In this episode, Dr. Fred Gingrich, Executive Director of AABP, is joined by Dr. Miles Theurer, a veterinarian involved in clinical research with Veterinary Consulting and Research Services, and Dr. Myriah Johnson, Senior Director of Beef Sustainability Research at National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to discuss recent research on mid-day bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in feedlot cattle. The highest risk period for BRD is within the first 45 days of the feeding period, however mid-day BRD occurs between 45-120 days on feed. This syndrome has a more rapid progression and can affect cattle who are higher performing in terms of average daily gain, feed efficiency, and carcass grade versus high-risk calves who are more likely to develop BRD during the first 45 days on feed. This syndrome is seen across the industry and our guests discuss the need for further research on this topic to develop management strategies both in the feedlot and at the cow-calf ranch. The researchers looked at vaccination history of calves at the cow-calf ranch that were subsequently affected with mid-day BRD in the feedyard. Cattle that received three or more modified live vaccines had a greater first treatment for BRD (21.32%) versus cattle vaccinated one time (9.56%; p = 0.06). Although treatment success for mid-day BRD is similar to BRD treatment at earlier times in the feeding period, mid-day BRD has higher economic consequences due to the cattle being heavier and more input costs have been realized with this syndrome. We also discuss the importance of record keeping throughout the supply chain to provide the data needed to evaluate the impacts of management interventions at the cow-calf level on the health and performance of animals in the finishing period. Finally, we discuss the AABP peer-reviewed publication the Bovine Practitioner. Dr. Theurer encourages veterinarians in private practice to work with colleagues performing research, academics and industry veterinarians to develop a research trial and consider submitting to the Bovine Practitioner. You can find the journal open access at this link.  

Links to the articles published as a result of this research:

 Miles E. Theurer, Myriah D. Johnson, Trent Fox, Travis M. McCarty, Ryan M. McCollum, Tom M. Jones, Deke O. Alkire, Bovine respiratory disease during the mid-portion of the feeding period: Observations from vaccination history, viral and bacterial prevalence, and rate of gain in feedlot cattle, Applied Animal Science, Volume 37, Issue 1, 2021, Pages 59-67.

 Miles E. Theurer, Myriah D. Johnson, Trent Fox, Travis M. McCarty, Ryan M. McCollum, Tom M. Jones, Deke O. Alkire, Bovine respiratory disease during the mid-portion of the feeding period: Observations of frequency, timing, and population from the field, Applied Animal Science, Volume 37, Issue 1, 2021,

Pages 52-58.