AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by technical services veterinarians from Merck Animal Health, Dr. Jacque Fusilier and Dr. Dave Sjeklocha to discuss bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in beef cattle. BRD has long been a challenge in the cattle industry but today, we are taking a fresh look. From shifting market dynamics to evolving herd management practices, we explore what is driving BRD today and what steps we need to take to stay ahead.

This episode of Have You Herd? is sponsored by Merck Animal Health as part of their sponsorship package for the opening reception at the 2025 AABP Conference in Omaha, Neb. Merck is also the sponsor of the Merck Bovine Veterinary Student Recognition Award which is the AABP Foundation’s scholarship program providing nine students scholarships of $10,000 each. 

Market influences can impact producers' willingness to provide interventions to manage disease risk. Merck Animal Health partners with Superior Livestock Auction to evaluate the economic impact of providing preconditioning programs for calves including the VAC45 and PrimeVAC programs. The data from 2024 indicates that this preconditioning program added $8.46/cwt compared to non-preconditioned calves. 

We also discuss beef-on-dairy crosses and labor challenges in our industry that can impact disease risk. Good animal handling, management and ensuring adequate colostrum delivery and vaccination can decrease BRD risk. Our guests discuss evaluating the risk of arrival calves by calculating shrink, backtags, other tags and evaluating manure consistency. Sjeklocha has a goal of less than 6% shrink.

Technological advancements have also played a role in disease monitoring and improving calf health while optimizing labor resources. Veterinarians can play a key role in monitoring disease, providing goals, evaluating records, and training producers and caregivers how to manage stress and improve handling and management of calves. 

For more information on the products available for BRD prevention, control and treatment, visit https://MAHCattle.com.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Chris Ashworth, Global Veterinarian for Zinpro Performance Minerals and Dr. Dave Sjeklocha, technical services veterinarian for Merck Animal Health to discuss New World Screwworm (NWS). Recently, the United States Animal Health Association and National Institute of Animal Agriculture hosted an NWS symposium in Kansas City which was sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, Merck Animal Health and Elanco. Both of our guests attended and are providing an update from that symposium.

NWS was recently discovered in Nuevo Leon, Mexico which is 70 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The infected animal was a feedlot steer that was detected with larvae upon arrival at the feedlot. Mexican authorities have restrictions on animal movements both at the point of origin and arrival.

The life cycle of the NWS fly is about 3 weeks. Fertilized eggs are laid in packets of 200-350 eggs that hatch in 12-21 hours with the emergence of larvae within 3 days. Two important aspects of the life cycle are that female flies mate and lay eggs once, then die and they lay eggs in fresh wounds, not decaying tissue like other fly strikes. The larvae burrow deep into wounds and cause significant destruction which can result in the animal dying of septicemia in 1-2 weeks. It is important to inspect for larvae and remove all of them, placing them in alcohol to kill them. 

The USDA continues to work with Mexican authorities to protect the U.S. from this fly. Releasing sterile male flies works based on history of control of this pest, but the current production rate of 110 million per week is not enough to control the areas that have the fly. It is also important to remember that half of the sterile flies are females, although scientists are working to try to produce only male flies to increase production. The U.S. is also constructing a facility in Texas, but the timeline for completion to release of flies is 2-3 years.

The most important thing veterinarians can do is to inspect animals aggressively. Pay special attention to any wounds – superficial wounds or scrapes, foot rot lesions, open umbilical cords, wounds in the vulva from calving, castration wounds or dehorning sites. Veterinarians and producers should remain hypervigilant and report any suspicious wounds or larvae and contact their state animal health official. Treatment involves the use of avermectin products and doramectin has received emergency use authorization for NWS by FDA. Fly control and wound care is also very important for control of this infestation.

AABP members can also view the presentation from Dr. Bud Dinges at the 2025 AABP Annual Conference in Omaha by going to the NWS page on the AABP website (https://aabp.org) as well as other NWS resources. 

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich reviews some of the survey results available on the AABP website. Find all survey results under the Member Resources tab of the AABP website or directly at this link.  

This episode of Have You Herd? is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and the 360° coverage mastitis portfolio. From prevention to treatment options designed for judicious antibiotic use, the 360° coverage mastitis portfolio has the products you need to defend udders at every angle. Find out more information by visiting this link.  

AABP administers a survey to graduating seniors to collect data on their job, debt, and obstacles they experience in job seeking since 2018 with an average response rate of 152 per year. In 2025, the average starting salary was $91,500 and 40% of respondents reported incomes over $100,000. The average debt reported was $150,431 with 17% reporting no debt. Of those reporting debt, the average debt was $180,000.  

Respondents also report their obstacles or challenges to accepting a job offer with salary/compensation being the number one challenge (45%) 28% reporting poor work environment/human resources issues, 15% hours of work required and 12% gender or other bias. 

AABP also has administered surveys asking what type of community members spent the majority of their childhood, with 630 responses. 70% of members reported growing up in a rural area, 25% suburban and 5% urban. This report is consistent across all graduation years including the 2025 graduating seniors.  

Gingrich also reviews the results of the survey administered by the Mental Health and Well-Being Committee with 493 respondents. Highlights of this survey indicated that 57% identified mental health as important or very important, 40% have sought mental health therapy, 30% have sought  guidance from a religious leader, 85% discuss stressors with family members and 45% discuss with work colleagues.  

Gingrich invites members to consider joining a committee that interests them by going to the committee menu on the AABP website and submitting a brief bio to join. He also discusses other member resources including AABP-L, practice management workshops, online recordings of conference sessions and webinars, webinars and seminars.  The 2026 Recent Graduate conference is also open for registration! Find out more information at this link. Open access to AABP publications is also available from the Publications menu of the AABP website. Specific articles of interest referencing improving recruitment and retention of bovine or mixed animal veterinarians are below:

Factors influencing job and career satisfaction in veterinarians 10 years or fewer from graduation

A mixed-method pilot study investigating challenges experienced by mixed animal veterinarians in practice and their private practice experiences prior to graduation

Factors influencing administrative personnel and veterinarian turnover and compensation packages in rural mixed-animal practices over a 5-year period

Incomes and satisfaction among bovine focused veterinary practitioners in the United States and Canada

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich provides information about the 58th AABP conference and feedback from the post-conference survey. If you have feedback that you would like to provide for consideration in future conferences, you can email [email protected] before October 31. 

Eighty-eight percent of respondents ranked the conference good or great indicating a successful AABP annual conference providing continuing education, a trade show, great beef and dairy products, and networking opportunities. 

Gingrich reminds attendees of the conference that CE certificates are available by logging in to the AABP website, hover over your name in the upper right corner, and select My CE Certificates. You can scroll to the bottom of your certificate to select individual presentations from the session blocks that you attended.

All AABP conference sessions are recorded and available at no charge to AABP members. Go to the continuing education menu on the AABP website or directly at this link to see all conference sessions. The 2025 conference sessions will be uploaded over the next two months as they are edited and posted. You can also listen or view presentations on your mobile device by downloading the free BCI Mobile Conference app for your device. Note that CE certificates for viewed sessions are not available through the app and you must be on a browser to take the quiz and receive a CE certificate.

AABP will continue to adhere to its core mission of providing continuing education for our members. Watch the CE menu on the website for upcoming webinars, non-conference seminars, practice management workshops, and future conferences. 

AABP Executive Director joins you from Omaha, Neb. to welcome everyone to the 58th AABP Annual Conference and provide some tips for your planning.

Arrivals at the Omaha airport can take ride share (Uber/Lyft) or taxis from the airport to the hotel area. The airport, as well as areas around the hotels, are under construction and ride share pickups are in the lower ground level of the parking garage at the airport. The airport is a 10-minute ride from the hotel area.  

Preconference seminar attendees should go directly to their seminar room to get their registration packs and name badges and do not need to go to the registration desk. The lameness seminar is in the convention center and all other seminars are on the second floor of the Hilton hotel. Clinical forum breakfasts and committee meetings on Thursday morning will also be on the second floor of the Hilton hotel. All remaining sessions are in the convention center which is called the CHI Health Center. 

All other attendees should visit the registration desk on the ground floor of the convention center on arrival. Wednesday evening will be the opening dinner reception and scholarship presentations sponsored by Merck Animal Health in the Grand Ballroom on the second floor of the convention center. Thursday morning is the Zoetis Breakfast and presentation from Dr. Mike Overton on using data for decision making. Friday evening is the Zoetis Dinner, Scholarship Presentations, and live auction benefiting the AABP Foundation and Amstutz Scholarship Fund. To build a consortium and bid on an item as a group go to this link. A list of auction items can be found here.  

Make sure to visit the great trade show to network with vendor representatives and learn about their companies to take advantage of any show specials. We also have lounges and an entertainment area in the exhibit hall, as well as our Bovine Bucks lunches. If you purchased a lunch ticket, it will be in your name badge. 

To help you navigate the conference, utilize the printed program guide available at the registration desk or the online schedule to add items to your calendar. Attendees should also download the conference app on their mobile device. Search for Yapp in your device’s store and then click on the plus sign to add a Yapp and enter code AABP2025. The app is sponsored by Beef Quality Assurance and has all conference schedules, descriptions and events. There is also a conference survey on the app that we encourage all attendees to take after the conference and provide needed feedback to AABP. To ask questions and participate in polls, download the Slido app and enter event code AABP2025. 

Thank you to the program committee, our sponsors, volunteers, exhibitors, speakers and each of you, our attendees and members, for coming to the conference! We are here to help you have a great experience and advance your education on all things cattle!

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. David Villar, a co-author on the paper “Diagnostic findings of copper, selenium and manganese deficiency in dairy and beef cattle submitted to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory” published online first in the Bovine Practitioner. 

This episode of Have You Herd? is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and their 360°  coverage mastitis portfolio. Every lactation cycle, cows are up against the threat of mastitis. Which really means you’re up against it, too.  Thankfully, Boehringer Ingelheim has you covered with 360° coverage solutions. From prevention to treatment options designed for judicious antibiotic use, the 360° coverage mastitis portfolio has the products you need to defend udders at every angle. What’s in your cattle health toolkit? Experience the power of complete mastitis care at this link. 

Villar provides information on the importance of micromineral nutrition of beef and dairy cattle health. This study looked at submissions to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS) to evaluate the disease processes and pathogens identified along with micromineral analysis. The primary objective of this study was to determine if the correlation patterns of hepatic Cu, Se, and Mn for disease in the CAHFS diagnostic database at different ages would be similar for beef and dairy cattle. 

Villar discusses the results from the study which identified that 33% of beef cattle were deficient in CU, 46% were deficient in Se, and 41% were deficient in both. In dairy cattle, very few animals had deficiencies, indicating appropriate micromineral ration balancing and intakes. The number one disease seen in beef was bovine respiratory disease (BRD) with a median age of 8 months. Of these, 68% were deficient in Cu, Se or both, and most had a history of transportation and commingling. Although BRD was also frequently diagnosed in dairy animals, the median age was 90 days. Salmonella Group D was the next most frequent disease in deficient dairy animals.

This paper identifies the importance of micromineral deficiencies and correlations with diseases. There are significant opportunities for veterinarians, especially involved with beef cattle, to address micromineral nutrition programs and monitoring. 

Diagnostic findings of copper, selenium and manganese deficiency in dairy and beef cattle submitted to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory. (2025). The Bovine Practitioner, 59(2), 61-70. https://doi.org/10.21423/bpj20259267

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by veterinarians from Heritage Vet Partners, Drs. John Davidson, Greg Kurtz and Eric Duch. Heritage Vet Partners is the sponsor of this episode of Have You Herd? and the sponsor of the childcare room at the AABP Annual and Recent Graduate Conferences. AABP recognizes that veterinarians with young families may face challenges in attending the conferences. For this reason, AABP offers an unattended childcare room and caregivers and children can register for free so that the veterinarian can attend the CE sessions at the conference. Heritage Vet Partners supports this family-friendly atmosphere by sponsoring this childcare room.

Our guests start by describing why they chose to join Heritage Vet Partners and the impact it has had on preserving their practice culture. Davidson describes the partnership model and value proposition for practice owners and members of the veterinary team and how it supports the practice. We also discuss some of the benefits these practice owners have seen for their support staff when integrating with Heritage Vet Partners and how it has supported their practices' daily activities and work-life balance.

Kurtz and Duch describe the partnership model and dispel some of the myths about the corporate practice model and the stigmas associated with it. Davidson closes our podcast by sharing some thoughts that students, recent grads and owners might consider regarding Heritage Vet Partners. 

Find Heritage Vet Partners on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HeritageVetPartners or visit their website https://heritagevetpartners.com/.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Lilli Heinen, a 2024 Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine graduate and dual PhD program, currently employed as a senior researcher at Midwest Veterinary Services, Dr. Brian Lubbers, interim department head in clinical sciences at Kansas State University, and Dr. Ron Tessman, a beef technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health. 

This podcast is sponsored by Elanco Animal Health, manufacturers of PradalexTM. The development of Pradalex highlights their commitment to improving animal health outcomes, reducing the risk of resistance and minimizing disruption to animals’ normal health biome. Pradalex’s structural differences result in a dual-targeting effect, yielding up to 3x better in vitro potency compared to similar fluoroquinolone antibiotics approved for the treatment of BRD. Elanco, a global leader in animal health, is committed to supporting the success of the beef industry by providing resources to help manage health, enhance economic performance, and promote operational sustainability. For more information visit Elanco.com or contact your local Elanco representative. 

We begin with an explanation of the mechanism of action of this new antibiotic and the reasons for performing this study. The primary study objective was to evaluate the effect of 3-, 6- and 9-day post-treatment intervals on first treatment success and case fatality in naturally occurring bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in stocker calves. Secondary outcomes included days-to-death (DTD) in the same population. The average overall first treatment success was 61.8% with no statistical differences across the three post-treatment intervals. The average case fatality rate was 12.3% with no statistical differences between the treated groups. The authors note that the population studied was stocker cattle which may have explained the higher numbers compared to feedlot cattle reports. We also discuss the inclusion of DTD in this study and the reasons for this outcome variable. 

Veterinarians can utilize this information to guide treatment protocols when using pradofloxacin. Post-treatment intervals are an important component of antimicrobial stewardship as well as decreasing treatment costs without impacting animal health.

The Bovine Practitioner is the peer reviewed journal of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. It is open access and does not charge authors a publication fee. You can find the journal at this link. 

Evaluation of 3-, 6- and 9-day post-treatment intervals following pradofloxacin for treatment of bovine respiratory disease in stocker cattle. (2025). The Bovine Practitioner, 59(2), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.21423/bpj20259263

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Elizabeth Lahmers, Chief Veterinary Officer, and Dr. Tony Good, Vice President of Production Operations, from Select Sires, Inc. Both Good and Lahmers also serve on the Board of Directors of Certified Semen Services. This episode of Have You Herd? is brought to you by the AABP Reproduction Committee.

Certified Semen Services (CSS) was established in 1976 and is a subsidiary of the National Association Animal Breeders. The primary purpose of the program is to prevent the spread of disease through semen and is considered to be the gold standard certification program for artificial insemination. The main diseases that are screened through the program are Campylobacter, Trichomoniasis, Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, BVD and Leptospirosis. The key benefits to breeders and farmers with CSS is that the semen is from a bull that has met minimum standards. 

Our guests also discuss some of the challenges they experience with receiving potential bull studs into their program. Both IBR and Lepto titers remain a challenge. Our guests encourage veterinarians to work with bull studs on housing and vaccination protocols to ensure that potential studs do not have titers that would eliminate them from the program. They also mention that better tests are needed for some of these diseases to differentiate titers from infection versus vaccination. 

The benefits of the CSS program include improving fertility through extenders, expansion of export markets, ensuring processes and controls are in place for prevention of disease, and establishing a growing relationship with USDA.

To find out more information about Certified Semen Services, visit this website. If you are an AABP member interested in reproduction, consider joining the AABP Reproduction Committee by emailing [email protected].

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Luciano Caixeta, associate professor of dairy production medicine at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Jen Roberts, senior professional services veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim. 

This episode of Have You Herd is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. Most producers focus on lactation for milk yield and udder health. But as veterinarians, we know that many of the most critical decisions happen around dry-off. This episode will explore dry cow strategies and what veterinarians can do to help clients drive better outcomes during the dry period.

We should approach the dry period as the beginning of lactation, not the end of lactation, to set cows up for a successful milk production period. Dry-off is a critical window for mastitis prevention and use of internal teat sealants and coliform mastitis vaccination are important tools that should be considered by the veterinarian. Veterinarians should also discuss with clients how to prepare for drying off high-producing cows and why it is important to address them proactively. Bovikalc Dry ® is an acidogenic bolus given to cows at dry off to decrease milk production and udder engorgement. It works by causing a transient decrease in dry matter intake and a decrease in glucose transport to the udder which leads to a decrease in milk production. 

The veterinarian of record is also an important resource for developing and monitoring protocols. Monitoring dry-off protocols and conducting audits of the dry-off procedures and dry pen are important services that veterinarians can provide to clients. Ensuring that protocol drift is not occurring, dry pens are clean and not overstocked, ventilation and cow cooling are appropriate, and access to feed and water is adequate are important areas to audit to ensure a successful dry cow program. 

For more information about mastitis prevention programs from Boehringer Ingelheim, visit this website. A summary of the Bovikalc Dry product can be found here. 

Publications on Bovikalc Dry:

Randomized clinical trial evaluating the effects of administering acidogenic boluses at dry-off on udder health, milk yield, and herd removal

J Dairy Sci

https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2023-23757

A randomized clinical trial evaluating the effects of administration of acidogenic boluses at dry-off on rumination and activity behavior in the 14 subsequent days

J Dairy Sci Comm

https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2022-0366