Producers attend 2016 Schumacher Memorial Livestock Day

More than 40 livestock operators attended the annual Jim Schumacher Memorial Livestock Day held at the GN Lodge room. Producers received information on the new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Veterinary Feed Directive, the science behind antimicrobial vaccines and the food supply, moisture outlook, and the cattle feeding sector of the beef business.

Dr. Dragon Momcilovic, discussed the implementation of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). All medically important antibiotics approved for use in feed and water will be VFD or by prescription beginning January 1, 2017. As a producer you will need a valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) to write a prescription. If you don’t have a relationship nobody can legally give you the medication you might need. This rule will require that producers will have to receive a veterinarian’s approval before feeding some medicated feeds to livestock. The prescription will be for a specific product, fed on a per head basis, and for a specified time period.

A video was show of Dr. Joseph Perrone who discussed the true science behind antibiotic resistance and its relation to human health. The big factors are that producers use vaccines to keep animals healthy and not lose production dollars. All products have a “withdrawal” period and it can range from zero to 60 days from the last time the animals is administered the vaccine. After this withdrawal period there are no traces of the vaccine left in the animal’s body. That means all of the meat products in the grocery store are, antibiotic free, Dr. Perrone stressed. For consumer, there is no reason to pay more for a label that states the product is antibiotic free because the rules for vaccine use already provide the product antibiotic free. Dr. Perrone notes there is no way to ingest antibiotics given to a beef steer by eating a hamburger.

Jerry Wulf, a cattle feeder from Minnesota discussed the development of their feeding business and bull breeding. In the beginning they just had a feed yard in Minnesota. By the 1970’s they had expanded to a one time capacity of 60,000 head and initiated a bull breeding business. Today they sell about 600 bulls a year. The Limousine or Lim/Angus cross bulls they breed are sold to cow calf producers. Wulf Cattle then agrees to purchase the calves from those producer to place in to their feed yards in Minnesota, South Dakota, or Nebraska. Wulf Cattle also buys non program calves right off the cow to place in their lot to make sure it is full. The Limousine genetics add just enough continental and larger frame to produce a heavier carcass and Wulf thought it added about $50 minimum to the profitability of every feed calf. Cross breeding with this terminal sire program pays. They also have a stocker operation so they can sell finish cattle every week of the year.

County Extension Agent, Marko Manoukian noted that the precipitation outlook by the National Oceanic Administration for the state is dry through March 31. The irrigation watershed has about 71% of the normal snow pack for this time of year. Nationally, imports of beef through October are near 3 billion pounds for 2015 and 250 million pounds comes from countries with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). This is still 1 billion more pounds of import than is exported. The same argument of net import could be made for the US sheep industry, Manoukian said. In 2001, a report to congress advised that the best way to prevent a FMD outbreak in the US was to prevent it from coming into the country.

The December 2015 winter storm Goliath in New Mexico killed 40,000 milk cows and in Texas it killed 12,000 beef cattle, the US beef cow herd will slow its expansion. Manoukian stressed to producers to contact their congressional representatives and simply ask: why are we not investing into our resources to produce food to feed people?

Dr. Levesque encouraged producers to investigate when a calf dies. Producers should be capable of doing a necropsy. Look for abnormalities in lungs, trachea, and for any punctures in linings or broken ribs. Dr. Levesque also discussed the use of a remote drug delivery rifle. The rifle delivers a dart filled with medication to an animal. Treating a sick animal early in it disease condition provides for a better outcome. You can treat just one animal and not have to disturb or bring in the entire herd. Producers need to make sure the dart stays clean, pick up expended darts, and practice shooting the rifle before you need to doctor an animal.