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.

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).

Beware Typhoid Mary in your herd. She may not be showing signs of infection, but could be carrying and shedding Salmonella Dublin, a bacterium that can be transmitted from lactating cows to calves.

The challenge in controlling BRD is to identify and quantify the factors that account for the immunosuppression. This is easier said than done, since knowledge of biomarkers for quantification of stress is incomplete and chuteside implementation is not yet possible.

The treatment of clinical mastitis has dramatically changed in the approximately 50 years of my veterinary career. The major focus has been on the proper and judicious use of antibiotics in dairy cattle and assuring the public there are no antibiotic residues in the milk supply. 

Among the more problematic pathogens affecting cattle, Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) stands out for its involvement in chronic infections. The interaction between the outer makeup of the microorganism and the animal’s immune response contributes to its insidious nature, making treatment as well as prevention difficult.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most urgent global health threats and development challenges scientists face today. And dairy is responding with stewardship and materials that advance our industry’s interests in combating the threat.

At recent national and global meetings in September and November, DFC has ensured policy makers learned about the work dairy farmers are doing on antimicrobial usage and what help farmers will need to play their part within a “One Health” approach.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a top human health risk. It’s something directly affecting farmers and farm workers, who are constantly exposed to bacteria through their livestock.