Reading Time: 3 minutes There are seven days in a week and someday isn’t one of them. This popular saying could be made into a hit single — for farm succession. A man I’ll call Rick is in his mid-60s and still ranching on the same land his grandfather homesteaded. And while that might sound ideal, he has no […] Read more
Schoepp: A promise with no timeline is not a succession play
The people in these four tales are very different but they all believed in a promise never fulfilled
A healthy gut microbiome critical to horse health
Immune, neurological, and hormonal systems can all be affected by this microbial community
Reading Time: 3 minutes Although invisible to the naked eye, the horse and human cannot exist apart from the biology and ecology of their microbiome and the microbiome is being heralded as the next most important bodily system. There is emerging evidence the gut microbiome — with its complex interactions of microbial communities including bacteria, archaea, parasites, protozoa, viruses […] Read more
Schoepp: Two similar families take two very different paths
The different lines we lay down for our sons and daughters have wide-ranging impacts
Reading Time: 3 minutes This is the story of two farming families and their daughters. It is a factual case study and highlights the impact of language and messaging; particularly between fathers and the future female farmer. Although located in different regions, the farms and families are very similar. Both had one daughter and several sons. Both farms were […] Read more
Schoepp: When it comes to succession, things can so easily go terribly wrong
Reading Time: 3 minutes When the transfer of the farm goes off the rails, the hurt and hardship never really go away This is a factual case study of succession gone wrong — and the hurt and hardship it created for the families on three farms. The farms and farm families are extraordinarily similar. The families are well-known and […] Read more
Beef 911: Our thinking about vaccinations is evolving for the better
Reading Time: 4 minutes We want to get the best bang for our vaccine buck, and research is looking for ways to do that This article will focus on some recent work on vaccination by Dr. Nathan Erickson and others at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. They basically had different calf groups vaccinated with different respiratory virus products […] Read more
Schoepp: Farms have become foreign places for far too many people
How food is grown needs to be part of the conversation from grade school to college
Reading Time: 3 minutes A reporter standing in a farmer’s field opened her newscast with this statement: “I never thought of agriculture being part of food but it is true! They are related. We get food from agriculture!” This person was honestly quite excited about this new revelation and their first road trip down a dirt road. As the […] Read more
There are many kinds of ‘lame’
It’s a blanket term that can cover a lot of conditions
Reading Time: 4 minutes Despite their remarkable strength and resiliency, horses are highly susceptible to lameness. In fact, lameness is the most common symptom presented to the equine veterinarian. Almost every horse will experience some kind of lameness during its lifetime. Its diagnosis, treatment and collateral losses represent one of the most costly health problems for the equine industry. […] Read more
Schoepp: Consumers are looking beyond the brand, and that’s a big shift
Products like grass-fed beef and ‘milk’ made from oats create powerful images in the minds of people
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you have ever found yourself wandering up and down the grocery store aisle with a furrowed brow as you make purchasing choices, you are not alone. We have all at some time been lost in the aisles and deviated from the list of things we just were going to ‘pop in’ for. What drives […] Read more
Don’t be fooled into thinking a ‘closed herd’ is an excuse for inaction
Transmission can occur from wildlife, via spores or breeding bulls, so be proactive
Reading Time: 3 minutes In my travels, on calls or when talking to other veterinarian’s producers, I still hear some hide behind the proverbial ‘I don’t do that because I have a closed herd.’ It is an absolute misconception that because a herd is ‘closed,’ it is protected. That is a very broad statement and may apply to a […] Read more
Schoepp: Weighing up the world in terms of the water being used
The jeans you wear, gas for your car and food on the table all require a lot of water
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers have their eyes to the skies as they watch, and often wait, for water. Critical for all living things, water is more than just a raindrop and a good wash; it is a social determinate of health and the very foundation of our being and of food production. Less than two per cent of […] Read more