There is virtual fencing (VF) for dogs, and now researchers are studying ways to make this idea possible for beef producers. When available, VF technology will benefit cattle, ranchers, rangeland and wildlife.

Quality products to care for our animals are critical to success. There are numerous options available in the marketplace today, and accurate information should be used to choose the products we put in our “toolbox.”

It’s estimated nearly 9% of beef cattle operations have a calf persistently infected (PI) with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). This might seem like a small percentage, but presence of BVDV can mean a risk for something more.

Deworming is a widely accepted practice that can improve performance and provide considerable economic advantage.

Cattle experience pain. Even though they can be very good at disguising it, they do. Pain can come from injury, age (arthritis), natural activity (calving), disease or common management practices.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is difficult to detect in its early stages and can be highly contagious. A case of bTB in the U.S. will result in the culling of the infected animal and possibly more of the herd if the disease has spread.

Occasionally cattle react to a vaccine. An allergic reaction can be mild and local (swelling at the injection site) or serious and fatal.

As the weather begins to cool and the hair coats on cattle get longer, the lice that have been dormant on carrier animals through the summer begin to reproduce.

Technology in agriculture is not a new concept, and the efficiencies and the advancements those technologies have provided producers has revolutionized the industry.