Most veterinarians recommend vaccinating nursing calves against clostridial, respiratory and digestive pathogens at 2 months old to bolster immunity against those pathogens.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD), or pneumonia, is the most common cause of death in cattle over 4 months old. Many different commercial vaccines are available for protection against organisms that cause BRD, but sometimes cattle get BRD even when they are vaccinated.

Ensuring the health and productivity of starter cattle is a complex challenge. One of the critical aspects of managing this is understanding and supporting their immune systems, especially during the stressful transition from pasture to backgrounder or feedlot.

After a busy season of breeding, pulling bulls, pregnancy diagnosis and weaning, we’d like to hope cows can turn on autopilot for a few months during the winter. However, that’s not the case; cows are always working for us, whether that means lactating, raising a calf, preparing to become pregnant or gestating next year’s calf. It’s our responsibility to make sure they are in the proper body condition to do so.

Oftentimes, to save time and labor, net wrap or twine is not removed prior to feeding hay to cattle. A South Dakota State University forage-binding survey reported that 54% of producers removed net wrap or twine when feeding bales whole, but only 11% of producers removed it when grinding bales. 

Anybody who has raised cattle for any length of time has probably had to deal with lame cattle. The odds are great that the animal was either suffering from foot rot or a physical injury to the leg or foot.

With societal and political pressure surrounding antibiotic use in food animals, preventing disease outbreaks is increasingly important. The words “immunization, not just vaccination” may sound familiar in the context of discussing vaccines, but what is really meant?

Exposure to wildfire smoke might elicit an inflammatory response, potentially leading to reduced cattle performance.

Summer can present a variety of challenges and stressors to beef cattle that can lead to bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Mitigating risk is a critical component of a larger BRD battle plan.

It’s time to work cattle. You’ve gotten the vaccines and all you have to do is load syringes and you’re good to go, right?