Have You Herd? AABP PodCasts

Annual 57th AABP Annual Conference Helpful Hints         

 AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich welcomes you to Columbus, Ohio, for the 57th AABP Annual Conference. Special thanks to the program committee, led by Dr. Dave Sjeklocha and seminar chair Dr. Callie Willingham for planning the scientific CE for this conference. The theme of the conference is “Challenging the Norm”. Gingrich walks through some of the sessions and events from the conference, including thanking our sponsors for their support of our meals and events:

Boehringer Ingelheim for sponsoring the Wednesday welcome reception and the 5K Stampede Fun Run.

Diamond V for sponsoring the Thursday breakfast presentation.

Zoetis for sponsoring the Friday breakfast presentation and Friday dinner and scholarship presentations and auction.

Vaxxinova for sponsoring the Quiz Bowl

Endovac for sponsoring the student reception.

We would also like to thank our other sponsors for their support of the conference which includes Hoard’s Dairyman, Elanco, Merck Animal Health and Udder Tech. Thanks also to all of the companies that exhibit in our trade show and make sure to check out the fun things to do in the trade show while visiting the booths and products available to you!

Make sure to pick up your registration pack near room A110 at the bottom of the escalators in the convention center when you arrive. After the conference, make sure to fill out our conference feedback survey in Slido and get your CE certificate by hovering over you name and select “My CE Certificates”. 

Other useful links:

Slido – this can be downloaded as an app or use your browser to participate in polls and submit questions to speakers.

Ride Share – submit your travel information to connect with other attendees.

Conference website – find all the information you need for the conference in one location.

Auction items – browse the live and silent auction items to prepare your bids.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by three veterinarians from Heritage Veterinary Partners, Dr. Luke Strehle, Dr. Tera Barnhardt and Dr. Dan Cummings. Cummings also serves as the AABP Membership Committee chair. This episode is sponsored by Heritage Veterinary Partners, a community of rural mixed animal and food animal veterinarians. Find out more information about Heritage Veterinary Partners at this link. 

Rural veterinary practice can be isolating, especially for recent graduates who have built a community network of colleagues while in school. Providing opportunities for networking with other veterinarians can overcome the challenges of isolation for rural veterinarians. Cummings discusses a paper published in the Bovine Practitioner which was a qualitative analysis of experiences of recent graduates and how Heritage Veterinary Partners has used these assessments to build a community across their practice groups.

We also discussed the HPAI H5N1 disease outbreak in dairy cattle. Barnhardt and Strehle discuss how they worked within their practice group as well as how they managed this disease for their clients. Gingrich reminds our listeners that there is a dedicated webpage for AABP members with links and information on this outbreak. 

Visit Heritage Veterinary Partners in the exhibit hall at the 57th AABP Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, September 12-14!

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Brad White from the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Institute to discuss a paper published in the Bovine Practitioner titled “Risk factors Associated with Case Fatality and Treatment Success following Initial Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment in Feedyard Cattle”. This paper was a retrospective analysis of existing feedyard data to identify potential relationships between risk factors known at the time of initial treatment for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and treatment outcomes. The three post-treatment outcomes evaluated were first treatment success, post-treatment deaths from any cause, and post-treatment deaths due to BRD.  

The investigators found the overall first treatment success for BRD to be 67.8% with all-cause mortality of 10% and BRD related mortality of 6.3%. White discusses associations found with each post-treatment outcome evaluated which can be useful information as veterinarians evaluate the success of their BRD treatment, prevention and control protocols for their customers, and define expectations with clients.  

Neal, K. B., White, B. J., Amrine, D. E., Lubbers, B. V., Tessman, R. K., & Larson, R. L. (2024). Risk factors Associated with Case Fatality and Treatment Success following Initial Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment in Feedyard Cattle. The Bovine Practitioner, 58(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol58no2p1-8

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Eric Moore from Norbrook Laboratories, and Dr. John Sharpe, a practicing veterinarian in Kansas and a 2023 graduate of Kansas State University.  

This podcast is sponsored by Norbrook. Having the right antibiotics is critical to successfully treating seasonal diseases. Norbrook offers a variety of effective and value driven solutions such as Noromycin 300 LA, Norfenicol Injectable Solution, Tulieve Injectable Solution, Enroflox 100 Injectable Solution, and Cefenil RTU. To learn more, contact your Norbrook sales representative, your animal health distributor, or visit the Norbrook website.  

Sharpe discusses the seasonal variation of disease patterns he sees in his bovine practice and how these patterns influence antibiotic use as well as the producer’s bottom line. He also shares his experiences with the implementation of GFI #263 which transitioned the remaining medically important over-the-counter antimicrobials to prescription status with veterinary oversight. We also discuss how he, as a veterinarian, walks through his decision-making processes for selecting an antimicrobial to treat an animal, herd or in protocol development. Moore provides some background on the frustration producers face when they experience treatment failure, how prevention is the most important part of a stewardship program, and what antibiotics do not do so that producers can understand how to use them properly and promote animal health.  

Listen to the previous podcast with Dr. Eric Moore on implementation of GFI #263 here. 

Make sure to visit the Norbrook booth at the AABP tradeshow at the upcoming 57th AABP Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, September 12-14, 2024. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by the chair of the AABP Milk Quality and Udder Health Committee, Dr. Pam Ruegg, to discuss a new resource available to AABP members that was developed by the committee.  

This episode is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and their 360 mastitis portfolio. Find out more information at this link. Join us in Columbus, Ohio at the 57th AABP Annual Conference and visit the BI booth in the trade show and attend the opening reception on Wednesday, September 11 sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim.  

The resource document we discuss provides guidelines for both the novice and experienced veterinarian. Find all committee resources on this page. These guidelines will assist veterinarians in a total milk quality program and include resources for monitoring udder health, mastitis detection and diagnosis, treatment of mastitis, and prevention of mastitis. Each topic discusses the body of knowledge needed by the practitioner and the capabilities needed to provide this service. 

If you are interested in assisting the Milk Quality and Udder Health Committee, or any AABP committee, please go to the committee menu on the AABP website and select a committee to contact. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. John Angelos, University of California-Davis, and Dr. Dustin Loy, Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center, to discuss infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly referred to as pinkeye. This is a multi-factorial disease that can sometimes be difficult to manage during outbreak situations. 

Our conversation begins as a review of the major pathogens associated with IBK which includes Moraxella bovis and Mycoplasma bovoculi  which are associated with the majority of cases submitted to diagnostic labs. Our guests also review the various risk factors associated with IBK including flies, mechanical trauma and viral infections. There are nine commercially available bacterin products, two conditionally licensed products, and autogenous vaccines to aid in the prevention of IBK in cattle. Our guests review some best practices for incorporating vaccination into herd health protocols as well as other prevention measures veterinarians may recommend to beef and dairy producers such as clipping pastures, fly control, mineral supplementation and managing viral risk factors.

When prevention fails, treatment protocols are important for veterinarians to develop for producers during both individual animal cases and herd outbreaks. Oxytetracycline and tulathromycin are two antimicrobials currently labeled in the U.S. for treatment of IBK in cattle. There are no Veterinary Feed Directive products labeled for IBK treatment, prevention or control and veterinarians should be aware that it is prohibited to write a VFD for an extra-label use of in-feed antimicrobials. 

Veterinarians are an ideal resource to develop prevention and treatment protocols for managing IBK on beef and dairy operations. Continuing to monitor cases and risk factors can aid in managing this important disease.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP President  Elect and AABP Annual Conference Program Chair Dr. Dave Sjeklocha. Sjeklocha thanks his program committee who are volunteer AABP members who develop the content for the conference.  

The theme of the conference is “Challenge the Norm” and Sjeklocha states he picked this theme to encourage members to challenge themselves with what they are doing for their clients and continue to improve and advance their practice. The keynote speaker, Dr. Shawn Baker, will challenge the norm on assumptions about eating an animal-sourced diet and help our members advocate for the products that our clients produce. We will also hear from the AABP vice president candidates for 2025, Dr. Elizabeth Quesnell Kohtz and Dr. Jennifer Roberts, after the keynote address. 

We walk through some of the highlights from the sessions including presentations on small ruminants, beef, dairy, clinical skills, practice management, student sessions and case competition, and research summaries. Sjeklocha also developed a cattle welfare track this year at the conference. This session will be for beef and dairy veterinarians and provide an opportunity for advancement in the field of animal welfare, an important part of our oath in caring for cattle.  

The conference is typically planned 10 months in advance, but we leave two time slots open for hot topics. This year, we will hear a presentation on the draft updated AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals, focusing on the cattle portion of the document. We will also have a panel presentation on Influenza A H5N1, providing attendees with experiences from a diagnostic lab, practicing veterinarian, and a producer who is a veterinarian and went through the disease. There will be ample time for question and answer during this panel presentation. Sjeklocha also describes the clinical forum breakfast presentations which are an additional two hours of CE facilitated by an expert and is discussion-based in a small-group format.  

The AABP conference is not only about CE sessions, but networking and socializing opportunities as well. We have an opening reception sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, breakfast presentations from Diamond V and Zoetis, the scholarship presentation and Amstutz Scholarship Auction sponsored by Zoetis, Stampede 5K sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and the Saturday Awards and Business Lunch sponsored by AABP. We also will have a student reception sponsored by Endovac and the student Quiz Bowl sponsored by Vaxxinova/Newport Laboratories.  

Reminder that the  early-bird registration discount ends August 1, and online registration and hotel block closes August 22. We encourage all attendees to book in the AABP hotel block and only use the online AABP housing link to ensure your room confirmation. You can reserve your hotel and read the guide to hotels on this page.  

Detailed session descriptions can be found at this link. Find the full schedule of events here. Register for the AABP conference on this page. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP Vice President and Preconference Seminar chair Dr. Callie Willingham to discuss the many opportunities for advanced learning in seminars at the upcoming AABP conference, Sept. 12-14, in Columbus, Ohio (preconference are Sept. 8-11, others are during conference). Seminars are small group meetings led by an expert faculty and are approved for 8 hours per day of additional continuing education credits.  

We discuss how seminars that we have taken have advanced our practice skill set, provided opportunities for new or expanded services for clients, created billable hours, and allowed networking with colleagues and faculty with similar professional interests. This year there are eight seminars offered prior to the conference at the headquarters hotel, three seminars offered off-site with wet lab instructional opportunities, and three seminars during the conference. Each seminar is limited to 30 attendees which offers low attendee-to-faculty ratio for interactive learning.  

Students are welcome to attend the seminars, as well as sign up for the Student Lameness seminar to learn proper hoof trimming and surgical techniques from members of the AABP Lameness Committee.  

Seminars that have an inadequate number of registrations by August 1 are subject to cancellation. We encourage you to register for the conference and a seminar prior to that date. If you are registered for a seminar that cancels, your registration fee can be applied to an alternative seminar or is 100% refundable. Seminars are an AABP member benefit and therefore limited to AABP members who are registered for the conference. If you are taking a seminar that occurs prior to the conference and not attending the conference itself, there is a reduced seminar-only registration fee. 

Find information about the seminars offered this year at this link. When you go to that link, you can click on the seminar title to view the faculty list, seminar fee and a detailed agenda of topics that will be discussed. Register for the AABP conference on this page. 

In this episode, AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Richard Doak to discuss the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program. 

This episode of Have You Herd? is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and their 360 coverage mastitis portfolio. For more information, visit this link. 

Doak begins the discussion by explaining why it is important to have a national dairy farm audit program to demonstrate continual improvement to milk buyers and consumers. Doak has a unique perspective because he is a private practice veterinarian, provides third party audits, trains evaluators and serves on the task force for NMPF that is charged with reviewing and updating the standards which are ultimately approved by the NMPF board of directors. Version 5.0 of the FARM program begins on July 1, 2024 and it is important for veterinarians to review with producers the updated standards so they are prepared for their next audit. There are not a lot of significant changes in this version but there have been updates to the standards on lameness, colostrum feeding and humane euthanasia.  

We discuss training and the importance of training. Doak mentions that training occurs every day on dairy farms and veterinarians are an important part of training to protect the safety of people and animals, prevent residues, and improve animal health. Although training occurs all the time, it must be documented for the FARM program. The five focus areas for training occur when the animals are most vulnerable and include newborn calf care, down cow management, humane euthanasia, fitness to transport and stockmanship. This training can mitigate risk for dairy farms and is another reason to provide and document the training.  

AABP members who are interested in preparing their clients for FARM Version 5.0 can attend a seminar during the conference. More information about this seminar can be found here and the registration page for the conference can be found on this page.  

Find NMPF FARM information on this page. Click on the Resources menu to find resources mentioned in this podcast. Be sure to review the AABP Humane Euthanasia of Cattle Guidelines to ensure your euthanasia protocols are compliant with the guidelines. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Isaac Jumper, Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine to discuss the paper “Case-control study to identify management practices associated with morbidity or mortality due to bovine anaplasmosis in Mississippi cow-calf herds” published in the Bovine Practitioner and available open-access in the online first edition. Jumper starts by discussing bovine anaplasmosis and the challenges associated with its control in cow-calf herds.  

The objective of this study was to determine if management practices, such as feeding chlortetracycline (CTC), are associated with illness or death from bovine anaplasmosis in Mississippi cow-calf herds. We discuss some of the epidemiologic terms used in the paper and the results of the study. This study found that providing CTC was associated with case herd status and Jumper provides some possible explanations for this finding. Veterinarians should routinely review protocols, especially antimicrobial protocols for treatment, prevention and control of disease, to optimize antimicrobial stewardship and animal health. 

Jumper, W. I., Huston, C. L., & Smith, D. R. (2024). Case-control study to identify management practices associated with morbidity or mortality due to bovine anaplasmosis in Mississippi cow-calf herds. The Bovine Practitioner, 58(2), 16–22.