WELCOME

In the last issue of Protein Producers, Dr. Wade reviewed the past ten years of PAC development, membership and focus. Today we want to look forward and share our vision for the future of PAC.

We are very excited about how we can work with other segments of the industry to guide effective protein production. To this end, PAC is partnering with stocker and cow-calf veterinarians from across the United States to broaden our understanding of lifetime production systems. We will work on integrating data, nutrition, education, marketing and product access to help move toward vertical integration without vertical ownership. Dr. Jim Lowe’s knowledge of the swine industry and systems management will help us as we forge a new path forward.

Our team is already hard at work developing a database to collect information measuring reproductive performance, calf health and vaccination activities at the ranch and building an assessment tool to identify important cow-calf management practices. This assessment tool will allow us to create indexes for maternal behavior, nursing frequency, neonatal weather stressors and passive transfer.

Utilizing systems to maintain animal identification as cattle change addresses, we will be able to integrate performance and health data across various segments of production. We will be able to match origin data and assessments with documented arrival strategies, including nutrition, vaccination protocols, acclimation efforts and weather stressors, and with ensuing morbidity, mortality and performance levels.

Ultimately, we will be able to use this information transfer to answer a variety of questions. For example, how do cow-calf vaccine products and timing of vaccination affect feedlot arrival health? Can we tailor feedlot arrival programs to compliment calf management programs? What gestational macro and micro nutritional strategies result in cost effective health and performance gains? Do effective stockmanship interventions influence nursing frequency, passive transfer, neonatal health and weaning behavior?

PAC members are also meeting regularly on conference calls and at educational seminars to share ideas and practical applications of immunology, nutrition, fetal programming, stockmanship, pharmacology and more. Education followed by application that is monitored by production and health outcomes empowers veterinarians to provide better lives for producers and their livestock.

Dr. Wade and I have been blessed to watch the power of veterinarians working and sharing in a network focused on building better lives for producers and their creatures. We are excited to extend this attitude to include conception to harvest management through science, cooperation and truth.

Lastly, we want to say a very special “Thank you!” to Kelly Terrell. Five years ago, Kelly took our quarterly newsletter and turned it into a full-blown magazine. This publication would not be what is it today without Kelly’s vision and drive. Thank you, Kelly!