Cow / Calf Corner

The Fight Against BRD Starts in the Cow Herd

By: Che Trejo, DVM, MS, Beef Technical Services, Zoetis Reducing bovine respiratory disease (BRD) starts with preventing bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in the cow herd It’s estimated that nearly 9% of beef cattle operations have a calf persistently infected (PI) with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV).1 This might seem like a small percentage, but…

Use of BioPRYN to Determine Pregnancy Status and Assign Calving Groups

NDSU researchers compare pregnancy diagnosis via transrectal ultrasound with pregnancy detection via the BioPRYN system to determine pregnancy status and whether BioPRYN is a useful tool for beef producers to group cows according to predicted calving date. In the U.S. beef industry, less than 20 percent of beef producers pregnancy check their cattle. Producers with…

Tackling the economics of young calf respiratory disease

Protecting calves from respiratory disease can be a positive for animal well-being and bottom line Calving season is approaching in fall calving areas and getting those calves off to a healthy start is top of mind for cattle producers. Preventing respiratory disease is not only best for overall animal health and productivity, but recent studies…

One thing leads to another

By: Kylee Kohls There’s a cause and a consequence for everything. You can see it in cow herds just before and after calving, says Allison Meyer, animal scientist at the University of Missouri. The 5.5% of calf deaths in the United States that occur prior to weaning add up to losses of at least $670…

What Does the Future Hold? Cattle Breeding Techniques

Courtesy of: North Dakota State University Livestock Extension New breeding techniques continue to progress. Here is a review of the latest techniques and those that may be coming. As we make progress in the field of animal breeding and selection, many “new” technologies surface. Visual appraisal was complemented with performance records, expected progeny differences, ultrasound…

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