofloxacin Treatment of Acute Anaplasmosis

Join Dr. Brian Lubbers and Dr. Brad White on this episode of After the Abstract where they discuss the paper titled: Clinical effectiveness of enrofloxacin 100 mg/mL injectable solution for the treatment of acute anaplasmosis in cattle caused by Anaplasma marginale.

Clinical effectiveness of enrofloxacin 100 mg/mL injectable solution for the treatment of acute anaplasmosis in cattle caused by Anaplasma marginale

After the Abstract is recorded with the goal of assisting veterinarians in the interpretation of scientific literature.  This podcast is not an endorsement of specific practices and medical decisions should only be made in consultation with your veterinarian. 

** Baytril CA-1 is no longer marketed for use in the US.

Beef Advocacy, Defining Sustainability, Beef Checkoff Research

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.

4:21 How to be a Beef Advocate?

11:28 Sustainability is it Important to Me?

17:35 Checkoff-funded Beef Nutrition Research
Kansas Beef Council Research

Guests: Abby Heidari, Director of Nutrition at Kansas Beef Council
Grace Jacobson, Communications Coordinator at Kansas Beef Council  

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!

A Case of Bloat?

When discussing bloat in cattle, there are many types, each requiring different treatment options. Hear from Dr. Matt Miesner and Dr. Brad White as they discuss an odd case of bloat on this week’s episode of Bovine Science with BCI.

Fescue Toxicosis

Tall fescue is a commonly grown forage for cattle, particularly in the southeastern and lower midwest states, as well as the Pacific northwest. This grass originally came from Europe and was discovered growing in a few isolated stands in the U.S. in the early 1930’s. It was recognized as being easy to establish with a long growing season, resistant to drought and insects, and able to grow on many types of soil. However, it was soon discovered that cattle performance was negatively affected by the grass. 

Today, we know that a high percentage of tall fescue pastures are infected with a fungus that grows inside the plant (so it is not visible to the eye) and the fungus produces a number of chemicals that provide both the positive and negative attributes of the grass. Not all fescue pastures are infected with endophyte fungus, and the percentage of plants in a given pasture that are infected will vary from one pasture to another. Generally speaking, the greater the percentage of plants infested with the fungus in a pasture, the greater the negative effects of fescue toxicosis. Although the fungus is found throughout the tall fescue plant, it is found in the highest concentration in the seed head and stems with lesser concentrations in the leaves. The fungus can be spread to un-infected pastures if infected seeds blow or are transported to bare ground where it can become established. 

Cattle grazing heavily infected stands will consume less grass, gain less weight, and have lower pregnancy rates than cattle grazing other types of forage. Cattle with fescue toxicosis syndrome are often recognized by having a rough, long haircoat and being thin. In addition, severely affected cattle will have high body temperature, and they will attempt to cool themselves by standing in water and seeking shade. Blood flow to the feet, tail switch, and ears is reduced, and in cold weather, affected cattle can slough the ends of their tails and the tips of their ears and in some cases, even the hooves can slough. 

Cattlemen with infected tall fescue pastures have a number of options. In many situations, because of fescue’s positive properties, they may choose to live with it and work to reduce the negative effects by inter-seeding legumes into the pasture to dilute the intake of fescue. In addition, if other types of forage are available, cattle can be moved off of infected pastures during the summer months when the effects are most severe. If fescue is grazed heavily so that the plants are kept short, less endophyte fungus will be present in each bite of grass. Grain supplementation also acts to dilute the amount of endophyte consumed. Cows fed grain along with highly infected fescue hay had reduced winter weight loss and improved pregnancy rates compared to cows fed infected hay alone.

Some producers may decide to invest the resources necessary to avoid the endophyte completely by replanting infected stands of tall fescue with non-infected varieties of fescue or other grasses. There are endophyte-free as well as novel-endophyte varieties of tall fescue that can be used to replace the endophyte infested stand. The novel-endophyte varieties are infected with strains of fungus that provide some of the beneficial effects with few of the detrimental effects. 

Attempts to reduce the effects of the endophyte fungus through feed additives or treatments applied to the cattle have not consistently shown benefits. However, it is recommended that cattle grazing infected fescue not be additionally stressed by heavy parasite loads, mineral deficiencies, or other disease. The best approach to managing fescue so that the negative effects of the endophyte are minimized will depend on your local conditions. By working closely with area extension and agronomy specialists, you can develop a plan for coping with this problem.

Listener Question, Brian’s Trip, Research Round Up

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.

2:23 Listener Question – Dystocia in Heifers 

10:24 Brian’s Trip to Australia for the Antimicrobial Conference

17:07 Research Round-Up

Guests: Lilli Heinen, BCI PhD and Vet Student

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!

Herd Health: Front End Loading

Join Dr. Bob Larson and Dr. Brad White as they discuss what front end loading is, why it’s important, and how you can us this knowledge to help your producers.

Find links to discussed tables and calculators here: https://ksubci.org/tools/calculators/