Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association designates the first week in October every year in order to increase awareness of veterinary involvement with all animals. Every year there is a theme and this year’s is most appropriate. It is Animal Health + Human Health + Planet Health = One Health. One Health really encompasses the entire […] Read more
Lessons learned on the farm apply to the pandemic
Maintaining herd health has taught us about the same good practices being used to combat COVID
The pandemic taught us many lessons in the animal health field
The supply chain stayed strong and co-operation made it stronger, and that’s very important
Reading Time: 3 minutes The direct contact between veterinarians and producers and pharmaceutical reps and technical services veterinarians has begun to open up again. Each pharmaceutical company had different restrictions on travel and rules on in-person contact and, of course, are fully abiding by the local health rules of the different provinces. The good news is that during the […] Read more
Things to consider after a drought has hit
The drought and intensive heat wave have created a lot of issues that producers must deal with
Reading Time: 3 minutes Droughts always teach (or remind) us of things we need to be prepared for to maintain health and production in our herds, including ways to access feed and, if need be, marketing. The Beef Cattle Research Council recently put on a very good question-and-answer webinar relating to drought concerns and cattle health (a recording of […] Read more
There will be more heatwaves, and we need to be prepared
Extreme heat is no different than any natural disaster, so get an emergency checklist ready
Reading Time: 3 minutes By the time you read this, one of the longest heatwaves to hit the Prairies should be ancient history and you’ll be assessing what the ramifications were. If this becomes an event we see every few years (global warming?), we need to explore how we can potentially initiate emergency measures to help cattle cope. For […] 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
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
Cattle can get stuck or go down when being processed
Watch for balking and think prevention when it comes to alleyways and chutes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Large cows or bulls can get stuck or go down in a chute or an alleyway system, and that can cause losses or welfare issues. I have trained myself to really watch when cattle balk at certain points of a handling system as there is often a very good reason for this, and one that […] Read more
Focusing on the big three calf conditions will pay dividends
Scours, pneumonia or navel infections are commonplace but their incidence can be reduced
Reading Time: 3 minutes Most experienced cattlemen will have had an increased incidence in one of the three main calf diseases we see on ranches across Western Canada. These can be smouldering problems and occur year after year. I have spent many a time over my career discussing treatment of scours, pneumonia or navel infection (and then, ideally, working […] Read more
Keep a close watch for these issues when calving
Recognizing the signs of trouble and acting quickly can be a true lifesaver
Reading Time: 3 minutes With spring approaching, I am going to attempt to summarize the many ways we can collectively (and hopefully) maximize calf survivability and productivity starting at calving time. Each of you will have different management styles, strategies, and numbers — but if there are one or two new things, techniques, or observations you can learn from, […] Read more
What to do when the expiry date has passed
Beef 911: While there are some grey areas, products have an expiry date for a good reason
Reading Time: 3 minutes We as veterinarians and you as producers run into many questions in our careers regarding whether we can or cannot use expired medications in cattle production. Veterinary clinics cannot sell product that has been expired, so if you see that a product has expired, simply take it back as a mistake has been made. In […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
