Low Stress Handling and Antibiotics Top of Mind at Cowboy College

BT_Cowboy_College_Tom_Noffsinger
BT_Cowboy_College_Tom_Noffsinger
(Wyatt Bechtel)

More than 125 feedlot cowboys gathered in Dodge City, Kan. this past week for the third annual Drovers Feedlot Cowboy College.

Attendees came from 14 different states and Canada to hear veterinarians Dan Thomson, Mike Apley and Tom Noffsinger led discussions on animal handling and health.

“The people are the key. Not the steel and concrete,” Noffsinger says of low stress handling. Noffsinger practices veterinary medicine from Benkelman, Neb. and specializes in low stress animal handling training.

Cattle producers shouldn't use facility design as an excuse for poor animal handling. If that animal is not instilled with confidence you might as well put the vaccine back in the bottle, Noffsinger relates.

“The more high risk cattle you put into a facility the higher risk your low risk cattle will become,” says Thomson, professor of veterinary medicine at Kansas State University and host of DocTalk.

Thomson adds the three most inconsistent things in the feedlot are cattle, weather and people.

An area where the U.S. could improve problems like respiratory disease would be through a standardized identification system. Thomson thinks if something were in place similar to Australia’s electronic identification system it would allow the cattle industry to more easily detect disease.

The government has recently stepped in when it comes to antibiotics in feed through the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). Full implementation of the VFD begins on Dec. 31, 2016.

Apley believes transparency of antibiotic use is only going to ramp up in the future.  

“Our consumers are demanding it (antibiotic use transparency) and the people who sell the final food product are demanding it. As well as the government having a great interest in it,” says Apley, professor of veterinary medicine and clinical pharmacology at K-State.  

 

Latest News

Biden Administration Restores Wildlife Protections
Biden Administration Restores Wildlife Protections

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to reinstate rules protecting endangered plants and animals, action that would reverse changes made during the Trump Administration that weakened the Endangered Species Act.

Across Breed EPD Adjustment Factors
Across Breed EPD Adjustment Factors

EPDs from multiple breeds can be compared by adding/subtracting the appropriate adjustment factors to the EPDs resulting from the most recent genetic evaluations for each of 18 breeds.

APHIS Now Thinks Wild Birds Are to Blame for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza's Arrival on Four U.S. Dairies
APHIS Now Thinks Wild Birds Are to Blame for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza's Arrival on Four U.S. Dairies

The livestock industry continues to grapple with the first confirmed cases of HPAI in cattle, while federal and state agencies continue to assure consumers there's no concern about the safety of the U.S. milk supply.

Skills Survey Reveals U.S. Agriculture & Food Industry Workforce Needs and Gaps
Skills Survey Reveals U.S. Agriculture & Food Industry Workforce Needs and Gaps

U.S. employers report challenges in finding suitable job candidates with work-ready skills to fill open roles in ag. The AgCareers.com U.S. Skills Survey offers insights, data and trends to address skill development.

USDA Authorizes CRP Graze and Hay Donations to Wildfire Victims
USDA Authorizes CRP Graze and Hay Donations to Wildfire Victims

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants can donate emergency grazing authority to ranchers in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas impacted by recent wildfires.

New Guide Helps Producers Maximize Values of Cull Cows
New Guide Helps Producers Maximize Values of Cull Cows

A new resource developed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and CattleFax helps cattle producers maximize profitability from their culling decisions.