Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains one of the most significant health and economic challenges in both beef and dairy production.

By the time today’s cattle leave the feedyard, they are heavier and have been there longer than ever before. This shift has created new opportunities for efficiency and carcass value. Today, the success of feeding cattle can be largely determined long before the animal ever sees a bunk.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains a leading health concern in Canadian feedlots. Currently, pen riders quietly surveying thousands of cattle daily are a feedlot’s main defence against this challenging disease.

BVD remains one of the most economically significant infectious diseases affecting cattle worldwide. While many producers vaccinate routinely, the virus can still circulate quietly within herds, reducing performance long before obvious clinical signs appear.

Despite advances in vaccines, nutrition and management, bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains one of the most persistent and costly challenges in beef production. While the weather this fall has been off to an unseasonably mild start, producers shouldn’t mistake low rates of BRD in early months for a disease-free season.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is essentially pneumonia. Caused by specific bacteria and viruses, it is the most expensive disease in the beef industry.

Over the coming weeks and months, ranches across the United States will gather their herds for the annual springtime tradition of branding. In addition to marking ownership of the year’s calf crop, cowboys will administer vaccines to young calves in an effort to curb a disease that is just as consistent as the spring ritual: pneumonia or bovine respiratory disease (BRD).

Transitioning a heifer calf into a productive, long-term member of the breeding herd requires attention to many important factors, including nutrition, genetic and breeding decisions, and environmental management. Disease and health challenges, however, can undermine all that work.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) began enforcing its revised livestock transport regulations in 2022, which reduced the maximum travel time for weaned calves from 48 to 36 hours before a mandated break and increased rest periods from five to eight hours.

Just as solid structural pillars form a strong foundation for the barn, these seven pillars of calf raising are powerful steps to help build a solid foundation for the future milking herd.