A warm summer day is often a most desirable time on the ranch, especially when a “leisure” trip to check the pastures and cow-calf pairs is on the day’s agenda. But this relaxing trip quickly turns stressful when the first calf we encounter is teary-eyed, followed by another and another.

Join the Progressive Cattle crew and guests as they discuss the current cattle market, the best pickups on the market, third-party verification programs and antimicrobial resistance in beef cattle.

Immune-based biologics are a solution with the potential to reduce (and perhaps eliminate) antibiotics use across dairy farms worldwide and ultimately mitigate the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

The earlier BRD is detected and treated, the better the opportunity to minimize lung damage. If it’s not caught quickly, cattle will be less likely to respond to antibiotic treatment and will be at a greater risk for relapse or mortality.

When it comes to any disease treatment, it’s imperative to match the drug to the bug – or in other words, use the correct class of antibiotic to control the disease-causing bacteria at hand. The same holds for anti-infectives used to treat bovine respiratory disease (BRD).

To treat or not to treat? That’s the question producers often face when it comes to re-treating sick calves. It's hard to treat a calf for respiratory disease and not see immediate results. But sticking to an antibiotic’s designated post-treatment interval (PTI) is essential for both calf health and producer success.

After more than 15 years of practicing in a large-animal clinic, a veterinarian pinpoints three herd health issues on which producers can take action to add pounds to their calves and efficiency to their operations.