Properly timed and administered vaccines are a key component of any cattle producer’s disease prevention program. But vaccines can’t do the job alone.

Consumer concerns regarding the potential for antibiotic use in livestock production to result in antibiotic residues in animal products is creating changes in purchasing decisions of many restaurant chains.

The economic impact of cattle fever ticks, including the southern cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, was so severe in the late 1800s that the USDA started an eradication program in the early 1900s to eliminate the deadly disease bovine babesiosis, which is transmitted by this parasitic pest.