Veterinary Awards

How A Kansas State Researcher Cracked The Code Of Cattle Pain Relief

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 22:11:30 GMT

No words are needed in the language of pain.

“Ow” and “ah” are universally understood, as are a yelp or a cry. A grimace or a rubbed hand over a sore spot or ache convey a similar message.

But like any language, the expression and understanding of pain is a learned form of communication -- one that’s especially difficult to pick up across species. For farm animals, though, Hans Coetzee has cracked the code.

Coetzee, university distinguished professor of animal welfare in Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, has dedicated much of his career to assessing and relieving pain in livestock species. His work has been instrumental in clearing the way for the first regulatory approval of livestock analgesics, or pain relief medicine, that have eased the pain of millions of animals.

For these contributions, the National Academy of Sciences has awarded Coetzee the 2025 Prize in Food and Agriculture Science -- an award that recognizes research by a mid-career scientist at a U.S. institution who has made an extraordinary contribution to agriculture or to the understanding of the biology of a species fundamentally important to agriculture or food production.

“Through his innovative work, Coetzee has not only advanced scientific understanding but also delivered creative yet implementable solutions to complex challenges that benefit animals, livestock producers, and society, the prize citation states. By bridging the gap between basic science and practical application, he has fostered collaboration with policymakers and industry stakeholders and inspired the next generation of researchers.”

Coetzee will be formally honored at a ceremony in April at the National Academy of Sciences’ annual meeting in Washington, D.C., where he will also receive a medal and a $100,000 award as part of the prize’s endowment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.

“I feel incredibly blessed and honored to have the opportunity to do this work,” Coetzee shared. “I never expected it would lead to this recognition. I am especially thankful for the tremendous support from my family, K-State and the many colleagues, students and livestock producers who have collaborated with us.”

Coetzee has been previously recognized for his efforts to improve animal welfare. He received the 2017 Animal Welfare Award by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the World Veterinary Association’s Global Animal Welfare Award, also in 2017.

He also received Ruminant Well-being Awards at the World Buiatrics Congress in 2018, and in 2022, the K-State Alumni Association awarded Coetzee its Iman Outstanding Faculty Award for Research.

Author: Rafael Garcia K‑State News and Communications Services

Top Honors Awarded to AABP Dairy and Beef Veterinarians

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 19:21:53 GMT

The top honor that an American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) member can obtain in his or her career is the AABP Bovine Practitioner of the Year award sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim.

At the 2021 54th AABP Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 7-9, Dr. Kelly Barratt, Listowel, Ontario, received this prestigious honor. This award honors a veterinarian in active practice who is active in organized veterinary medicine and has made significant contributions to bovine medicine. Barratt is the first woman to receive this award from AABP.

Several other bovine veterinarians were also honored via the virtual platform at the Annual Business Meeting and Awards Luncheon on October 9. They are:

AABP Award of Excellence
Sponsored by AABP, recipients must be involved in teaching, research, industry or government areas. The recipient’s professional activities must have had a consistent and direct influence on daily activities of veterinarians in bovine practice. The 2021 recipient is:
Dr. Nigel Cook, Waunakee, Wis.

Zoetis Distinguished Service Award
The recipient of this award is an individual who, through long and continued service, has promoted the goals of the AABP and whose accomplishments have served as a model for service to bovine agriculture through organized veterinary medicine. The 2021 recipient is:
Dr. Dale Moore, Moscow, Idaho

Merck Animal Health Mentor-of-the-Year Award
The recipient of this award is an AABP member who has been engaged in the field of veterinary medicine for at least 25 years and has served as both advisor and role model to pre-veterinary and/or veterinary students. This award is given to a member who embodies this spirit whether in practice, the clinic, or the classroom. The 2021 recipient is: Dr. Mark Hilton, West Lafayette, Ind.

Boehringer Ingelheim Excellence in Preventive Medicine Awards
This award recognizes individual member practitioners or practices that have developed outstanding preventive medicine programs. Because of differences in management goals and needs, one award is given to recognize an outstanding program for dairy production, and one for beef production. The 2021 recipients are:
(Dairy) Dr. Dr. James Bennett, Plainview, Minn.
(Beef) Dr. Christine Navarre, Baton Rouge, La.

Dr. James A. Jarrett Award for Young Leaders
Recipients of this award have graduated veterinary school within 10 years, have given extraordinary service to the AABP in a manner that significantly enhances the mission of the organization, and whose contributions will help ensure the current and future success of the AABP. The 2021 recipient is:
Dr. Elizabeth Homerosky, Rocky View County, Alberta

Amstutz-Williams Award
This award honors the late of Dr. Harold E. Amstutz, who served the AABP as secretary-treasurer and executive vice president until 1993, and Dr. Eric I. Williams who was the editor of the Bovine Practitioner and Proceedings Book from 1969 until 1998. The award was made to recognize the long and distinguished services of the two honorees. It will be the highest honor that can be bestowed by the AABP and this will only be presented when a highly qualified individual is nominated and selected for outstanding service to the veterinary profession.
Dr. Dee Griffin, Lincoln, Neb.

AABP Honorary Life Membership
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners consists of veterinarians and veterinarian students with an interest in cattle practice. The AABP Board of Directors has recognized non-veterinarians who have made significant contributions to the organization, its members, or bovine veterinary medicine. The board can confer Honorary Life Membership to recognize these individuals. The recipient of the AABP Honorary Life Membership is Mr. Dick Lewis, Orono, Minn.

Other awards given at the 2021 54th AABP Annual Conference include:

2021 AABP Foundation Competitive Research Grant Award
• Assessment of systemic inflammation following oral calcium supplementation in postpartum dairy cows
Dr. Stephen LeBlanc, Ontario Veterinary College

2021 AABP Foundation Cattle Welfare Grant Awards*
• Evaluating the efficacy of two local anesthetic options to reduce pain in calves after cautery dehorning
Dr. Abbie Viscardi, Kansas State University

• Determination for the need for analgesics in day-old calves following cautery disbudding
Dr. Pat Gorden, Iowa State University

*These grants are supported by an anonymous donor with matching funds from the AABP Foundation.

2021 AABP Research Summaries Graduate Student Awards
• First Place – Lisa Gamsjäger, University of Calgary
Do volume, immunoglobulin G content and feeding method of the first colostrum meal impact subsequent nursing behavior and transfer of passive immunity in beef calves?

• Second Place – William Crosby, Mississippi State University
Comparison of sampling methods and diagnostic techniques for recovery of Mannheimia haemolytica from feedlot cattle

• Third Place – Claira Seely, Cornell University
The association of prepartum urine pH and periparturient activity and rumination time on postpartum subclinical hypocalcemia dynamics in Holstein cows

2021 Student Case Presentation Competition Winners
• Overall Winner – Monika Dzuiba, Michigan State University
Negatively Controlled Trial Investigating the Effect of Dry Cow Therapy on Clinical Mastitis and Culling
• Research Report Winners
o Research Project – First Place
Monika Dzuiba, Michigan State University
Negatively Controlled Trial Investigating the Effect of Dry Cow Therapy on Clinical Mastitis and Culling
o Research Project – Second Place
Megan McMahon, University of Minnesota
Effect of water tank sanitation on water quality, bacterial and viral contamination, and feed intake of cattle in a midwestern feedlot
• Clinical Case – Jessica Garcia, The Ohio State University
Management of a zoonotic emerging multidrug resistant Salmonella enterica serotype 4, 5, 12, i- on dairies in the Midwest

Smith receives Industry Achievement Award at Feeding Quality Forum

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 16:21:23 GMT

The hands of a veterinarian hold the life cycle of an animal in their care. The mind, however, directs the hands.

Anyone who’s met Dr. Bob Smith knows the way he thinks is something else.

“There was one time he told me I needed to look at the 1993, page 4, 2nd edition of the Bovine Practitioner for a problem I had,” says Miles Theurer, the research director for Veterinary Research and Consulting Services (VRCS) and Hy-Plains Feedyard near Montezuma, Kansas. “I was like, ‘yeah, okay.’ But I actually pulled it up and he nailed it spot on.”

What Theurer – and anyone who’s worked with Smith – has come to understand is, the vet knows his stuff.

It’s come from more than 30 years in the industry caring for its people and cattle.

Smith joins the rankings of people like Larry Corah, Jerry Bohn, John Matsushima and Topper Thorpe with the 2021 Industry Achievement Award presented at Feeding Quality Forum, August 24 in Fort Collins, Colo.

Smith grew up in Pittsburg, Kansas – five miles from Missouri and 20 miles from Oklahoma. His dad worked off the farm but the Smith family ran a few beef cows, milked a few dairy cows and had some horses.

He joined the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) research efforts 30 years ago and hasn’t looked back. When he got involved, injection site lesions were known to diminish beef quality. He helped create new best practices, moving injections from the top butt to the neck. He developed BQA trainings about the procedure.

“We went from about 24% of fed cattle carcasses having injection site lesions down to virtually none,” he says.

In the early 2000s, he became chair of the BQA group studying cattle welfare. The group learned stress suppresses the cattle immune system, making cattle more susceptible to disease and other problems. They developed a guide on cattle handling and started stockmanship schools around the country.

“We’ve improved the quality of our product a lot, but we’re not sitting on our laurels,” Smith says. “We’re looking for new opportunities and not forgetting what we’ve accomplished in the past.”

Outside of his work with BQA, he’s spent nearly 25 years in post-education positions and nearly the equivalent in the private sector. Currently, he’s a vet with VRCS, which serves around 60 feedyards.

He’s accumulated much knowledge over his nearly four-decade career and shares as much as possible in the personal, one-on-one encounters he cherishes.

He’ll see that yard personnel follow protocols correctly. When driving the yard, he carefully observes pen riders, handing them 3x5 cards with detailed notes.

Tom Jones, manager of Hy-Plains Feedyard, friend and client of the veterinarian for more than 30 years, says Smith lives and dies by education, stockmanship and protocols.

“Doc Bob likes to use stockmanship as his number one antibacterial,” Jones says. “But his priority when he visits our yard is education. He spends more time with our doctors and cowboy crews than he does in the office with me.”

Smith’s work ethic is legendary, according to Jones. To his knowledge, few people have necropsied more cattle or have as much experience. “He loves to find out what went wrong,” he says.

“I think partly why the businesses that I’ve been around have done okay is because of the guidance of Doc Bob,” Jones adds.

Every year Smith helps host an antimicrobial resistance meeting at the Hy-Plains Education and Research Center. Attendees represent nearly a third of the U.S. fed cattle production.

He thrives on providing solutions to big challenges like respiratory diseases or growth performance.

“It’s where the producer gets the most return,” Smith explains.

With years of experience, his white hair, and suffering chronic back pain, clients may wonder when he’ll stop coming by.

“If my golf game was better, I might’ve quit by now,” Smith jokes. “But I’m a terrible golfer, and I still enjoy getting up and going to work.”

He hopes to be remembered as a “pretty good veterinarian;" someone who loved his profession, his family, his God and gave it all he had.

“There are so many people that are deserving of this award,” Smith says. “Really it’s a shared award. No matter what you’ve accomplished, someone has helped you. But I’m deeply grateful.”