AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Michelle Schack, the keynote presenter for the 8th AABP Recent Graduate Conference. Schack grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, with no access to cattle farms or 4-H and FFA programs. She decided to become a veterinarian early in life, but then realized companion animal practice did not suit her needs and she became interested in large animal medicine as an undergraduate and cattle production medicine at University of California-Davis College of Veterinary Medicine. We discuss that only 18% of the U.S. population is from rural communities, and our recruitment efforts should focus on exposing all interested students to cattle practice and welcome them to join us!

Schack delivered the keynote presentation “Enhancing Sustainability through Animal and Human Well-Being”, and this presentation will be available to AABP members to view on our CE portal which is accessible under the Continuing Education menu of the AABP website. 

Schack discusses the impact of everyone on the team providing care that affects animal well-being on every farm. She provides some tips for how to approach team members, managers and owners for addressing animal handling and promoting well-being. Approaching the conversation as a helper for the caregiver and the animal can be a good way to be non-confrontational. Providing training programs not only impacts the care for the cows and calves, but also improves employee satisfaction and retention. Schack is a co-founder of DairyKind, an online resource for caregiver training that can then be followed up with in-person training sessions. This creates an environment where cattle are cared for in an appropriate manner, caregivers are properly trained, and veterinarians are involved in the program to create billable hours.

Veterinarians are an important part of promoting well-being on farms for both employees and cattle. Start having conversations today with your clients to provide these resources and training sessions for well-being just as you do for other production medicine consultations.

For more information, visit the DairyKind website at this link. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Yung-Yi Mosley from the University of Georgia to discuss a recently published paper from the Bovine Practitioner to study the prevalence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVD) on Florida and Georgia dairy farms. The purpose of the study was to do a follow-up investigation from a previous study that demonstrated a 38% prevalence of BVDV in those states in 2015-2016. 

Mosley walks through a general overview of BVDV including diagnostic testing and clinical syndromes that may result when cattle are infected with BVDV, including the development of a persistently infected animal (PI). She emphasizes that vaccination alone is not an effective control program for most herds and that testing for BVDV in purchased animals and biosecurity practices are important. Mosley stresses that if a producer is introducing pregnant animals, it is critical to not only test the dam, but also the fetus when it is born.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of BVDV in Georgia and Florida dairy farms and determine the circulating BVDV subtype in this region. The study involved 37 farms with a total of 57,000 cows and evaluated 90 samples. The study identified 10% of farms having a positive bulk tank sample. The type of BVDV found was Type 1b. Mosley discusses the significance of this compared to available BVBV vaccines. Mosley also discusses the findings of the survey that was administered to producers participating in the study. 

Finally, we discuss how veterinarians can use the information from this study to screen bulk tank milk samples for BVDV. A bulk tank milk sample is a useful screening test and is accurate for up to 1,200 cows to detect a positive. Veterinarians should review their clients' BVDV control programs to evaluate potential risks and implement a comprehensive prevention program.

Links:

A follow-up investigation of the reported high herd prevalence of bovine viral diarrhea in dairy farms in Georgia and Florida. (2025). The Bovine Practitioner, 59(1), 17-23. https://doi.org/10.21423/bpj20259049

Jones A, Ilha M, Berghaus R, et al. Surveillance of bovine viral diarrhea virus antigen in Florida & Georgia dairy herds using bulk tank milk samples. In: 2016 National Institute for Animal Agriculture Annual Conference. 2016.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP member and Texas rancher Dr. Chris Womack to discuss the concerns about the New World Screwworm discovery in the southernmost state of Mexico. Womack discusses the history of this fly and an interesting story from his childhood of it being found on his father’s ranch in the mid-70s.  

New World Screwworm strikes live tissue in all mammals and can be a serious risk to newborn calves as well as adult animals. Flies are attracted to fresh wounds where they lay eggs and the larvae feed on this living tissue. The pest has been eradicated in the mainland U.S. since 1966 with a few sporadic outbreaks. The USDA has had a collaborative relationship with Panama to prevent the pest from migrating north; however, it was discovered in an adult cow in Chiapas, Mexico in late 2024. This resulted in a shutdown of all cattle and bison from Mexico to the United States. Each year the U.S. fed cattle industry imports 3-5% of our cattle inventory from Mexico.  

Treatment for infected cattle includes ivermectins and organophosphate dips. If the pest gets into wildlife, it will be very difficult to manage; therefore, control outside of the U.S. remains critical to the cattle industry. Control revolves around the release of male sterile flies into the infected areas so that females will not lay viable eggs. It is critical for all veterinarians to be vigilant, even if you are only treating small animals, because the risk of the pest coming in on a companion animal is also considerable.

Find out more information from the USDA at this link. Resources from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association can be found here. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP Past President Dr. Pat Gorden, a professor of dairy production medicine and clinical pharmacology at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

 We review the meaning of violative drug residues and the most common medications used in cattle that have historically been associated with violative drug residues. Gorden also reviews both how animals are selected for testing and how withdrawal intervals are determined by drug sponsors when going through the drug approval process. Of particular importance is the effect of disease on the clearance of drugs from the animal since the residue studies are performed on healthy animals for FDA submission.

 Gorden reviews basic pharmacologic mechanisms for drugs and how disease state may impact drug clearance. He also reviews a study he performed that looked at severe clinical mastitis cows and the impact on the pharmacokinetics of ceftiofur in these animals. Veterinarians should utilize FARAD for withdrawal determinations and consider disease state on drug clearance. 

 Finally, Gorden offers suggestions for practicing veterinarians to review with farm managers and employees, including observations in the hospital pen or when treatments are administered. Ensuring correct protocol compliance, applying correct therapy, estimating the correct weight, extending the withdrawal interval on sick animals, ensuring the correct dose, route and volume of injection, and fully mixing suspensions prior to filling the syringe are all important items to check. Veterinarians are tasked with ensuring appropriate oversight on drug use on farms and regularly reviewing these steps is an important aspect of this stewardship principle as well as creating billable hours that are valued by the client.

P.J. Gorden, M.D. Kleinhenz, L.W. Wulf, B. KuKanich, C.J. Lee, C. Wang, J.F. Coetzee, Altered plasma pharmacokinetics of ceftiofur hydrochloride in cows affected with severe clinical mastitis, J Dairy Sci. Volume 99, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 505-514, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2015-10239.

Gorden PJ, Ydstie JA, Kleinhenz MD, et al. Comparative plasma and interstitial fluid pharmacokinetics and tissue residues of ceftiofur crystalline-free acid in cattle with induced coliform mastitis. J Vet Pharmacol Therap. 2018; 41: 848–860. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvp.12688.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Matt Miesner, Clinical Professor in the Livestock Services Section at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Safe restraint of cattle is important for human and animal safety but is also an important animal welfare consideration.  

Restraint is not only about chemical immobilization and the veterinarian should also consider how to handle the patient in a low-stress manner utilizing available facilities, but also other methods of physical restraint. Miesner provides information about the importance of understanding what each drug provides in terms of sedation, analgesia and anesthesia and the differences in each term. In addition, individual patient circumstances should be considered by the veterinarian before administering drugs.  

Miesner walks through the most common drugs used in bovine and mixed animal practice that the veterinarian can consider. This includes some common dosages and advantages and disadvantages of each drug, potential side effects and common uses. We also discuss an update on xylazine access and potential legislation. Gingrich suggests that veterinarians support the AVMA efforts in ensuring we can still use xylazine in bovine practice by donating to the AVMA PAC.  Veterinarians are advised to develop scientifically validated withdrawal intervals when using these drugs by contacting FARAD. 

Miesner also advises us on uses of epidurals and IV regional anesthesia as other practical methods of analgesia and immobilization. We close by discussing the importance of post-procedural pain control to ensure we are providing the best care to our patients and return them to health and productivity.  

Links:

Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank - http://www.farad.org/ 

Bovine Field Restraint: Physical and Chemical Techniques for Balanced Restraint, Proceedings of the 2010 AABP Annual Conference, Matt Miesner, https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20104075 

Injectable Anesthesia for Cattle Field Procedures, Proceedings of the 2023 AABP Recent Graduate Conference, Andrea Lear, https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20238737 

Donate to the AVMA PAC to support our efforts in maintaining access to xylazine by visiting this link.  

AABP Resource Approaching Pain in Cattle https://aabp.org/committees/view_pdf.asp?page=Pain_Brochure_8-15.pdf

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Nigel Cook from the University of Wisconsin. Cook is a past-president of AABP, current member of the AABP Lameness Committee, and a life-long advocate for improving welfare of cows specifically focusing on lameness and facility design for cow comfort.  

Lameness is a significant welfare concern on dairy farms and Cook states that up to 22% of cows in the U.S. dairy herd walk with a noticeable limp. It is also often under-reported on dairy farms with producers underestimating the prevalence of lameness on their farms and missing cows that are mildly lame. This is important because lameness changes the structure of the hoof and can increase the risk of further lameness incidents in the future.  

Lying time is a major factor in preventing lameness, improving cow comfort and returning lame cows to soundness. Cook notes that lying time is impacted by stall surface, providing the opportunity to rest by keeping the time out of pen less than 3.5 hours, minimizing overstocking and mitigating heat stress. Cook provides some tips for maximizing the stall surface comfort, with deep bedding that stays in the stall critical to stall comfort. He also discusses stall dimensions, but mentions that stall surface remains the most critical factor in comfort of the bed. Cook notes that deep bedded sand results in a 40% reduction in lameness.  

Veterinarians should be involved in lameness prevention and improving cow comfort on their client’s farms. Performing a lameness audit and reviewing hoof trim records can provide insights into the impact lameness is having on the herd. Monitoring cow behavior and lying time by utilizing time lapse cameras can provide meaningful information for the veterinarian and producer. Cook mentions the resources available on the Dairyland Initiative website which includes housing modules for all classes of cattle and lameness modules. He also mentions that they perform consults for producers and veterinarians as well as publish a podcast for veterinarians to learn about these resources during their windshield time. 

If you are an AABP member interested in lameness in beef or dairy cattle, consider volunteering to serve on the AABP Lameness Committee. You can find resources from the committee on this page. Go to the committee landing page for more information or to email the committee to join.  

Links:
The Dairyland Initiative
Dairyland Initiative Podcast and other resources can be found here.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Justine Britten, a PhD animal scientist working at Udder Health Systems Inc. This episode is brought to you by the AABP Milk Quality and Udder Health Committee. AABP members with an interest in milk quality are invited to volunteer to serve on the committee. Find out more information about the committee by visiting this page.   

Staph aureus is a contagious mastitis pathogen and Britten states that every dairy is affected to some degree by Staph aureus with a huge range in severity and prevalence between herds. Veterinarians play a key role in developing monitoring and prevention programs. Culturing remains a key point in identifying animals that are affected with Staph aureus so they can be evaluated for culling, segregation or treatment. Cultures should focus not only on clinical animals because Staph aureus is commonly a subclinical infection. It is estimated that 2-15% of heifers will freshen with the infection and their somatic cell count may be low for some time before it begins to climb. Treatment should be reserved for heifers and it is critical to identify it early in the course of infection to increase chance of treatment success. 

Britten states that in most circumstances, there is no need to do sensitivity testing on milk cultures unless there is an outbreak situation with apparent treatment failures. Bulk tank cultures are important and a minimum for routine herd mastitis monitoring. The sensitivity of bulk tank cultures is low but serial positive silos from a dairy indicate a higher prevalence of the infection up to 5-10% of the cows.  

We also discuss that in outbreak situations it is important to evaluate why cows are getting infected and remember that cows typically get infected in the parlor and focus efforts there. This includes evaluating teat condition, parlor procedures and equipment function. Aggressive culturing programs, segregation and culling are important to minimize risk.  

Britten provides these three take-home points for veterinarians:

Take-home point #1 – Not all Staph aureus colonies exhibit beta-hemolysis, therefore, it is important that all Staph colonies undergo coagulase testing to identify Staph aureus.

Take-home point #2 – Monthly bulk tank cultures are a bare minimum monitoring program for dairy farms.

Take-home point #3 – Somatic cell count is a lagging indicator and cultures will detect infections earlier.

Mastitis is the number one disease of dairy cattle and should be involved in milk quality and mastitis prevention programs. The Milk Quality and Udder Health Committee has developed guidelines for milk quality service providers. Find this document under the Committee Resources page, click on the Milk Quality and Udder Health page, then the Committee Resources tab to find these documents. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich provides and end-of-year update and a look forward to what AABP will have for its members in 2025. Gingrich begins by providing an update on the current HPAI outbreak affecting dairy cattle and reminding members of the resources available to them on the H5N1 page located here. The USDA dashboard of affected cases, funding opportunities, federal orders, biosecurity documents, and webinar recordings are available to AABP members. He encourages all veterinarians to familiarize themselves with the disease and the surveillance testing programs that have been implemented. AABP will also have a webinar to share the results of the survey and serologic testing of 100 attendees at the 2024 AABP Annual Conference from Columbus, Ohio. Find all AABP webinars under the Continuing Education menu of the AABP website at this link. All AABP webinars are recorded. Webinars approved for CE are on the online CE portal under the Continuing Education menu and webinars related to HPAI are on the H5N1 page of the AABP website.

December 27 is the deadline for casting your vote for the 2025 AABP Vice President election. Candidates are Dr. Jen Roberts and Dr. Elizabeth Quesnell Kohtz. Find the ballot and information about each candidate on this page. The AABP Nominations Committee is also accepting applications to be considered for the 2026 Vice President election. Self nominations are accepted and Gingrich suggests that members can contact anyone to encourage them to submit their name for consideration. Interested AABP members should send a letter of interest and CV/resume to [email protected] by January 31.  

The AABP Foundation also announces a call for research grant proposals by December 27 at 5 pm eastern. Funding is available for both beef and dairy research projects associated with cattle health, welfare and production. Up to $25,000 in financial support will be provided for up to two grants in 2025. For more information or to submit your proposal, visit this page.  

AABP also reminds listeners that applications to attend the USDA grant-funded Building Excellence in Rural Veterinary Practice workshops closes on December 20 at 5 pm Eastern. Attendance is free for those who qualify for the grant, and additional seats are available for purchase by AABP members by emailing [email protected]. Visit this link for more information. 

The 8th Recent Graduate Conference will be held in Norman, Oklahoma February 13-15, 2025m including preconference seminars. Registration closes January 31 and the hotel block will close on January 23. Find out more information and register here.  

If you are an AABP member who needs your CE certificate, membership dues receipt or your donation receipts, simply hover over your name after logging in to the AABP website to access these documents. During this season of giving, we encourage you to consider the AABP Foundation or one of its scholarship funds through this link.

Reminder to all members that in 2025, AABP will change its dues year to match the calendar year and give members the option of a 6-month or 18-month renewal to transition to the calendar year dues cycle. The AABP board has devoted significant resources to improving access to continuing education opportunities including webinars, online CE, publications and seminars held outside the annual conference. We welcome everyone to join AABP and renew your dues to support our advocacy of helping cattle veterinarians.  

Happy holidays and best wishes to each of you in the new year. 

AABP Membership Committee chair Dr. Dan Cummings is the guest host for this episode of Have You Herd? on One Health. Guests for this podcast include AABP member Dr. John Groves, an exclusive beef cattle veterinarian in central Missouri, and Dr. Greg Gray, a human physician and Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Read Dr. Gray’s profile at this page.  

Our guests define what One Health means to them and how it applies to a practicing veterinarian as well as educating physicians on the meaning of One Health. There are sometimes challenges from clients on exploring One Health, and our guests dive into its implications with the current HPAI disease outbreak in dairy cattle and poultry. Gray discusses his work with zoonotic diseases and working with coronaviruses and influenza viruses throughout his career. Groves and Cummings discuss a collaborative surveillance project that will be presented as an abstract at the upcoming Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases (CWRAD) in Chicago, Ill., January 18-21, 2025. Find information about this conference at this link. 

One Health remains an important topic for both veterinarians and physicians. Working collaboratively to protect human and animal health by sharing knowledge is important for both communities. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Sara Linneen, a PhD ruminant nutritionist on the beef cattle technical consultant team at Elanco Animal Health. The overarching theme for this episode is “nutrition is everything”, and Linneen walks us through how nutrition impacts all aspects of cow-calf production.  

We discuss some of the challenges and opportunities for wintering beef cows and determining how to supplement cows over the winter. Linneen also discusses how drought affects forage quality and the impacts that has not only on dry matter intake, but intake of energy and protein which are critical nutrients for the cow and gestating fetus. The veterinarian is often the technical resource for the cow-calf ranch, and over 30% of the time, a call from a producer to the veterinarian is related to the nutrition program. Veterinarians have an opportunity to impact cow health, productivity, calf health and farm economics by becoming involved in the nutrition program. 

Linneen points out that body condition score at calving is the greatest predictor of reproductive success in the next year. It is also important to remember that we are feeding the cow, the gestating calf and the rumen micro-organisms with our nutrition program. Fetal programming, weaning weights, lactation performance and reproductive performance are influenced by how we feed cows over the winter and manage pastures in the spring and summer.  

Finally, Linneen offers some suggestions for improving forage efficiency in the cow by feeding monensin. Many cow-calf producers overlook this opportunity to improve forage efficiency which will decrease the amount of hay needing to be fed to cows over the winter which is a net economic return to the farm. 

Gingrich reminds listeners of the opportunity to learn beef cow nutrition from AABP.  We will host an eight-hour beef cow nutrition seminar at the 8th Recent Graduate Conference in Norman, Okla. On February 13. Find out information here. We will also have a beef cow nutrition seminar at the 58th AABP Conference in Omaha, Neb.; conference registration will open in May.