Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! This episode one of our students Liliana Rivas joins to tell us about her research with beef-dairy cross calves. Next, Marshall Stewart is back to tell us about K-State’s new project with Garden City Community College. Dr. Lancaster finishes the episode by answering a listener question concerning a cow feed program. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode!
3:00 Liliana Rivas Research Update
10:05 Marshall Stewart: Garden City Partnership
16:48 Listener Question: Feed Program
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on X at @ksubci, Facebook, 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!
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! In this episode Dr. Bob Larson and Dr. Brian Lubbers discuss what Leptospirosis is and whether we should vaccinate for it every year. Next Dr. Brad White asks the crew what affects mud can have on a cattle herd and what can we do to help. Finally they answer a listener question pertaining to mineral programs. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode!
3:02 Leptospirosis
9:16 Mud
13:52 Listener Question: Mineral Program
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on X at @ksubci, Facebook, 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!
In this episode of Herd Health Dr. Bob Larson brings an article studying Doppler ultrasounds on cattle. Dr. Brad White and Dr. Larson discuss what this technology could mean for the future of analyzing cows. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode!
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! On this episode we have a very special guest, Dr. Marshall Stewart, the Executive Vice President for External Engagement and Chief of Staff here at K-State. Dr. Larson begins our episode by asking the experts about the importance of outreach and extension. Next they answer a listener question concerning senior cows. Finally, Dr. Stewart and the experts give some advice on those wanting to get into ranching and where to begin. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode!
2:12 Outreach with Marshall Stewart
10:06 Listener Question: Senior Cows
14:24 Starting a Ranch
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on X at @ksubci, Facebook, 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!
This episode of Herd Health a Bovine Science podcast with BCI our hosts discuss research on bull fertility. Dr. Bob Larson and Dr. Brad White dive into a paper from Assumpção and Hamilton. This research evaluates bull sperm to analyze what amount of bulls pass the BSE but end up being infertile.
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! On this episode our experts along with guest host Dr. Todd Gunderson discuss the New World Screwworm or Cochliomyia hominivorax. Next they answer a listener question about water belly or urolithiasis. Finally Dr. Dustin Pendell is back with some tips on book keeping in cold weather. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode!
3:00 New World Screwworm
8:58 Listener Question: Water belly
14:22 Cold Weather Tips
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on X at @ksubci, Facebook, 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!
Bob Larson, DVM, PhD Reproductive physiologist and Epidemiologist Beef Cattle Institute Kansas State University RLarson@vet.k-state.edu
Every businessperson must keep his/her customers in mind in all management decisions. The cow/calf producer has two customers to please: 1) the owner of the calves once they leave the ranch and 2) the beef-eating consumer.
Once calves leave the ranch, ideally they should adapt quickly to the new environment and ration so that health problems are kept to a minimum and growth and efficiency are enhanced. Supplying calves that have been properly immunized and adapted to concentrate rations will fulfill the needs of the feeder. Lingering health problems, over-conditioning, drug or physical adulteration that will carry through to the beef-eating consumer, or injection blemishes that carry through the feeding period are concerns of your feedlot customers.
The beef-eating consumer wants a product that is safe, free from drug residues, free of injection blemishes or abscesses, and flavorful. It is every producer’s job to ensure that every steak, hamburger and roast that comes out of his farm or lot can meet the customers’ demands. Avoiding violative drug residues starts with a plan and record keeping system that emphasizes the proper treatment of disease and identification of treated animals. Proper treatment for any disease begins with using the correct drug at the correct dosage for the proper length of time. In order to ensure that you are meeting these requirements, a close working relationship with a veterinarian is essential. A commitment to keeping animals with drug residues off the consumer’s plate means identifying and delaying marketing of animals treated with a drug until such a time as they have been untreated for the minimum number of days stated on the label if the drug was used exactly as specified on the label; or for an extended period of time, as determined by your veterinarian, if the product was used in any extra-label fashion.
In addition to being assured that the beef they purchase is free of residues, consumers have every right to expect their meat to be free of injection blemishes. By following simple standards of sanitation and animal handling, the incidence of injection site blemishes should be extremely small. Animals should be properly restrained and the syringes and other dosing equipment should be clean and functioning properly. Needles should be changed every 10 head or more frequently, and no more than 10 cc should be administered in any one sight. Any product that is labeled for subcutaneous administration should be given by that route, and any products labeled for intramuscular administration only should be given into non-prime cuts, such as the neck muscles.
Cattlemen, their employees, veterinarian, nutritionist, and any others involved with the ranch must each examine what could go wrong from their prospective in the delivery of a safe, wholesome and desirable product to the consumer. Once potential problems are identified, strategies or production practices are put into place to avoid those problems from ever occurring. Methods of record-keeping, employee training, and daily practices are instituted to check and verify (and document) that you are accomplishing what you intended to do. A well-planned BQA program is designed so that everyday management activities act to eliminate potential problems.
A good place to start when planning your herds program is with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s BQA guidelines. http://www.bqa.org/
In the initial call Dr. Scott Fritz receives a box of cattle to determine what caused 30% death loss after heifers were put out on grass. Find out how they got to the bottom of this case on this episode of Tox Talk with Dr. Brad White and Dr. Scott Fritz. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the show!
The toxicology website and Bovine Sciences with BCI podcasts have been sponsored in part through a veterinary services grant that Dr. Scott Fritz, Dr. Steve Ensley and Dr. Bob Larson have received to share more toxicology information and examples for people to understand what to submit and how to submit. Another part of that grant has been working with people and producer in the field.
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! This week’s episode sponsored by ESTROTECT and brings Dr. Ken Odde to bring some insightful knowledge into some of the research he has done. Dr. Odde starts the episode by talking about selecting semen based on sex and doing so commercially. Dr. Dustin Pendell then brings some questions to the group regarding meat consumption. Finally the experts discuss twinning, and the opportunities involved in purposefully birthing twins.
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Facebook or X 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!
Castration is one of the oldest and most common surgical procedures done on beef cattle. The reasons that bulls are castrated include: controlling which males are allowed to breed females, to produce animals that are easier to manage due to decreased aggressive and sexual behavior, and to produce a carcass that is higher quality.
A variety of simple surgical techniques can be used to castrate a bull. Young bull calves less than 250 lbs. are usually castrated lying down or in a calf cradle. Older and larger bull calves are generally castrated in the standing position in a squeeze chute. Regardless of the position, proper castration technique and good sanitation are important to minimize problems following castration.
For commercial producers, bull calves should be castrated as young as is practical for the farm or ranch. Purebred producers castrate a smaller percentage of bull calves than commercial producers and prefer to delay castration until the calves have an opportunity to express growth and other traits. Weight gain of bulls castrated at a young age and treated with a growth-promoting implant will equal that of calves left as bulls until weaning – thus removing an economic incentive to delay castration. One reason it is recommended that castration be done at a young age is that bulls castrated at weaning age (i.e. 6-8 months) will gain very poorly or will lose weight following the surgery and are at higher risk for post-castration infection or excessive bleeding than younger calves. In addition, castration is starting to receive more attention from an animal welfare standpoint.
The reason that producers need to consider the welfare aspects of castration is that all physical methods of castration cause pain. The extent and duration of pain probably differs between castration methods, and more work needs to be done to identify the least painful procedures. Age at castration also appears to affect the pain response in castrated bulls, with some research trials demonstrating fewer indications of pain in calves castrated at less than a week of age compared to older calves; and other trials show apparently less pain response in calves castrated less than 21 days of age compared to 42 day old calves.
As we look at other countries and how they view castration of bulls – in England, regulations require that any bull greater than two months of age be given local anesthesia to deaden the ability to feel pain at the castration site and the surgery must be done by a veterinarian. Anesthesia and pain medication are required for castration in several northern European countries. Anesthesia is also required for castration of bulls in Switzerland and the use of rubber rings is prohibited. Regulations in Ireland require use of anesthesia for castration of cattle older than six months of age. In the United States, few drugs are approved for use to control pain in cattle and while research has not clarified the best combination of products, utilizing one or more methods of pain control at the time of castration is becoming common in the U.S as well.
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! This episode begins with our experts answering a listener question about laminitis and ways to treat it. The show progresses with a conversation concerning coccidiosis and how to tell if it’s affecting your herd. To wrap up this edition of Cattle Chat, Dr. Brad White asks the experts some commonly asked questions in their expertise
2:13 Listener Question: Laminitis
8:17 Coccidiosis
13:04 Variety Questions
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCI, Facebook, 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!
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! Dr. Brad White, Dr. Phillip Lancaster, Dr. Dustin Pendell and Dr. Brian Lubbers cover photosensitization in cattle with guest Dr. Scott Fritz. They then discuss some economic trade questions from Dustin followed by a look at the importance of water quality.
3:34 Photosensitization and how to manage it.
10:30 Questions from Dustin on international trade.
15:30 Discussion about water quality from Scott.
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCI, Facebook, 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 big conversation topic today is methane emissions. How does the beef industry affect greenhouse gas emissions and what are we doing to help. Dr. Phillip Lancaster and Dr. Brad White explain all things methane during this episode of Diving into Diets: a Bovine Science with BCI podcast.
