Quality Assurance

Bovine Emergency Response Plan (BERP) Training

– Haley Shoemaker, OSU Extension AGNR Educator, Columbiana and Mahoning Counties

Become prepared to respond to a livestock accident scene.

With an estimated several hundred thousand head of cattle transported on roadways each day throughout the U.S., first responders are often tasked with responding to scenes involving loose or injured livestock.  To better prepare emergency response personnel to safely approach and work a livestock transportation incident, the Bovine Emergency Response Plan (BERP) training curriculum was developed.

This training, geared toward Fire, EMS, EMA, and law enforcement personnel, covers classroom sessions on scene assessment and triage, transportation hazards, mortality handling, and biosecurity while offering Continue reading Bovine Emergency Response Plan (BERP) Training →

Weather Damage

– Jordan Penrose, Ohio State University Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Morgan County

Wilting cherry leaves are toxic!

This spring, there has been some severe weather across different parts of Ohio. Most farmers are no strangers to springtime thunderstorms, but they can cause problems for us and our cattle. For example, in my home county of Morgan County, we have had two different hailstorms that have caused some damage to a wide range of things.

On my family farm, after we have a storm, we go around the fields and check the fence and the fields to see what damage we have, if there is any at all. The last hailstorm that we had hit our farm, so we had to go around and check things on the farm. With the cattle ok, the first concern is the fence, and did any trees fall? We had very little damage to our farm, and the only thing we are worrying about right now is the cherry tree branches and leaves that got knocked off trees, because black cherry trees can cause cyanide poisoning from wilted cherry leaves. It’s best to Continue reading Weather Damage →

Enhancing Pre-Veterinary Education: The Value of Animal Sciences at Ohio State ATI

– Shaun Wellert, DVM, MS, DACVPM

Beyond practical experience a strong foundation in science is essential for students interested in large animal veterinary medicine.

A typical pre-professional program includes extensive coursework in biology, chemistry, and other fundamental sciences. These subjects form the core of prerequisite classes for aspiring medical doctors and veterinarians, providing essential knowledge for their future careers.

When I began my journey to becoming a veterinarian, I followed a similar academic path, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology. However, once I entered large animal practice, I quickly realized there were significant gaps in both my pre-veterinary and veterinary education. Many of the diseases I encountered in farm animals and horses stemmed from poor animal husbandry or inadequate nutrition. While my upbringing on a dairy farm gave me valuable hands-on experience with dairy cattle, unfortunately, neither my undergraduate nor veterinary school coursework fully prepared me to understand the complexities of production animal nutrition. I also lacked Continue reading Enhancing Pre-Veterinary Education: The Value of Animal Sciences at Ohio State ATI →

Buckeye Tick Test Laboratory is now open for business

The Lab can test ticks for anaplasmosis and theileria

The Buckeye Tick Testing Laboratory at Ohio State University is up and running and now ready to accept samples!

The tick population, the number of tick species, and the associated tick-borne diseases in people and animals are rapidly increasing across the Buckeye State. Ohio now has six medically important tick species. These include blacklegged ticks, American dog ticks, lone star ticks, gulf coast ticks, Asian longhorned ticks, and brown dog ticks and each carry one or more pathogens that could be harmful to humans and/or animals (note: pathogens are germs that can cause illness).

The Ohio State University Buckeye Tick Test Laboratory is addressing this critical situation by offering cost-effective tick-borne pathogen testing for the general public with test results within 72 hours. After receiving the Continue reading Buckeye Tick Test Laboratory is now open for business →

Good Practices for the Prevention of Anaplasmosis

– Jason Duggin, Department of Animal and Dairy Science, University of Georgia

For the sake of animal health, is it time to use a new needle with each injection?

In the past, we have often said that it is an acceptable practice to use a needle up to 10 injections if it doesn’t dull or become contaminated. With the continual spread of anaplasmosis in the region, the best practice is to use a new needle for every injection. It’s more than just delivering a pharmaceutical product in a humane way while reducing lesions and abscesses. Possibly now more than ever, it is a matter of herd health. To maintain herd health and profitability as bovine anaplasmosis continues to spread, we will need to change how we approach . . .

Continue reading Good Practices for the Prevention of Anaplasmosis

Beef 509 back in 2025 in a New Format

Beef 509 returns in new “regional” format.

The Ohio Beef Council and the Ohio Cattlemen’s Foundation in partnership with the Stockyards Packing Company will hold the BEEF 509 program in a new regional format in 2025. The program will take place in Southwestern Ohio on two Saturdays Feb. 22 and March 1 at the Stockyards Packing Company, 6365 College Corner Pike, Oxford, Ohio 45056.

BEEF 509 is an educational program designed to teach cattle producers about the food side of their business and how to utilize best management practices to improve beef quality and enhance profitability while learning about value within the beef chain.

Topics to be covered include Continue reading Beef 509 back in 2025 in a New Format →

Why should I castrate bull calves?

– Dr. Andrew Griffith, Assistant Professor, Livestock Marketing Specialist, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee

Why would I castrate bull calves when prices are so high? There are producers who castrate bulls and make them steers. There are producers who simply sell bull calves. There are producers who think they castrate bull calves, but they clearly struggle with counting to two or their castration technique needs to be refined. Regardless, there is still a good reason to castrate bull calves and market steers instead of bulls when prices are high.

For instance, 525 pound bulls were discounted $13 per hundredweight compared to same weight steers while 575 pound bulls were discounted $20 per hundredweight the week before Thanksgiving compared to same weight steers.

What other reason does a person need to castrate bull calves? What one will eventually realize when asking this question of those who do not castrate is the higher price does not always outweigh their cost of castration. Those who do not castrate will most likely never castrate bull calves and that is perfectly fine.

Cull Cows – Right Way Right Time

– Garth Ruff, Field Specialist Beef Cattle and Livestock Marketing, OSU Extension

Culls are a revenue stream!

Cull cows represent nearly 20% of the revenue to a cow-calf beef operation. Since 2022 cull prices for lean, high yielding cows have been at historical highs. This is in large part due to the severe drought in the western U.S. spanning from 2021-2022. Although cows represent a large portion of the beef supply and are more valuable than ever, the 2022 National Beef Quality Audit revealed that cow condition and quality had been on a decline.

One of the biggest surprises of the audit was the number of beef cull cows that were recorded as inadequately muscled at 70.4%, nearly double the rate of cows from the 2016 audit. These are cows with a muscle score 1 or 2 out of 5. With regards to body condition scores on a 9 – point scale nearly 67% of cows had a BCS of less than 5.

In addition to lower BCS and muscling scores there was an increased Continue reading Cull Cows – Right Way Right Time →

Look for ways to reduce calf stress at weaning

– Dr. John Yost, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Wayne County, Ohio State University Extension (originally published in Ohio Farmer on-line)

Recognize that each procedure performed on a calf at weaning creates stress and stress decreases production potential.

We are quickly approaching your neighbor’s favorite time of year.  That being one where the air is filled with the melodious serenades of newly weaned calves and their separated mothers.  We know that the bawling will end after a few days, but your weaning process can affect the calves’ performance the rest of their lives.  It doesn’t matter whether the calves are destined to find their way onto a truck headed to a feedyard, or if they will be staying on farm to become a future replacement in your herd, you want to prepare them for the next stage of the production process.

We often think of weaning as an abrupt change.  Cows with calves in the morning, then cows and calves on different parts of the farm in the afternoon.  In order to be efficient with our time, we will combine many of weaning tasks into the same day.  There isn’t a perfect system, but there is a Continue reading Look for ways to reduce calf stress at weaning →

Keep Cool in the Shade

– Dr. Jeff Lehmkulher, PhD, PAS, Extension Professor University of Kentucky

Temperature and humidity both contribute to heat stress.

As the summer weather has hit full stride, take some time to focus on factors that impact animal performance during these months. Stocker calf performance reflects changes in the environment, plane of nutrition, and overall health of calves. Be mindful of the how summer weather can impact these three overarching factors and consider what you might alter or maintain to minimize the impact of these elements.

Heat stress is the first environmental factor that will impact animal performance during the summer months. The effect of heat stress is exacerbated by the alkaloids produced by the wild endophyte in Kentucky 31 tall fescue. Animals compensate during heat stress with increased respiration rate, increased skin vaporization (sweating), increased peripheral blood flow, decreased appetite to reduce metabolic heat production, and more time seeking relief by standing in the shade, congregating in water or grouped up in areas where urine and feces create a wallow. Increased respiration rate leads to greater energy expended for contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm. This doesn’t Continue reading Keep Cool in the Shade →