Says Vilsack

2 months ago | bovinevetonline.com | Says Vilsack |Mark Johnson |Steve Cubbage |Rhonda Brooks

Calving during the winter months can present some unique challenges. Cold and/or wet weather, higher birth weights, fewer hours of daylight and in most herds this is the time of year when we, as producers, are the primary source of nutrition provided in the form of harvested forage and supplemental feeds. What can we do to make calving in the late winter months as problem-free as possible?

2 months ago | bovinevetonline.com | Says Vilsack |Jennifer Shike |Maureen Hanson |John Nalivka

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) recently raised concerns about the scientific validity and practicality of reaching the goal of protecting public health through the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) proposed “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products.”Under the regulation, FSIS would classify certain Salmonella levels and serotypes in raw poultry products as adulterants and, therefore, prohibit them from entering the food supply, NPPC explained in Capital Update.

2 months ago | bovinevetonline.com | Says Vilsack |Maureen Hanson |Jennifer Shike |John Nalivka

Cold, snow, wind, and more – winter in the northern climates brings extra challenges for dairies and their animals. “We think a lot about heat stress, but cold stress also is a factor on many dairies,” stated Dr. Heather Dann, President of the W.H. Miner Institute, Chazy, N.Y. on a recent episode of The Dairy Nutrition Blackbelt podcast. Fortunately, lactating cows produce a lot of heat.

2 months ago | bovinevetonline.com | Says Vilsack |John Nalivka |Jennifer Shike |Maureen Hanson

U.S. cattle inventory is largely driven by smaller producers with fewer than 100 cows. According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, 557,075 cow-calf operations run fewer than 100 cows, which accounted for 89.5% of total cow-calf operations and 39.5% of the total cows. In 2022, the total number of operations represented a 15% drop from the 2017 Census.