Health_Nutrition

Is Blackleg Looming?

Learn how the weather can affect clostridial diseases and what you can do to keep your herd protected.

From blizzards to torrential flooding, dramatic weather continues to challenge cattle producers. There are many things to worry about when the weather is bad, but there’s a threat that may not be top of mind — blackleg.

Don’t Waste Fuel

The dependable feed efficiency tool you could be overlooking.

Measuring the amount of starch in cattle manure is essential to keeping track of efficiency and capturing opportunity cost in any operation. Most of the time, efficiency is measured by the feed-to-gain ratio, but seldom is the amount of feed that passes through cattle to the manure measured. Fecal starch is just that — the amount of starch undigested and unused.

New Vaccine Research Facility

Zoetis establishes research facility with Texas A&M University to develop vaccines.

Zoetis has signed an agreement with Texas A&M University’s Health Science Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) to establish a facility for accelerating the development of transboundary and emerging disease vaccines — including those for foot-and-mouth disease, a virus that can cause serious illness in cattle, pigs and sheep. Working side by side with Zoetis scientists, CIADM staff will collaborate in the development of processes, assays and formulations used to produce new vaccines.

Prescription Needed

All antibiotics for livestock will soon require a vet’s prescription.

Cattle, and all other livestock, will soon require a vet’s prescription for injectable antibiotics. No longer will producers who need injectable antibiotics for their cattle be able to just grab them at their local feed store or order them online.

Importance of Feed Testing

Without adequate protein, the rumen cannot digest enough to create energy.

Winter forages often need to be supplemented with protein or minerals. The only way to really determine the nutrient quality, or levels of various nutrients, of your forage is to have it analyzed.

Roundworms May Be Weighing Down Your Herd

Assess the risk of internal parasites in your pasture to improve weaning weights and reproductive performance.

Roundworm populations cause a great deal of irritation to a cow’s stomach, often leading to suppressed appetite, reduced feed intake and a negative impact on overall herd performance.

Meeting Hay Challenges

Have your hay, and eat it, too.

Cattlemen are feeling the brunt of last spring’s unprecedented rainfall. Finding hay that is both affordable and sufficiently nutritious has been one roadblock this year for farmers.

Something even more alarming than rising hay prices could be looming. A nutritional deficiency could be sneaking into herds during this record-breaking year in agriculture.