Protein Producers Summer 2022

PROTEIN producers

TM

2022 Volume 10 Issue 2

EDITORIAL TEAM: Brandi Bain, Andrea Dietel, Darcy Howard, Lisa Taylor

SPONSORS Thank you to all sponsors for supporting PAC & Protein Producers.

Animal Health International Bimeda, Inc. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Daniels Manufacturing Co. DOCTalk Huvepharma Inc. Lallemand Animal Nutrition Merck Animal Health Micro Technologies Neogen Newport Laboratories Norbrook Zinpro Corporation Zoetis

FRONT COVER PHOTO CREDIT Thank you to Doug Keiser for the photo from K Farms in Gothenburg, Nebraska.

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Barton County Feeders Ellinwood, Kansas Matthew Vaupel, Manager

Photo Credit: Dr. Nels Lindberg

We want to showcase unique photographs from our readers here!

Please submit your photographs to protein.producers@ pacdvms.com.

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WELCOME Welcome to Protein Producers! During the time in my life that I refer to as my practice sabbatical, the years that I spent with the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University, I was asked, “What is beef cattle production medicine?” My answer soon became, “It is public health medicine for cows,” and I adapted a medical doctor’s definition of public health medicine to fit beef cattle production medicine: The art and science of preventing disease, reducing waste of the natural resources that have been entrusted to our care and promoting health and production efficiency through organized efforts for the maintenance and improvement of the environment, the control of population infections, the education of caregivers in health management, promoting early diagnosis and treatment of disease and the development of awareness to ensure the health and well-being of our animals in order to provide to the assurance to the consuming public that beef is a safe, wholesome product that will provide an enjoyable eating experience AND comes from animals that have been properly cared for from conception to consumption.

It is my belief that members of PAC personify this definition by passionately caring for the individual animal while striving to improve the entire production system. We deal daily with resources that have been entrusted to our care whether they be human, livestock, or natural resources such as water, air, and forage. We are willing to make changes and to use new technology in order to make life better for the creatures we work with.

This way of thinking is exemplified in the topics that are discussed in this issue of Protein Producers.

Dr. Nels Lindberg deals with human resources in his leadership discussion.

Stewardship of our equine friends in the feedlot is discussed by Ted Howard. The welfare of feedlot cattle during summer months is considered in a discussion of heat stress and how to mitigate that stress. We have an article about the SenseHub® Feedlot system, which utilizes ear tag technology to aid in the detection of feedlot cattle that need some extra attention and care.

Animal welfare and disease control in cow-calf production systems is addressed in a discussion of fly control. Additionally, there is a discussion about water quality and potential summer toxicology issues in pastures and ponds.

All of this is in addition to the features that appear in each issue such as a parable from Dr. Doug Ford and Dr. Greg Quakenbush, PAC member highlights, and a good beef recipe.

This conversion of cellulose into high quality red meat protein that we are all involved in necessitates good stewardship of the resources that God has entrusted to our care. He gave each of us different, specific gifts that He knew are necessary for this conversion. If we work together as a team, utilizing each other’s gifts, we create value. Value for those involved in production as well as value for the consumer by providing assurance to the consuming public that beef is a safe, wholesome product that will provide an THANK YOU enjoyable eating experience AND comes We want to thank the industry partners, publications and from animals that have been properly cared associations who have pro vided content to Protein for from conception to consumption.

Producers. Also, a big thank you to our readers for sup porting us, offering content and helping us improve each Dave Rethorst, DVM issue. We could not do any of this without all of you!

Beef Health Solutions Production Animal Consultation Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and information expressed in Wamego, Kansas this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Production Animal Consultation's policy or position.

contents SUMMER 2022 6 Welcome Dave Rethorst, DVM

23 PAC Member Highlight: Brent Barton, DVM

43

10

PAC Member Highlight: Ty Brunswig, DVM

53 Risa entre dientes desde Oz

60

14

Parable: The Photograph Part 2: High Water

❙ ANIMAL STEWARDSHIP

66 The Pot Roast: Three Cheese Lasagna

10 Evaluating Your Tack

❙ COW-CALF

68

14

Chuckles from Down Under

Water Quality Is Vital to a Healthy Herd

18 Fly Control in Beef Cattle

8

contents

❙ INDUSTRY

24 W & J Carpenter Inc. Awarded 2022 BQA Marketer Award

28 Norm Timmerman Inducted into Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame

38

30 Dave Mestl Receives Arturo Armendariz Distinguished Service Award

❙ LEADERSHIP

32 Working to Replace Yourself, Part 2

60

❙ FEEDLOT

38 New Tag Technology Detects Sick Cattle Earlier, More Accurately

44 Heat Load Review 24

❙ EN ESPAÑOL

50

– administración de animales

Evaluando su Montura y Arreos

54

– vaca-becerro

Control de Moscas en el Ganado de Carne 32

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Remember, our horse is our partner and we want him as comfortable as he can be. If your tack fits correctly, your horse will not be sore or frustrated and your day will go smoother. Much like if your boots do not rub or pinch your feet!

EVALUATING YOUR TACK

By Ted Howard, Ted Howard Stockmanship, Production Animal Consultation

H

ave you ever had a pair of boots pinch your feet or rub on your ankle bone? Poor fitting boots can make for a long, miserable day. We need to be as conscious of how our tack fits our horses so they do not have to suffer from ill-fitting equipment as well.

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When I evaluate saddles, I consider good name brands. Newer saddles are built for our stouter-made horses of today. The older the saddle or the harder we ride them can cause the tree to spread which allows the saddle to drop down on a horse’s withers. This can create sores on their withers and shoulder blades. If you think your tree is broken, set your saddle on a hard surface and push down on both corners of the cantle. If your saddle gives, the tree is most likely broken. It is also important to keep your saddle clean and in good condition. I oil my saddles twice a year.

The withers on each horse are different. We have to be careful to get the right pads on each horse. High-withered horses need extra padding. Low-withered horses need less padding. Navajo blankets have a tendency to take hair off of the kidney area in the winter, however not in the summer months. I personally use a really good felt pad on my horses.

The best front cinch is mohair or a mohair blend.

There is a little stretch to keep the horse more comfortable. A mohair cinch takes some maintenance to keep clean of debris that could rub your horse. A rubber cinch is easy to keep clean. However, we need to be careful when we start using a rubber cinch as they can irritate a horse’s hide.

I prefer leather latigos. Leather latigos have more give, which allows your horse’s ribs to open up so they can breathe easier, compared to a nylon latigo. Nylon has no give or stretch. If a horse turns short, the nylon will not allow his rib cage to expand. If your leather latigo starts to pull hard, treat it with baby powder. Never oil a leather latigo as it will gum up and not slide easily when cinching up.

However, we do oil our leather back cinch, hobble strap, and billet. The hobble strap needs to be in good repair as it keeps the back cinch from sliding up into the horse’s flank. The back cinch is designed to keep the 12 animal stewardship

saddle sitting flatter on the horse’s back. For example, when we lean over to open a gate, the back end of the saddle does not raise and cause the front end of the saddle to pinch our horse’s withers. In the morning, I do not cinch the back cinch snug until I have ridden a while.

Once my horse is settled in, I cinch my back cinch so it is snug against my horse’s belly.

When considering a breast collar, I prefer a three-piece leather for fit. Keeping it oiled and adjusted correctly to fit my horse is important.

The breast collar holds the saddle in place. It should lie above the points of the horse’s shoulders. The D-ring should be centered between the horse’s front legs so it does not rub the inside of either leg.

There are many different kinds of head gear for our horse. In the feedyard, a headstall with a full brow band and throat latch is safer as a horse cannot rub it off. The leather chin strap should only be snug enough to stick two fingers between the jaw and chin strap. The bit needs to be adjusted on a headstall to where there is barely a wrinkle at each corner of our horse’s mouth.

Remember, our horse is our partner and we want him as comfortable as he can be. If your tack fits correctly, your horse will not be sore or frustrated and your day will go smoother. Much like if your boots do not rub or pinch your feet!

Ted Howard’s life has always revolved around the horse. He holds a deep respect for the horse and has always made his living with one. Twelve years riding pens allowed him to recognize the importance of the horse in relationship to handling cattle. Ted has owned a horse shoeing and training business and currently owns and operates a cow/calf operation. Running cattle on grass and in stock fields allows him to use stockmanship principles in an environment different from the feedyard. In 2013, Ted was offered the opportunity to consult with Production Animal Consultation’s Animal Stewardship division. By specializing in horsemanship, Ted can help others utilize the horse to become better stockmen in the feedyard industry.

This article has been translated to Spanish on page 50.

WATER QUALITY IS VITAL TO A HEALTHY HERD

By Steve Ensley, DVM, PhD, & Scott Fritz, DVM, Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

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arge animal veterinary toxicology cases typically account for 5-10% of all cases seen on a routine basis by a large animal practitioner. Infectious diseases are the main cause of decreased health and performance; therefore, we spend a vast amount of time in veterinary school talking about bugs and drugs. This article focuses on drinking water quality for food animals.

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Blue-green algal blooms occur in surface waters that we use for animal drinking water during the summer months. If you suspect an algal bloom, you need to collect a sample of the affected water.

Drinking water quality and quantity for production animals is often misunderstood. Drinking water is the most important ingredient in food animal production.

Some questions to ask about your drinking water include: what is the surface water source? If well water is used, how deep is the well? How old is the well? Is the well cased or not? During times of adequate rainfall, the typical surface water sources like ponds, dug outs, artesian water, creeks, rivers, and sub irrigated meadows provide adequate quantity and quality. Surface water sources during drought periods can be problematic in both quantity and quality. Drought conditions can concentrate some of the soluble components like sulfate to hazardous levels. Elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus can lead to blue-green algae blooms.

Drinking water testing should be done before animals are offered this water as their drinking water source.

Water testing is typically done at laboratories that do human drinking water analysis. Most laboratories do an excellent job of analyzing the drinking water. Interpreting the report’s results is where inconsistencies develop. The normal ranges for the different drinking water parameters used to interpret animal drinking water are different from human drinking water standards. When these drinking water parameters are flagged as out of the normal range, there is unnecessary concern. You need to make sure the drinking water laboratory you are using has normal ranges for food animals and knows how to interpret them.

The water collection bottle needs to be as clean as possible. If you are going to measure coliform (fecal contamination) in water, the sample needs to be collected as aseptically as possible. It is easiest to get a drinking water container from the local convenience store, so you do not have to use the empty soda bottle on the floor of the pickup as your sample container. To collect an animal drinking water sample from a well, you need to collect one as close to the well as possible, then a second sample at the most distant part of the water distribution system. To collect a sample from surface water, collect the water sample at least a few feet away from the bank and fill the bottle, dump it out, and then refill it. After collection of the water sample, keep it cool and get the sample to the laboratory as quick as possible.

Blue-green algal blooms occur in surface waters that we use for animal drinking water during the summer 16 cow-calf

months. If you suspect an algal bloom, you need to collect a sample of the affected water. Appropriate samples are a water sample of at least 100 mL collected an inch below the water surface. Samples should be refrigerated before and during shipping. Do not freeze the sample as this may lyse the cyanobacteria. When collecting water, gloves should be worn, as some cyanobacteria produce dermatotoxins. If Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL) identifies cyanobacteria in the sample, a test for the most common toxin (microcystin) can be performed. To watch a short video on blue-green algae sampling, visit the KSVDL YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= wOogJtDNUfQ&list=PLNjV05pK4JEVLnizQ_jEiqLN1eYdp Jtdq&index=6&t=0s.

Dr. Steve Ensley graduated in 1981 from Kansas State University with a DVM. After 14 years in mixed practice in the Midwest, he received a MS and PhD in veterinary toxicology at Iowa State University completing his PhD in 2000. Dr. Ensley has worked for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Bayer AG, Iowa State University, and Kansas State University. Dr. Ensley’s interests are clinical veterinary toxicology and applied veterinary toxicology research. Dr. Ensley has published extensively on applied veterinary toxicology and gives numerous presentations on these topics. Food animal veterinary toxicology is his passion.

Dr. Scott Fritz is a Diagnostic Toxicologist at the Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. Fritz grew up in south-central Nebraska and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hastings College (NE) and his DVM from Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Fritz spent five years in private practice working nearly exclusively with beef cattle in rural South Dakota. His interests are centered on food animal clinical toxicology.

FLY CONTROL IN BEEF CATTLE

By A.J. Tarpoff, DVM, MS, Beef Extension Veterinarian, Kansas State University

E

xternal parasites during the summer months can be a heavy burden on cattle and producers alike. Decreased performance, painful bites, and risk of disease transmission are common among many of these nuisance pests. Controlling these parasites takes properly timed management.

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Horn, Stable, and Face Flies It is estimated that horn flies alone may account for up to a billion dollars of damage and loss to the cattle industry each year. Economic impact can be seen on individual animals with as little as 200-300 flies per animal. This can be visualized by horn flies covering the withers and going about halfway down the side. The economic impact hits producers in decreased average daily gain and reduced weaning weight of calves. Each horn fly will take 20-30 blood meals each day. They spend the vast majority of their lives on the backs of cattle and only leave the animal to lay eggs on fresh manure patties. Populations typically rise in late May and persist during the summer months.

Stable flies are also blood feeders and feed on the lower limbs. They deliver a very painful bite during feeding. Infested animals are often seen switching their flanks, moving constantly, flicking tails, and even standing in water in attempts to escape the painful bites. It has been estimated that as little as five flies per leg can impact performance in beef cattle. Stable flies spend very little time on cattle themselves and only feed during daytime hours. Different from other flies, stable flies lay their eggs in decaying organic matter (e.g., spilled feed, undisturbed manure, decomposing hay bales).

Face flies feed on the protein-rich secretions from the eye and nose. Face flies are the primary vector for spreading the bacteria that cause the disease known as pinkeye. Pinkeye in cattle is also a major economic concern to producers. It has been estimated that pinkeye accounts for 150 million dollars in losses per year through treatment costs and decreased production.

Although multiple factors play a role in pinkeye, face flies are generally a part of the spread of the disease. As with horn flies, face flies lay eggs on fresh manure patties. One main difference between the 20 cow-calf

behavior of these two pests is face flies can travel several miles between animals and spend less time on the animals themselves.

Management It is important to understand that combating these external parasites during the summer months takes a multimodal approach. There is a vast array of products on the market to help control these pests. Each product is designed to work in a specific way, against certain targets, for a specified amount of time.

Expecting a product to last from turn out to grass until the first frost, or to eliminate 100% of the pests, is unrealistic and close to impossible. Producers should develop an integrated management plan to combat these pests.

Stable flies tend to be more of a confinement or barnyard issue but have increased occurrence in pasture settings. Typically, this is due to winter feeding sites and build-up of hay residue and manure. This mixture provides an ideal location for stable flies to flourish. Rolling out hay during the winter feeding months greatly reduces the number of stable fly larvae that survive the winter.

Round bale feeders tend to leave a large amount of residue on the ground post winter feeding and can yield up to 1 million more stable flies the next grazing season.

Cleaning feeding areas prior to late spring will reduce the habitat for stable fly larvae to develop. Cleaning can include scraping, composting, or even dragging the sites with a harrow.

most of these products have a slaughter withdrawal time, so documentation of treatment dates is crucial.

Common classes of insecticides include pyrethroids, organophosphates, and macrocyclic lactones. Continued use of one class of product will promote resistance in the area fly population. So, using one chemical class each season and rotating classes on a seasonal basis is critical to maintain the usefulness of these products.

Timing is a critical component of insecticide use. Each of these products has an expected duration of efficacy. Producers often utilize these products like ear tags early in the spring prior to turnout, but the products start to lose potency and efficacy in the late summer months when we need them most. Holding off treatment until fly levels on cattle hit the critical point (100-200 flies per animal) can help extend duration into the summer. If additional treatment is indicated later in the season after multiple applications of a product or an ear tag has already been used, alternate the insecticide class when changing control methods late season.

Work with your local veterinarian who understands your individual management strategies to tailor fit a plan.

Face flies feed on the protein-rich secretions from the eye and nose.

Face flies are the primary vector for spreading the bacteria that cause the disease known as pinkeye.

Pinkeye in cattle is also a major economic concern to producers.

Cattle Insecticides There are a multitude of animal health products to help specifically control targeted external parasites in grazing cattle. They can include insecticide impregnated ear tags, pour-ons, sprays, oilers or dusters, injectable products, and feed-through products. Usually, a combination of these products is utilized to provide coverage during the summer months. As with any animal health product, it is extremely important to read and follow all label directions of use. It is also important to note that

Tags Fly tags are excellent tools. To get the most benefit from them, wait until the middle of May or even June to put them in to ensure the tags still have effect later into the season when they are most needed. Many available tags may have effective duration of 12-20 weeks. It is recommended to only tag cattle once per season. It is also important to remove these tags at the end of the season.

Leaving the tags in will expose these parasites to a subtherapeutic level of the active chemical that greatly increases the likelihood of resistance development.

Recently, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) issued a ban of the insecticide chlorpyrifos use in food or feed crops. There has been an ear tag that uses this chemical on the market. As of March 1, 2022, animals administered these tags cannot be sent to slaughter within one year after tag removal. summer 2022 | pacdvms.com

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External parasites are annoying to livestock and costly to animal performance. Timely management and appropriate use of insecticides will help minimize their impact.

Pour-ons These ready-to-use formulations are administered to the topline of cattle and dosed by bodyweight. Pour-on products work by direct contact on pests, so complete coverage from the poll to tailhead is important. Common products have label claims against flies, lice, and even ticks. Reapplication of these products may be necessary as expected duration of efficacy is 2-4 weeks. Use the economic threshold of approximately 200 flies per animal as an indication for retreatment.

Dust Bags and Cattle Rubs Many producers utilize self-applicators such as dusters or rubs in the pasture setting. To increase the effectiveness, fencing off and controlling entry points of commonly used areas can ensure application to the animals of the herd. These areas can be watering or mineral source areas. Read the label instructions carefully as these products may require specific carriers to work properly. Recharging these sites with the proper product mixture in the recommended intervals will also have to be done during the season.

Sprays Some products available come as a concentrate to be mixed with water before applying to cattle. These products can be useful for individual animals or groups of animals. Options for administration can range from automatic spray devices in facilities to handheld 4-wheeler sprayers for use in the field. With optimal coverage of the animals, 2-4 weeks of efficacy can be achieved.

Larvicide or Insect Growth Regulators (IGR) These products are fed to cattle and are commonly included in certain mineral products. The products pass through the animal and have efficacy in the manure. They work by either destroying developing larvae or disrupting the normal development process of horn, face, and house flies. This process reduces the amount of new fly activity in a given area. However, flies do have the ability to travel over distances from neighboring operations.

Timing of feeding these products is critical and should 22 cow-calf

be targeted to begin before the vector season starts and end after a killing frost.

Endectocides Endectocides are the class of products whose main use is control of internal parasites (dewormers). The most common class are the macrocyclic lactones. Common ingredients in this class include the ivermectins.

These products come in injectable and pour-on formulations. Even though their main action is against internal parasitism, their residual activity does provide coverage against external parasites for a period of time.

Reliance and reapplication of these products during the grazing season is not recommended for fly control due to resistance issues with internal parasites. These products are often administered at the beginning of the grazing season and the activity against external parasites can be seen early in the season.

External parasites are annoying to livestock and costly to animal performance. Timely management and appropriate use of insecticides will help minimize their impact.

A.J. Tarpoff was born and raised in Edwardsville, Illinois. A.J.'s family owned and operated a beef processing plant and a steakhouse. He received his B.S. in Animal Science at Kansas State University in 2010. In 2012, he received his D.V.M. and M.S. in Biomedical Science at Kansas State University. He spent four years in feedlot production practice before returning to his alma mater to serve as the Beef Extension Veterinarian in Kansas. A.J. has a 70% extension, 20% research, and 10% teaching appointment. He works closely with producers, practicing veterinarians, and members of industry to bring relevant extension and education that improves cattle health and the productivity of the beef industry.

This article has been translated to Spanish on page 54.

PAC MEMBER HIGHLIGHT•••••••••

BRENT BARTON, DVM Oregon Trail Veterinary Clinic Hermiston, Oregon “Capable Hands, Caring Hearts” is the backbone of the motto that drives Dr. Brent Barton and the team at Oregon Trail Veterinary Clinic in Hermiston, Oregon. Hermiston is located along the Columbia River in the Columbia Basin, the “breadbasket” of the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Barton has been practicing mixed animal veterinary medicine for more than 32 years, driven by his God-given passion for helping people.

“The people in agriculture are what I love most about these animal industries,” Dr. Barton shared. “I also love the variety that each day in practice will bring, probably to my own demise. My typical day is a mix of in-clinic small animal appointments and surgery and consulting beef cowcalf operations and seedstock producers. And then throw into the mix a chicken that is sick or a VFD exam of beehives with foulbrood. Just variety plain and simple.”

Dr. Barton also experienced variety in veterinary practice when he was activated as a US Army Reservist to serve in the US Army Veterinary Corps in 2002. He recalled, “I spent the next 18 months in the Army as a veterinarian. I left private practice, and even though I did not know it at the time, I was off on an adventure. But that is another story for another time!”

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W & J CARPENTER INC. AWARDED 2022 BQA MARKETER AWARD Provided by National Beef Quality Assurance

T

he National Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Award recognizes outstanding beef and dairy producers, marketers, and educators that best demonstrate animal care and handling principles as part of the dayto-day activities on their respective operations.

A common trait among all contest entrants must be a strong desire to continually improve BQA or BQA Transportation (BQAT) on their operations while encouraging others to implement the education programs. National BQA award entrants are typically nominated by state BQA coordinators and are selected by a committee of representatives from universities, state beef councils and affiliated groups.

Continued on next page.

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Five National BQA Awards (Beef Cow-Calf, Feedyard, Dairy, Marketer, and Educator) are funded in part by The Beef Checkoff program with additional financial support provided by Cargill Meat Solutions.

Marketer of the Year The beef industry would not be able to market cattle without transporters. Therefore, National BQA is honored to announce W & J Carpenter Inc., based in Arapahoe, Nebraska, as the 2022 BQA Marketer recipient nominated by Nebraska BQA director Jesse Fulton.

This is the first year a transporter has received this honor. W & J Carpenter was founded in 1991 by Ward and Jill Carpenter to fill a need for quality, reliable and responsible transportation of cattle. Today, the Carpenter team transports more than half a million cattle per year. The company prides itself on attention to detail in all aspects, from hiring knowledgeable employees to continued education and training related to proper animal handling and transportation. Ultimately, W & J Carpenter strives to provide safe transportation to cattle and enhance the public's perception of animal handling and quality.

In 2007, Ward Carpenter knew the cattle had outgrown the equipment. "Producers had really been focusing on genetics, and the cattle went from a 1250-pound steer to now having the genetic potential to be a 1500-pound steer,” he said. With cattle now having the potential to outgrow many commercial livestock trailers still on the road today, there is potential to significantly impact animal welfare and product quality which could lead to a loss of financial return due to the carcass trim from bruising. As genetics progressed and cattle were able to have a heavier finish, W & J Carpenter knew they needed to create equipment that adequately supported the 26 industry

cattle they were hauling. “You have to adapt, and using commercial cattle trailers they designed 50 years ago was not working, so we as a company chose to evolve and change for the betterment of the industry,” Colby Carpenter said.

W & J Carpenter led the charge and changed the design of their commercial trailers to ensure animal welfare and product quality.

One of the first changes W & J Carpenter Inc. made to their commercial cattle trailers was to move the top deck in to provide more clearance for cattle. Second, they relocated the ramp to the top deck from underneath the decking to be connected to the side of the trailer as a fold down ramp. This change provided animals going into the belly of the trailer with an additional clearance. While that change in the amount of clearance seems rather small, it is adequate for cattle to have enough room to descend into the belly without scraping their top line and bruising that area of the carcass containing some of the most valuable cuts.

Finally, they lengthened the steps for the cattle going into the belly. This extension of the basket chute eliminates cattle jumping into the belly which could lead to bruising their backs or cattle becoming piled up when entering or exiting the trailer belly. These changes are only a few W&J Carpenter Inc. have made.

W & J Carpenter also requires all employees to be Beef Quality Assurance Transportation (BQAT) certified before handling cattle. The company provides load-out sheets to employees for any load of cattle the company handles to keep an accurate account of what drivers were present with the load, individual load information and BQAT certification number. W & J Carpenter also hopes to further educate and inspire other haulers to learn about the benefits of BQAT. They host annual in-person animal handling safety training, not only for their employees but other trucking companies who want to improve their practices.

Ultimately, W & J Carpenter hopes to enhance the public’s perception of the beef industry and how cattle are transported. “As livestock haulers, we are moving billboards for the beef industry, and that’s something we take pride in,” Colby said. “We want people to know that we are out here taking care of the cattle we are transporting.”

NORM TIMMERMAN INDUCTED INTO CATTLE FEEDERS HALL OF FAME

Photo credit: Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame

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n February 2022, Norman (Norm) Timmerman of NA Timmerman, Inc. was inducted into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame.

Reprinted with permission from Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame

Norman Timmerman learned the virtue of hard work at a young age. Born one of six to a cattle feeding family, Norm actively contributed to his family’s operation from adolescence, often hauling cattle to the stockyards in the morning before school.

Half a century later, that family tradition holds strong.

Norm and his 3 brothers spent the next 50+ years successfully expanding their family business into eight states including a network of feedyards with a capacity of 90,000 head, ranches, and a beef packing plant. Not only have Norm and his brothers expanded their operation but they’ve also brought up a highly capable third generation that continues to build on the Timmerman family legacy.

In 2012, NA Timmerman, Inc. was formed. It is a family operation that Norm and Sharon own jointly with their immediate family: son, Jason and wife, Wendy, daughter, Kristin and husband, Jeff Stagemeyer, and son, Ryan and wife, Nicole. NA Timmerman, Inc. specializes in feeding high quality cattle which perform well on the grid. The company includes feedyard locations in Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, as well as multiple grass leases and backgrounding partners with a one-time feeding capacity of about 100,000 head.

For his part, Norm has always had a deep passion for the cattle feeding industry. (In fact, the only time he’s ever

spent away from it was his attendance at the University of Nebraska and US Marine Corps.) Those who know him best would likely say it’s a passion matched only by his passion for people. Norm would like to thank his wife, Sharon, his brothers and sisters, his children and their spouses and all his employees over the years for their support and hard work. The successes over the years could not have been possible without each of them. As a member of numerous boards and committees, Norm is very active in serving his local church, schools, cattle industry boards and broader community.

Driven to take a step further and share his passion with future generations, Norm and Sharon gifted the resources to UNL to create the Leo O. and Irene Timmerman Feedyard Management Specialization Program Fund, a permanent endowment at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. In Norm’s words, “We are pleased to be making this gift in honor of my parents, Leo and Irene, as an opportunity to forever recognize their agriculture legacy and contributions while also giving back to the state and industry that has meant so much to our entire family.”

Norm often says, “Hard work will give you a lot of luck.” Accordingly, you can find him at the feedyard daily, doing whatever is needed to keep things running smoothly and efficiently.

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DAVE MESTL RECEIVES ARTURO ARMENDARIZ DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Photo credit: Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame

D

ave Mestl was recently honored by the Cattle Feeders Hall of fame as the 2022 recipient of the Arturo Armendariz Distinguished Service Award.

Reprinted with permission from Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame

A recent retiree of NA Timmerman, Inc. Dave is a native of Beemer, Nebraska. He is a loyal and hardworking man who devoted more than 39 years to the Timmerman family and the cattle industry.

In May of 1982, Dave began his career with Timmerman & Sons driving feed truck. He reminisced, “It was tricky in the old manual feed trucks; you had to pop the clutch and keep the mixer going at the same time to get the pen fed.”

Dave has always been willing to help with every job at the yard. He quickly worked his way up in the company to his most recent role as yard manager.

Spanning the decades of his employment and dramatic industry change there was always something new to learn. He has always risen to the challenge of learning the new technology and equipment from micro machines, feed mills and feed trucks to feedyard management programs, front end loaders and everything in-between.

His experience and diverse range of expertise span nutrition, mill operation, animal health, bunk reads, cattle performance, yard maintenance and even mechanics at times. Dave led by example; his endless dedication meant the extra hours and effort were always at the forefront to ensure the job was done right.

Following his retirement, Dave still helps at the yard. Most days it’s common to see Dave walking pens or helping where needed. “That’s just the kind of guy he is, always there to lend a hand,” said Norman Timmerman.

Dave is still enjoying retirement, spending more time enjoying his family, son Anthony, wife Vicki and grandchildren Braxton and Kendly, and daughter Amber and granddaughter Baili, who all reside in eastern Nebraska. Dave also enjoys playing golf, cheering on his grand children at their sporting events, spending time with friends, his dog and cheering on the Huskers.

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F

amily business has always held my highest regard and captivated my attention. I recently had the privilege of visiting with a highly successful man who leads America’s largest privately held family-owned bank.

He is the sixth generation to lead this institution. While he talked about the future of their bank looking forward 20-30 years and what changes the future might bring, he kept coming back to what remains the same, a focus he learned from his father and grandfather.

WORKING TO REPLACE YOURSELF, PART 2

By Nels Lindberg, DVM, Production Animal Consultation

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“What remains the same” are the foundational core values their family has held for six generations that have been instilled into the very DNA of their organization.

For six generations to survive and thrive since 1857, they have taken repeated, intentional steps to ensure the legacy of this bank through humble leadership.

I had the honor of speaking to this organization’s customers. I quizzed the incredible audience of business owners on the number of generations in their businesses. I started at three or more generations and worked my way up to six or more generations. At the end, there were two people left holding up their hands. One was the gentleman I had been sitting by, and the other was a sixth-generation dairyman from Ireland who now lives in America.

I first discussed the topic of strategically and practically working to replace yourself in the winter issue of Protein Producers, but I wanted to revisit the topic for two reasons. First, this topic is critical for the life and survival of the living, breathing businesses or teams we lead. Second, we often fail at or are not intentional about replacing ourselves as leaders. This failure is 34 leadership

responsible for killing more tenured, successful businesses, often slowly and painfully, than any other reason. Successful organizations usually do not just collapse acutely. Most can sustain at the status quo level of quality for quite some time, but they often go into capital preservation mode rather than growth mode. They forget to intentionally lead and grow the “next man up” for the successful continuation of the organization. The following are four more key aspects for “passing the baton”.

1. Transfer of Trust – Whether we are passing the baton to the next leader of the business or the next leader of the animal health team, it all begins with the transfer of trust. The transfer of trust begins by simply trusting the next man up. We must trust them first, before we ask them to trust us. We often get this wrong because we think the next man up must show us through their actions that we can trust them. In fact, we must do the opposite. If we want the next man up to trust us, we must first trust them. Then we must realize and accept that they will make mistakes and fail. When

they fail, ask them to reflect and share what they have learned, while you act as the backstop and clean things up. The transfer of trust occurs over time, very intentionally, and requires many vulnerable, humble conversations. You have the opportunity to tell them, “I trust you, and I trust you to screw it up, but I will have your back.”

2. Letting Go of Ego – I wrote about this last time, but I would like to revisit it because it is very difficult to successfully carry out repeatedly over time. As leaders of businesses, we have grown over time and are confident in our knowledge and work. We are confident that we can keep running the organization or team for another 10 years or even past our death! We must acknowledge the future is not about us, as we are replaceable. We need to humbly accept that 100% of us will eventually die and that the next generation will be better than us if we did our job in bringing on the right next man up. The challenge as we transfer power and trust is the next man up must be patient with the utmost respect for the work done

before them and we as current top brass must relinquish some control and decision making to the next generation and give them the opportunity to either fail or succeed. Our ego often gets in the way of this. As the next man up assumes more decision making, we get irritated and pull the reins back by overruling or changing their decision. This behavior is a cardinal sin because the next generation then just backs off. If this is done repeatedly, we slowly kill off their spirit. We as leaders must let go of our ego, look the next man up in the face, and admit that it is a struggle. We need to ask them to respect the work we have done over our lifetime and be patient with our struggle to let go of our ego and control.

3. Being Specific and Providing Clarity – As we transfer control, decision making, and power to the next generation, we must be clear on who is doing what. To be honest, I am absolutely terrible at these kinds of specifics. Dr. Ty, who is my partner in our practice, is much better at this and should probably be writing on this instead of me.

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If you are not good at this, reach out to someone that is. An outside consultant can help create clarity and get the details on paper for the leadership team. We want the details on paper so the whole team or next layer of leadership understands who is doing what. Notice that I said the whole team. The whole team needs clarity and specifics on what is going on with leadership transitions, so they know who to ask what questions to. They also need to know what is going on because unknowns surrounding leadership create an uneasiness in people and a lack of trust in the developing situation, which can lead to gossip and chaos or even people deciding to just leave.

4. Understanding the Emotional Journey – As leaders of a team or organization of any size, we have usually achieved that position by taking the initiative to act and executing at high levels, creating consistent and significant success. This often makes us dominant in nature, even pushy, controlling to varying degrees based on the person, and resistant to emotions for the stability of the organization or team. It is in that process that we become resistant to or ignore our own emotions. We have lived life by “punching cows through keyholes” and creating success, regardless of emotion. However, we must recognize that transfer of trust, transfer of leadership, and transfer of control is an extremely emotional journey. Some show that emotion externally, but most hold it internally and even bury it in their soul. For a successful transition, we must recognize the emotional aspect of this journey. Then, we must be able to talk about it and communicate to the next generation the internal struggle of “letting go”. We must let them know that we are working on it and that we need their help and respect in the process.

As leaders, we will traverse at least some, if not all, of the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) during the journey. We are lying to ourselves if we do not think we go through the minimum of denial, anger, and acceptance to some degree. We cannot ignore those stages. If we ignore our emotions and the stages of grieving, we end up burying the pain of the journey which leads to a very unhealthy transition. This can then lead to 36 leadership

death of the organization and intangible, or even tangible death, of us as a leader, and no one involved wants that.

The keys to successful transition of leadership, decision-making, control, and power are some of the most difficult steps we as leaders and businesses take. We wage war daily on the intentional action items we must execute to thrive from year to year. Given the difficulty and challenges of that daily war, we often fail to look forward past ourselves. We fail to look past our own personal growth or financial gain. We then pull our head out of the trenches after 10, 20, or 30 years and realize we need to make sure this living breathing thing lives on beyond us.

Let’s “look up” today. Let’s reach out to others that have done it for generations and ask them how they were handed the baton or ask them how they handed off the baton. I do not have all the answers, and I often struggle with many of the points I have outlined in the two articles I have written on this topic. Ultimately, it is up to me and it is up to you to study this process, research it, reach out to others that have done it successfully, and take intentional steps for the successful transition of leadership, decision making, power, and control to the next generation or next man up. We want no regrets!

Dr. Nels Lindberg is a people coach, team coach, business coach, and keynote speaker, available virtually or in person. If you have any interest in these opportunities, please reach out to his office at 620-792-1265 and visit with his right-hand lady, Jill.

NEW TAG TECHNOLOGY DETECTS SICK CATTLE EARLIER, MORE ACCURATELY

By Jason Nickell, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACVPM, Director of Insights and Outcomes, Merck Animal Health

H

ow much time and labor do you spend looking for sick cattle in your herd or feedlot? How early and accurately are sick cattle identified?

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the cause – BRD, lameness or whatever the issue may be – and provides appropriate treatment.

Although developed for feedlots, SenseHub Feedlot brings the same benefits to backgrounding and stocker operations.

Research compares health detection system versus conventional pen riding Clinical research at an Oklahoma feedyard was conducted to estimate the value of an automated feedlot health detection system compared to conventional pen-riding practices.1 In the study, 2,542 beef heifers averaging 567 SenseHub® Feedlot technology utilizes an electronic ear tag with pounds were enrolled; 18 pens per treatment a flashing LED light to make it easier for pen riders to correctly group with approximately 71 head per pen. identify and pull sick animals. The technology monitors cattle 24/7 Cattle were procured by standard industry and detects sick cattle earlier in the disease stage to facilitate timely treatment and improved health outcomes. means and transported to a commercial feedlot in Oklahoma. All calves were processed with the same product regimen and randomly allocated to either Identifying sick cattle early in the disease process is the SenseHub Feedlot (SHF) group or the pen rider (PR) an often-difficult task, even for skilled pen riders. group.

Cattle are prey animals. Their natural defense mechTrained pen riders were assigned to the PR group, anism is to appear healthy, even when sick. That is why while separate study personnel were allocated to the a sick animal will often look alert and conceal signs of SHF group. Because bovine respiratory disease (BRD) sickness if it knows it is being watched. By the time an is the most prevalent disease syndrome in U.S. feedlot animal appears sick, it usually is several days into the production systems and cattle are very adept at condisease process. ® cealing clinical signs of disease, it was the focus of The SenseHub Feedlot system is a new, automated this study. health detection technology designed to aid cattle The case definition in the PR group consisted of feeders in identifying sickness earlier and more accuran industry-accepted method – seeing clinical signs ately compared to visual inspection of the cattle alone. followed by a rectal temperature cutoff – while cattle in The technology features an illuminating electronic ear the SHF group were pulled if the system alerted study tag that makes it easy to identify and sort cattle needing personnel to a potential issue. attention with less labor and minimal disruption to the other animals. The ear tag tracks behavioral and biometStudy results ric data to monitor the health of each animal. Body Up through 60 days on feed, compared with tratemperature is captured by an infrared thermistor, and a ditional PR observation group, the SHF technology built-in accelerometer measures animal activity. displayed: The tags are reusable up to three years. The hardware is very minimal. It consists of the ear tag, an antenna • A reduction in days on feed at the time of first placed strategically on-site and a gateway where the data BRD diagnosis is collected, stored and sent to a data platform. The • A reduction in rectal temperature at the time of system has a range of up to two miles. first BRD diagnosis Using collected data, SenseHub Feedlot applies • A reduction in overall mortality proven machine learning algorithms to identify individ• A reduction in BRD mortality ual calves that vary from baseline norms, i.e., outliers.

The caregivers receive a daily pull list on their mobile • A reduction in removals device and/or computer that includes individual animals • An improvement in BRD treatment success identified by the system. After an animal is pulled, the • A reduction in fallouts (mortality + removals) caregiver provides further assessment and determines 40 feedlot

▲

*

Table 1: Model-adjusted means and standard error of the means (SEM) for the 60-day health

outcomes among auction-market derived beef/beef-cross heifers in one Oklahoma feedlot.

Parameter

Arrival weight (lbs)¥ BRD morbidity (%) BRD Day on Feed at 1st Trt Rectal temperature at 1st Trt (°F) BRD 2nd treatment (%) BRD 3rd treatment (%) BRD treatment success (%)‡ Overall mortality (%) BRD mortality (%) BRD case-fatality (%) Removals (%)† BRD fallouts (%)**

•

SHF

Mean 569.5 42.1 13.9 104.2 52.4 29.4 44.5 3.1 3.0 6.5 3.7 6.8

SEM 3.6 2.1 0.6 0.05 2.9 3.4 2.6 0.7 0.6 1.1 0.6 1.1

PR

Mean 564.9 41.0 16.3 104.9 55.2 24.5 38.3 4.5 4.3 7.0 5.0 9.6

A reduction in the number of pens entered per day to observe and possibly remove calves for closer inspection

By 60 DOF, the SHF group displayed (Table 1): •

A reduction (P ≤ 0.01) in days on feed to first BRD treatment (13.9 days [± 0.6 days] vs 16.3 days [± 0.6 days]) compared to the PR group

•

A reduction (P≤ 0.01) in rectal temperature at first BRD treatment (104.2 ˚F [± 0.05 ˚F] vs 104.9 ˚F [± 0.05 ˚F]) compared to the PR group

No differences (P>0.05) were observed between the two groups for BRD morbidity and BRD retreatments, however, the SHF group displayed: •

A decrease (P≤ 0.05) in overall mortality (3.1% [± 0.7%]) compared to the PR group (4.5% [± 0.9%])

•

A reduction (P=0.06) in BRD mortality (3.0% [± 0.6%]) compared to the PR group (4.3% [± 0.9%])

•

A reduction (P=0.10) in removals (3.7% [± 0.6%]) compared to the PR group (5.0% [± 0.8%])

•

A reduction (P<0.01) in overall fallouts (mortalities + removals) (6.8% [± 1.1%]) compared to the PR group (9.6% [± 1.4%])

Pen riders were required to enter each of the pens in the pen rider group, while caretakers of animals in the SHF group only entered a given pen if alerted by the system. The average number of pens entered to monitor cattle health on any given day was reduced (on average) by 71% in the SHF group (5.3 pens/day) compared to the PR group (18 pens/day).

Retention/functionality of the SHF tags was 98.3% during the first 60 DOF.

Early detection equals better outcomes In this study, although monitoring cattle with SHF 42 feedlot

P-Value

SEM 3.6 2.1 0.6 0.05 2.9 3.2 2.6 0.9 0.9 1.1 0.8 1.4

*

0.03 0.58 <0.01 <0.01 0.39 0.09 0.10 0.05 0.06 0.73 0.10 <0.01

Mixed models with a random effect to account for the lack of independence among blocks ¥ Due to statistical difference in incoming body weight between the two treatment groups, this variable was used as a covariate for the remainder of the models ‡ Calves treated for BRD that did not require additional BRD therapy, were not removed, and did not die † This estimate reflects cattle that were removed but had not died up through 60 days on feed ** Mortalities + removals

technology resulted in more animals treated for BRD, overall BRD mortality and fallouts were reduced. This study will proceed to closeout with a final report issued thereafter.

Improvements and innovation in animal monitoring are allowing producers to make more informed therapeutic decisions. Using SenseHub Feedlot enables early intervention in cattle health issues and helps remove some of the guesswork. The result is animals can be pulled and treated more quickly for better animal well-being and health outcomes.

References: 1. Comparison of SenseHub Feedlot versus conventional human pen-riding methods in a U.S. feedlot: An interim report. 2021. Data on file.

Jason Nickell, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACVPM, is director of insights and outcomes for Merck Animal Health. Dr. Nickell earned his D.V.M. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After four years of mixed animal practice, he pursued a Ph.D. in Epidemiology at Kansas State University.

Dr. Nickell is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association, the Academy of Veterinary Consultants, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and the Association of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. He is also the past AABP liaison for the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST).

PAC MEMBER HIGHLIGHT•••••••••

TY BRUNSWIG, DVM Animal Medical Center Great Bend, Kansas

Animal Medical Center (AMC) in Great Bend, Kansas, was built in the 1980s and purchased by Dr. Nels Lindberg in 2005. Dr. Ty Brunswig joined the practice in 2014 and became a co-owner just a few years later. Located in central Kansas, the clinic’s five veterinarians serve a thriving small animal clientele, large commercial feed yards, small starter yards, cow-calf producers, and a substantial equine population of show horses, feedlot horses, and more.

While AMC has 14 core values, their favorite phrase is "serve others". Dr. Brunswig shared, “We always try to think about things from our client’s point of view and act accordingly, whether that means discussing various treatment options and costs with the client, carrying pet food out to the client’s vehicle, or calling to check in with a client a few days after a tough case. We want to give people more than a diagnosis; we want to give them understanding, perspective, and clarification.”

Dr. Brunswig was drawn to veterinary medicine from a young age, growing up working in his father’s mixed animal practice. “I love the diversity of mixed practice. I can be doing small animal surgery in the morning and working outside with livestock in the afternoon. I also love beef, and not just eating it! I enjoy being involved in all aspects of its production. Also, scrub tops are very comfortable and wearing one every day is way better than wearing a suit.”

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HEAT LOAD REVIEW

By Dr. Kev Sullivan, BVSC, Bell Veterinary Services

S

ummer is fast approaching, and at this time of year, it is timely to review the heat load management plan for your feedlot. In this article, I will discuss the causes of heat load and the major risk factors as well as the signs cattle exhibit and the behavioral changes that the cattle go through as they load up more heat. I will also discuss some of the key factors involved in preparedness and prevention.

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Factors contributing to heat stress A combination of two or more of the following environmental conditions are needed to produce a heat stress event: •

A recent significant rainfall event

•

High ongoing minimum and maximum ambient air temperatures

•

High and ongoing relative humidity

•

Absence of cloud cover and high levels of solar radiation

•

An extended period (4-5 days) of low or no air movement

•

Sudden change to adverse climatic conditions (a lack of time for cattle to adapt)

Feedlot deaths have been greatest when a rainfall event is followed by several days of high temperatures and high humidity with low air movement and only limited overnight cooling.

When the total amount of heat generated by the animal plus the heat absorbed from the environment is greater than the ability of the animal to dissipate the

46 feedlot

heat into the environment, heat is stored in the animal.

This is called heat loading.

Factors to assess heat stress The heat load index is determined by the weather and is out of our control (black globe temperature, humidity, and wind speed). The point at which animals accumulate heat (Heat Load Index threshold) is a combination of animal factors (breed, coat color, health, acclimatization, and days on feed) and environmental factors (pen conditions, mud depth, water temperature, water trough space, shade, and bedding).

Recognizing heat stress It is important to watch the weather station information and the weather forecast, but most importantly the cattle will tell you how they are coping by their behavior and physiological response. Look at the cattle and observe their respiration rate and the level of panting. Watch their feed intake and their behavior.

Check your high-risk cattle at daybreak and every few hours throughout the day.

Cattle progress through a series of behavioral changes as the exposure to heat load conditions increases.

The animals adopt these behavioral changes in an effort to maintain acceptable levels of comfort. These behavioral changes are as follows:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Body alignment with solar radiation Shade seeking Increased time standing Reduced feed intake Crowding over water tank Body splashing Agitation and restlessness Reduced or stopper rumination Bunching to seek shade from other cattle

Cattle coping

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

Open mouth and labored breathing Excess salivation Ataxia/inability to move Collapse, convulsions, coma Physiological failure and death

Cattle not coping

Cattle always seek shade if it is available, so in shaded pens, many of the first nine behaviors may not be evident.

Panting score and respiratory rate Respiratory rate and panting score are useful indicators of heat stress in cattle because they are the first visual changes seen in hot conditions. Panting score, breathing condition, and respiratory rate are shown in the following table.

Panting Score

Breathing Condition

Respiration Rate (breaths/min)

0.0

No panting, normal. Difficult to see chest movement.

<40

1.0

Slight panting, mouth closed, no drool or foam. Easy to see chest movement.

40-70

2.0

Fast panting, drool or foam present. Easy to see chest move.

No open mouth panting.

70-120

2.5

As for 2.0, but with occasional open mouth, tongue not extended.

70-120

3.0

Open mouth plus some drooling. Neck extended and head usually up.

120-160

3.5

As for 3.0, but with tongue out slightly, occasionally fully extended for short periods plus excessive drooling. Neck extended and up.

Open mouth with tongue fully extended for prolonged periods plus excessive drooling. Neck extended and up.

120-160

As for 4.0, but head held down. Cattle breath from flank.

Drooling may cease.

Variable (respiratory rate may decrease)

4.0 4.5

>160

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The following table shows the relationship between accumulated heat load units (AHLU), cattle indicators, and heat stress risk.

AHLU Risk Matrix AHLU

Cattle indicators

Heat load indicator

0

No load

Negligible

1-20

No load Panting score 1

Low risk

21-50

Panting score 1-2

Medium risk

51-100

Panting score 2-4

High risk

Over 100

Panting score 4

Extreme risk

What should be considered when evaluating when to intervene and mitigate?

There are some key monitoring points that should be considered in making the decision to intervene.

The first of the two that I think are most important is the percentage of cattle with a panting score of over 2.5 at 6:00 am. If that is more than 10%, then it is going to be a tough day. The second key point is the amount of overnight cooling that has occurred. As a guide, if the overnight temperature has been less than 68˚F for more than 6 hours and the wind speed is more than 5mph, then the cattle will have a big chance of having unloaded most of their heat overnight. It is very important to keep a close watch on the forecast for today and the next three days.

When the feed intake across the yard has decreased by 10% or more, then the cattle are in a status of heat load.

Mitigation In summer, if the forecast is poor and a heat stress event is likely, then there are some things that can be done. One of the key interventions is to stop cattle work or cattle movements. Processing, sorting, reimplanting, revaccination, and moving cattle can increase the animals’ body temperature by 3-4˚F. This is sometimes enough to tip those cattle over into a heat stress crisis. Some mitigation strategies are shown in the following table.

Possible

Likely

Occurring

Work hours

Work hours

Cease all stock movements

Daily monitoring

Increase monitoring

Troughs out (1 gallon/hr)

Dispatch times

Dispatch schedule

KCl in feed/water

Shed work (8:00 am)

Cease cattle movements

Heat load ration

Pen checking (9:00 am)

Check priority pens only

Bedding/pen wetting

Water trough

Water tubs in position

Dead removal

Ration

Bedding, wetting pens

Release cattle

Heat ration/ KCl 48 feedlot

Use of sprinklers can be beneficial especially in low humidity environments. The main objective is to wet and cool the pen floor so cattle can choose to lie down in comfort and dissipate heat. It is essential that the sprinklers do not make mud puddles for cattle to stand in and create mud slop holes. This will exacerbate the heat stress problem. The use of sprinklers has shown to reduce the temperature of an unshaded pen floor from 140˚F to 95˚F.

Feeding management One of the important ways to manage heat load is through dietary management. Seventy percent (70%) of the heat comes from metabolic heat, that is heat generated by the animal. Therefore, trying to manage the heat generated by the animal is an important aspect to heat stress management. The response of cattle to mitigate heat stress is to stop eating. It is not uncommon to see reductions in feed intake by 30-50% if cattle are fed without any change in ration or in bunk management in the early stages of a heat stress event. The key to heat stress dietary management is to try and maintain feed intake throughout the heat event as best as possible and have cattle return to pre-heat stress intakes as soon as possible after the crisis has passed without developing rebound acidosis. There are several methods to managing feed and feed intake. One is to move cattle to a “heat stress” ration early in the event. These rations are usually designed to reduce the heat generated from digestion and typically these rations are fed until about 48 hours after the crisis has passed.

A second approach is to manipulate the amount cattle are fed without changing the ration and reduce the metabolic heat load by reducing the allocation starting before the heat stress event occurs. The program relies on reducing allocation to 85 or 90% before, during, and after the event and maintaining a slick bunk program throughout, letting the cattle down on feed intake rather than letting cattle stop eating themselves. This method has shown to have a much better return to pre-heat stress intakes after the crisis has passed than other heat stress feeding management systems.

Other approaches in feeding management include increasing vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants as well

as ionophore throughout summer. Increasing fat in the diet reduces heat increment, however antioxidants are needed to prevent oxidization of the fats during the heat of summer.

The use of betaine in the diet has shown to reduce panting scores in cattle and improve feed intake during heat load events. Betaine in the supplement has become an important part of heat load management for many feeding operations. This osmolyte helps maintain cellular integrity of the gut, improves cellular hydration, and spares energy which is then available for production.

Losses of healthy cattle during heat stress events should be small or non-existent if adequate preparation and mitigation strategies are put in place.

Pen management

Pen management is probably the most important factor in reducing the risk of heat stress. Ensure that the manure load in the pens in the runup to summer is reduced to no more than two inches of dry manure in the pen. This will produce six inches of wet manure following a significant rainfall event. More than six inches of wet manure not only contributes to the humidity of the pen but also produces noxious gases that the cattle inhale, and the physical exertion of moving through these muddy pens increases the heat production in these animals. Furthermore, the manure that gets caked on the hide further increases the heat that the animals are exposed to.

Summary Every summer has risks of heat stress. The effects of heat stress are dependent not only on the magnitude and duration of the event but also on the rate at which environmental conditions change.

Losses of healthy cattle during heat stress events should be small or non-existent if adequate preparation and mitigation strategies are put in place. From an animal welfare standpoint, the use of shade, shelter, and other mitigation strategies in summer is recommended for most cattle that are confined and are on full feed.

With the current feed and cattle price structure, the economic benefits of minimizing the effects of environmental stress are greater today than in the past. In addition to the performance response, environmental stress mitigation has significant animal comfort and consumer perception implications. summer 2022 | pacdvms.com

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EVALUANDO SU MONTURA Y ARREOS Escrito por Ted Howard, Ted Howard Stockmanship, Production Animal Consultation Traducido por Jose Valles, Production Animal Consultation

¿A

lguna vez ha tenido un par de botas que le aprieten los pies o le rocen el hueso del tobillo?

Unas botas que no quedan bien pueden hacer que el día sea largo y miserable.

Necesitamos ser tan conscientes de como nuestra montura y arreos les quedan a nuestros caballos para que no tengan que sufrir por un equipo que no les queda bien.

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Cuando evaluó monturas, considero nombres de buena marca. Las monturas más nuevas están hechas para nuestros caballos más robustos de hoy. Cuanto más vieja sea la montura o más duro la montamos, puede hacer que el fuste se amplié, lo que permite que la montura caiga sobre la cruz del caballo. Esto puede crear heridas en la cruz y los omóplatos. Si cree que su fuste está quebrado, coloque su montura sobre una superficie dura y presione hacia abajo en ambas esquinas del borrén trasero. Si la montura cede, lo más probable es que el fuste este quebrado. También es importante mantener la montura limpia y en buenas condiciones.

Yo enaceito mis monturas dos veces al año.

La cruz de cada caballo es diferente. Tenemos que tener cuidado de poner las caronas adecuadas en cada caballo. Los caballos de cruz mas alta necesitan acolchado adicional. Los caballos de cruz baja necesitan menos acolchado. Los sudaderos de la marca Navajo tienden a quitar pelo de la zona de los riñones en el invierno, pero no en los meses de verano. Yo personalmente uso una carona de fieltro muy buena en mis caballos.

El cincho delantero es de mohair o una mezcla de mohair. Hay un poco de estiramiento para mantener al caballo más cómodo. Un cincho de mohair requiere algo de mantenimiento para mantenerlo limpio de suciedad que podría rozar a su caballo. Un cincho de goma es fácil de mantener limpio. Sin embargo, debemos tener cuidado cuando comenzamos a utilizarlo, ya que puede irritar la piel de un caballo.

Yo prefiero los látigos de cuero. Los látigos de cuero tienen más cede, lo que permite que las costillas de su caballo se abran para que puedan respirar más fácilmente, en comparación con un látigo de nailon. El 52 administración de animales

nailon no tiene cede ni se estira. Si un caballo gira en corto, el nailon no permitirá que su caja torácica se expanda. Si su látigo de cuero comienza a tirar con fuerza, trátelo con talco para bebe.

Nunca enaceite un látigo de cuero, ya que se engomará y no se deslizará fácilmente al apretar la montura.

Sin embargo, si enaceitamos el cincho trasero de cuero, el guarda correa de los cinchos y el latiguillo del cincho trasero.

El guarda correa de los cinchos debe estar en buen estado, ya que evita que el cincho trasero se deslice hacia el flanco del caballo. El cincho trasero esta diseñado para mantener la montura más plana sobre el lomo del caballo. Por ejemplo, cuando nos inclinamos para abrir una puerta, la parte trasera de la montura no se levanta y evita que la parte delantera de la montura pellizque la cruz de nuestro caballo. En las mañanas, no aprieto el cincho trasero hasta que haya montado un rato. Una vez que mi caballo se siente cómodo, aprieto el cincho trasero para que quede ajustado contra el abdomen de mi caballo.

Al considerar una pechera, prefiero una de cuero de tres piezas para un mejor ajuste. Es importante mantenerla enaceitada y ajustada correctamente para que le quede bien a mi caballo. La pechera mantiene la montura en su lugar. Debe quedar por encima de las puntas de los hombros del caballo. El anillo en D debe estar centrado entre las patas delanteras del caballo para que no roce el interior de ninguna de las patas.

Hay muchos diferentes tipos de equipos para la cabeza de nuestro caballo. En los corrales de engorda, una cabezada con frontalera y ahogadero es más segura ya que un caballo no puede quitársela. La barbada de cuero solo debe estar lo suficientemente ajustada como para meter dos dedos entre la mandíbula y la barbada.

El bocado debe ajustarse en la cabezada hasta que apenas aparezca una arruga en cada esquina de la boca de nuestro caballo.

Recuerde, nuestro caballo es nuestro compañero y queremos que esté lo más cómodo posible. Si su montura y arreos quedan correctamente, su caballo no estará adolorido o frustrado y su día será más tranquilo. ¡Al igual que si sus botas no le rozan o le aprietan los pies!

La vida de Ted Howard siempre ha girado en torno al caballo. Tiene un profundo respeto por el caballo y siempre se ha ganado la vida con uno. Doce años montando en corrales de engorda le permitieron reconocer la importancia del caballo en relación con el manejo de ganado. Ted ha sido dueño de un negocio de herraje y entrenamiento de caballos y actualmente es dueño y opera una operación de pie de cría. Correr ganado en pastoreo y en campos ganaderos le permite usar los principios de manejo de ganado en un ambiente diferente a los corrales de engorda. En el 2013, a Ted se le ofreció la oportunidad de hacer consultoría en la división de Animal Stewardship de Production Animal Consultation. Al especializarse en el dominio del caballo, Ted puede ayudar a otros a utilizar el caballo para convertirse en mejores ganaderos en la industria de los corrales de engorda.

Este artículo está disponible en Inglés en la página 10.

RISA ENTRE DIENTES DESDE OZ Una madre estaba preparando panqueques para sus hijos, Kevin, de 5 años y Ryan, de 3 años. Los chicos comenzaron a discutir sobre quién tomaría el primer panqueque. Su madre vio la oportunidad de darles una lección moral y les dijo: “Si Jesús estuviera sentado aquí, Diría: ‘Deja que mi hermano coma el primer panqueque, yo puedo esperar.’”

Kevin volteo a ver a su hermano menor y le dijo, “Ryan, tú eres Jesús!”

Cortesía de Jenny Mahon y Bell Veterinary Services Traducido por Jose Valles, Production Animal Consultation

summer 2022 | pacdvms.com

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CONTROL DE MOSCAS EN EL GANADO DE CARNE Escrito por A.J. Tarpoff, DVM, MS, Beef Extension Veterinarian, Kansas State University Traducido por Jose Valles, Production Animal Consultation

L

os parásitos externos durante los meses de verano pueden ser una carga pesada tanto para el ganado como para los productores. La disminución del rendimiento, las mordeduras dolorosas y el riesgo de transmisión de enfermedades son comunes entre muchas de estas plagas perjudiciales. El control de estos parásitos requiere de una gestión oportunamente programada.

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Moscas del Cuerno, Moscas de los Establos y Moscas de la Cara Se estima que las moscas del cuerno por sí solas pueden representar hasta mil millones de dólares en daños y pérdidas para la industria ganadera cada año.

El impacto económico se puede ver en animales individuales con tan solo 200 a 300 moscas por animal. Esto se puede visualizar con moscas del cuerno que cubren la cruz y se desplazan hasta la mitad de los costados. El impacto económico golpea a los productores en la disminución del promedio de ganancia diaria y la reducción del peso al destete de los terneros. Cada mosca del cuerno tomará de 20 a 30 comidas de sangre cada día.

Pasan la gran mayoría de sus vidas sobre los lomos del ganado y solo dejan el animal para ir poner huevos en las boñigas de estiércol fresco. Las poblaciones típicamente aumentan a finales de mayo y persisten durante los meses de verano.

56 vaca-becerro

Las moscas de los establos también se alimentan de sangre y se alimentan de las extremidades inferiores. Dan una mordida muy dolorosa durante su alimentación. Los animales infestados a menudo se ven moviendo sus flancos, moviéndose constantemente, moviendo la cola e incluso parados en el agua con intento de escapar de las dolorosas mordeduras. Se ha estimado que tan solo cinco moscas por pata pueden afectar el rendimiento en el ganado de carne. Las moscas de los establos pasan muy poco tiempo en el ganado y solo se alimentan durante el día. A diferencia de otras moscas, las moscas de los establos ponen sus huevos en materia orgánica en descomposición (p. ej., alimento derramado, estiércol intacto, pacas de heno es descomposición).

Las moscas de la cara se alimentan de las secreciones ricas en proteína de los ojos y la nariz. Las moscas de la cara son el principal vector de propagación de las bacterias que causan la enfermedad conocida como conjuntivitis. La conjuntivitis en el ganado también es una gran preocupación económica para los productores.

Se ha estimado que la conjuntivitis representa 150 millones de dólares en pérdidas por año debido a los costos de tratamiento y la disminución de producción. Aunque múltiples factores desempeñan un papel en la conjuntivitis, las moscas de la cara generalmente son parte de la propagación de la enfermedad. Al igual que las moscas del cuerno, las moscas de la cara ponen huevos en las boñigas de estiércol fresco. Una diferencia principal entre el comportamiento de estas dos plagas es que las moscas de la cara pueden viajar varias millas entre animales y pasar menos tiempo en los animales.

Manejo Es importante entender que combatir estos parásitos externos durante los meses de verano requiere un enfoque multimodal. Existe una amplia variedad de productos en el mercado para ayudar a controlar estas plagas. Cada producto está diseñado para funcionar de una manera específica, contra ciertos objetivos, durante un período de tiempo específico. Esperar que un producto dure desde que se ponen los animales en pastoreo hasta la primera helada, o eliminar el 100% de las plagas, es irreal y casi imposible. Los productores deben desarrollar un plan de manejo integrado para

combatir estas plagas.

Las moscas de los establos tienden a ser más un problema de confinamiento o de granja, pero tienen una mayor incidencia en entornos de pastoreo. Por lo general, esto se debe a los sitios de alimentación de invierno y la acumulación de residuos de heno y estiércol. Esta mezcla proporciona un lugar ideal para que las moscas de los establos crezcan. Extender heno durante los meses de alimentación de invierno reduce en gran medida la cantidad de larvas de moscas de los establos que sobreviven el invierno. Los comederos de pacas redondas tienden a dejar una gran cantidad de residuos en el suelo después de la alimentación de invierno y pueden producir hasta 1 millón más de moscas de los establos en la próxima temporada de pastoreo. La limpieza de las áreas de alimentación antes de los finales de la primavera reducirá el hábitat para que se desarrollen las larvas de las moscas de los establos. La limpieza puede incluir el raspado, el compostaje o incluso arrastrar los sitios con una grada.

Insecticidas para Ganado Hay una multitud de productos de salud animal para ayudar a controlar específicamente los parásitos externos de enfoque en el ganado de pastoreo. Pueden incluir aretes impregnados con insecticida, productos de aplicación tópica, aerosoles, aceites o espolvoreadores, productos inyectables y productos de alimentación directa. Generalmente, se utiliza una combinación de estos productos para brindar cobertura durante los meses de verano. Al igual que con cualquier producto de salud animal, es extremadamente importante leer y seguir todas las instrucciones de uso de la etiqueta.

También es importante tener en cuenta que la mayoría de estos productos tienen un tiempo de retiro para el sacrificio, por lo que la documentación de las fechas de tratamiento es crucial.

Las clases comunes de insecticidas incluyen piretroides, organofosfatos y lactonas macrocíclicas. El uso continuo de una clase de producto promoverá resistencia en la población de moscas del área. Por lo tanto, el uso de una clase química cada temporada o la rotación de clases según la temporada es fundamental para mantener la utilidad de estos productos. El tiempo es un componente crítico del uso de insecticidas. Cada uno de estos productos tiene una duración esperada de eficiencia. Los productores a menudo utilizan estos productos como los aretes a principios de la primavera antes de poner a los animales en pastoreo, pero los

productos empiezan a perder potencia y eficacia a finales del verano, cuando más los necesitamos. Retrasar el tratamiento hasta que los niveles de moscas en el ganado lleguen al punto critico (de 100-200 moscas por animal) puede ayudar a prolongar la duración hasta el verano. Si se indica un tratamiento adicional más adelante en la temporada después de múltiples aplicaciones de un producto o un arete, alterne la clase de insecticida cuando cambie los métodos de control a finales de la temporada. Trabaje con su veterinario local que entienda sus estrategias individuales de manejo para adaptar un plan.

Aretes Los aretes para el control de moscas son excelentes herramientas. Para obtener el mayor beneficio de ellos, espere hasta mediados de mayo o incluso junio para ponerlos, para asegurar que los aretes sigan teniendo efecto más delante en la temporada cuando más se necesitan. Muchos de los aretes disponibles pueden tener una duración efectiva de 12 a 20 semanas. Se recomienda aretar el ganado solo una vez por temporada. También es importante quitar estos aretes al final de la temporada. Dejar los aretes en el ganado expondrá estos parásitos a un nivel subterapéutico del químico activo que aumenta en gran medida la probabilidad de desarrollo de resistencia.

Recientemente, la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA, por sus siglas en ingles) emitió una prohibición del uso del insecticida clorpirifos en los cultivos de alimentos. Ha habido un arete que utiliza este químico en el mercado. A partir del 1 de marzo del 2022, los animales a los que se les administren estos aretes no podrán enviarse al sacrificio dentro de un año después del retiro del arete.

Productos de Aplicación Tópica Estas formulaciones listar para usar se administran en la línea superior del ganado y se dosifican según el peso corporal. Los productos de aplicación tópica funcionan a través del contacto directo con las plagas, por lo que es importante una cobertura completa desde la nuca hasta la cola. Los productos comunes tienen declaraciones en la etiqueta contra moscas, piojos e incluso garrapatas. Una nueva aplicación de estos productos puede ser necesaria, ya que la duración esperada de la eficacia es de 2 a 4 semanas. Utilice el umbral económico de aproximadamente 200 moscas por animal como indicación para el retratamiento. summer 2022 | pacdvms.com

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Los parásitos externos son molestos para el ganado y costosos para el rendimiento animal. El manejo oportuno y el uso adecuado de los insecticidas ayudarán a minimizar su impacto.

Bolsas de Polvo y Frotadores de Ganado Muchos productores utilizan autoaplicadores como los espolvoreadores o los frotadores en el entorno de pastoreo. Para aumentar la eficiencia, cercar y controlar los puntos de entrada de las áreas de uso común puede garantizar la aplicación a los animales del hato. Estas áreas pueden ser áreas con agua o fuentes de minerales.

Lea cuidadosamente las instrucciones de la etiqueta, ya que estos productos pueden requerir portadores específicos para funcionar adecuadamente. La recarga de estos sitios con la mezcla adecuada de productos en los intervalos recomendados también debe llevarse acabo durante la temporada.

Aerosoles Algunos productos disponibles vienen como concentrados para mezclarse con agua antes de aplicarlos al ganado. Estos productos pueden ser útiles para animales individuales o grupos de animales. Las opciones de administración pueden variar desde dispositivos de rociado automático en las instalaciones hasta rociadores portátiles para cuatrimotos para usar en el campo. Con una cobertura óptima de los animales, se pueden lograr de 2 a 4 semanas de eficacia.

Larvicidas o Reguladores del Crecimiento de Insectos (IGR, por sus siglas en ingles) Estos productos se alimentan al ganado y se incluyen comúnmente en ciertos productos minerales. Los productos pasan a través del animal y tienen eficacia en el estiércol. Funcionan destruyendo las larvas en desarrollo o interrumpiendo el proceso normal de desarrollo de las moscas del cuerno, las moscas de la cara y las moscas domesticas. Este proceso reduce la cantidad de actividad de moscas nuevas en un área determinada.

Sin embargo, las moscas tienen la capacidad de viajar distancias desde las operaciones vecinas. El momento de la alimentación de estos productos es crítico y debe comenzar antes de que comience la temporada de vectores y terminar después de una helada letal.

Endectocidas Los endectocidas son la clase de productos cuyo uso 58 vaca-becerro

principal es el control de parásitos internos (desparasitantes). La clase más común son las lactonas macrocíclicas. Los ingredientes comunes en esta clase incluyen la ivermectina. Estos productos vienen en formulaciones inyectables y de aplicación tópica.

Aunque su acción principal es contra el parasitismo interno, su actividad residual sí brinda cobertura contra parásitos externos por un período de tiempo. No se recomienda confiar y volver a aplicar estos productos durante la temporada de pastoreo para el control de moscas debido a problemas de resistencia con parásitos internos. Estos productos a menudo se administran al comienzo de la temporada de pastoreo y la actividad contra los parásitos externos se puede ver al principio de la temporada.

Los parásitos externos son molestos para el ganado y costosos para el rendimiento animal. El manejo oportuno y el uso adecuado de los insecticidas ayudarán a minimizar su impacto.

A.J. Tarpoff nació y creció en Edwardsville, Illinois.

La familia de A.J. era propietaria y operaba una planta procesadora de carne y un restaurante de cortes de carne. Recibió su licenciatura en zootecnia en la Universidad Estatal de Kansas en el 2010. En el 2012, recibió su doctorado en medicina veterinaria (D.V.M., por sus siglas en ingles) y una maestría en ciencia biomédica en la Universidad Estatal de Kansas. Paso cuatro años en la practica de producción de corrales de engorda antes de regresar a su alma máter para servir como veterinario de extensión de ganado de carne en Kansas. A.J. tiene un puesto de 70% de extensión, 20% de investigación, y 10% de docencia. Trabaja estrechamente con productores, veterinarios practicantes y miembros de la industria para brindar extensión y educación relevante para mejorar la salud del ganado y la productividad de la industria de la carne.

Este artículo está disponible en Inglés en la página 18.

THE PHOTOGRAPH PART 2: HIGH WATER

By Doug Ford, DVM, Production Animal Consultation, and Greg Quakenbush, DVM, Geissler Corp.

I

am a person who needs to keep busy, focusing on life’s adventures, family, friends, business, projects, and fixin’ what’s broken. My dream of acquiring South Platte River property deluded me into believing there would be nothing but smooth sailing ahead. My carefully planned strategy appeared to be falling flawlessly into place. I will never forget the excitement of fencing our new parcel of property.

In true Doug Ford style, every detail was carefully and intentionally planned. It would be perfect! Part of my excitement would be to purchase a semi load of beautiful 7ft bark covered Texas cedar fence posts, new premium grade barb wire, and 1 ¾ inch barbed staples. I was to be the envy of northeastern Colorado and maybe even the whole state!

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With every detail cleverly organized, I methodically placed piles of posts and rolls of wire for efficient access and installation. I couldn’t wait for spring! In 2010 I had lived in Morgan County for more than 30 years and never seen the South Platte River out of its banks. As fate would have it, this would be the year of higher-thannormal spring moisture and exaggerated spring runoff in the high country.

In all MY planning, I never stopped to think that all that snow and rain on the east slope of the Continental Divide would flow right past my backdoor at some time or another. Being the MAN of unwavering Faith, I confidently reassured my wife Jan everything would be okay, as each day the water crept closer to our prized stash of cedar posts.

I recall vividly the afternoon we arrived just in time to see a battalion of cedar posts floating randomly and scattered about for a quarter of a mile in every direction.

As I stood thigh deep in cold muddy water donning my Faithman suit, I realized I had forgotten to order the optional Faithman chest waders. Jan and I spent two miserable hours gathering posts and all was well, or so I thought. As we walked to the pickup, soaked to the bone, tears welled up in Jan’s eyes as she quietly said, “Maybe this whole thing was a mistake.” I again confidently reassured her it would all be OK, as an unseen tear welled up in the corner of my eye.

62 parable

Intermission: this was only a snapshot of what was to come.

Over the next three years, we would build miles of beautiful, straight, tight fence in saturated ground where the water table was about 2 ½ foot. Every fence post had to be tamped in with 15 to 20 scoops of gravel. Who could have known the 500-year flood of 2013 was about to destroy most of what we had accomplished in the past 3 years? Unlike a few fence posts floating away, 2013 was the real deal. I learned that CFS means cubic feet per second. This is a noteworthy number. When water passes a measuring weir at so many CFS, it is time to move to higher ground.

This was a hard lesson learned. “Experts” predicted that possible high water would hit at about 3:00 pm on the afternoon on September 17. As it turned out, it happened at 11:00 pm the night before. The term possible high water turned out to be a profound understatement.

Around 10:00 pm, the power went out as I watched a whitetail doe and coyote rush through our yard headed north in the light of the solar landscape lights. They left just ahead of the water. According to the professionals, we should have had 15 more hours to prepare.

Obviously, garage doors don’t open without power and our escape vehicle was ironically marooned. Quick thinking and a rusty screwdriver solved the problem. We had just enough time to grab Cosmo the wonder dog,

Rascal the family cat, and a toothbrush, all in a sudden blinding downpour of rain. As we made our hasty retreat, water was flooding down both sides of our quarter-milelong driveway.

Lessons learned: •

Man plots his course, but God establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

•

God’s ways aren’t man’s ways.

Divinely we escaped unharmed.

•

Your focus creates your feelings.

We made our way to higher ground taking backroads to Merino, Colorado, hoping to beat bridge closures down river. Luckily, we had our clinic in town which would be a safe place to stay for a couple of days. It looked like there would be no going back north of the river for at least a couple of weeks to assess the damage.

Naturally the next day curiosity got the best of me. I drove to the Snyder bridge only to find barricades and a state highway truck with multiple flashing lights. As I approached, one of the workers was coincidentally an old friend and client. After a short conversation, he cheerfully moved the barricades to let me pass, warning me to be careful and not tell anybody what we had done.

Miraculously, our casa was completely safe, and power had been restored to the house. Everything else on the ranch was under at least three feet of water. Assorted debris, mud, gravel, old tires, railroad ties, down power lines, and 30-50-foot-tall whole dead cottonwood trees were scattered as far as the eye could see. There was even an outhouse, an old boat, and someone’s bedroom mattress in our backyard. Fortunately, we had moved our cows, equipment, haystacks, and shop tools a few days earlier. The only pressing challenge in the whole ordeal was to rescue two Charolais bulls stranded on a small island. Feed was scarce, but they had plenty to drink!

•

Your misery becomes your ministry.

•

Misinformation can be confusing and deadly.

•

It’s only stuff.

•

Don’t be discouraged, God’s grace and protection is always sufficient.

•

Pain, trouble, and heartache don’t come to discourage, distract, or destroy you; they come to establish you.

To be continued...

Digging Deeper One of the guarantees of life is that there will be trouble. Death and taxes always make the list, with the potential for difficulty being seemingly endless. This all began in the Garden of Eden when sin entered the world, with even Jesus Himself not being immune to the subsequent consequences. He was the lightning rod for trouble and came to earth with the specific objective of providing a final and complete cure for the problem of evil, sin, and suffering.

So, where is God in the calamities of life? Are such events outside of His concern or His control? Is there such a thing as a truly random or freak event that occurs without God’s awareness? Do the words good luck or bad summer 2022 | pacdvms.com

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luck compose your response to unexpected circumstances? The answer to these and other similar questions will depend upon your worldview and your understanding of the truth regarding our creator.

Most of the trials we encounter are outside of our control. In the final analysis, our happiness or success is directly correlated to our response to difficulty. Our response is the only thing we truly have any control over.

It is amazing to note that the hardships and tribulations of life are used by God for our ultimate growth, maturity,

and even happiness. Only God can take problems and difficulties and turn them into things meant for our good.

An entire, ancient, all-time best-selling book (the Bible) was written on the subject of navigating through “tough times” and obtaining victory even in what looks like the jaws of defeat. It is amazing that with so much trouble on the horizon, so few seek out its guidance.

Below are a few quotes to hopefully stimulate your curiosity and urge you to “dig deeper” and better know the author.

Romans 5:3-5 (NLT) 3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

*** James 1:2-4 (NLT) 2Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

*** Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB) 5Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

6In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

*** 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV) 16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

*** Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) 6Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. 7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

64 parable

Greg Quakenbush, DVM is a 1978 graduate of Colorado State University and spent 16 years in large animal practice in Porterville, California. For 19 years, Dr. Q worked for Zoetis (Pfizer) and was Director of the US Cattle Technical Services team. Since 2013, Dr. Q has worked with the Geissler Corporation assisting in the development of new veterinary diagnostic technologies. Dr. Q enjoys Bible study, shooting sports, fly-fishing, and being a part-time farmer growing citrus and nuts in the central valley of California.

Doug Ford, DVM is the owner of Beaver Creek Veterinary Clinic in Brush, Colorado. Doug earned his DVM degree from Colorado State University. Brush, Colorado has been his home since graduating from Colorado State. Doug’s practice has been remarkably diverse over 40 years of veterinary medicine. Dogs, cats, cow/calf, feedlot, two sale barns, and spaying thousands of heifers for grass. The last 20 years of practice has been 50% large western dairies and 50% beef cattle (spaying, cow/calf, and feedlots). In 2005, Doug was given the privilege to become one of the six founding members of PAC. Doug and his wife Jan ranch in their “spare” time. They are also heavily involved in a wetland’s development project on the South Platte River near Snyder, Colorado. Doug’s dad used to say, “Get your grades up. Do you want to grow up to be a ditch digger?” Doug had no idea how much fun it is to play in the dirt with dozers and track hoes. He feels truly blessed and believes that the best days are yet to come.

summer 2022 | pacdvms.com

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Ingredients

• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

• 1 lb. ground beef, seasoned with Italian beef seasoning

• 1 - 1-1/2 c. mozzarella cheese • Salt & pepper

• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

Italian beef seasoning

• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

• 2 tsp. thyme

• 2 handfuls spinach (just to sneak in

• 1/4 tsp. oregano

some extra veggies)

• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 tbsp. tomato paste

• 1/4 tsp. onion powder

• 2 tbsp. pesto

• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/2 lb. bowtie pasta, cooked

• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

• 1 egg

• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper (or more if

• 1 c. ricotta cheese

you like a little spice)

THREE CHEESE LASAGNA

Arturo and Wrenn Pacheco are custom grazers located in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Their grazing operation consists of grazing double stock steers and custom heifer development for their clients. Arturo has his Ph.D. in ruminant nutrition and owns and operates his own nutrition consulting business, Pacheco Cattle Services. The couple also has a ranch-to-table beef business, Pacheco Beef. Wrenn manages all of the day-to-day operations of the eCommerce website as well as the storefront located in Alma, Kansas. Together they have two little cowboys, Leo and Ross. You can find more of their recipes at cookingwiththecowboy.com.

Homemade Hamburger Helper Instructions 1.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2.

Begin by browning the ground beef in a 10” oven safe skillet on medium and seasoning with Italian beef seasoning.

3.

Once the ground beef is seasoned, add in the tomato paste and let cook for about 1-2 minutes.

4.

Then add in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and pesto. If you would like to sneak in some extra veggies, before adding the tomato sauce, puree a couple of handfuls of spinach in the tomato sauce, then add to the ground beef.

5.

Once the tomato products and the pesto are combined, stir in the pasta.

6.

Whisk the egg and add to the ricotta. Season the ricotta and egg mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Combine the mozzarella and Parmesan.

7.

Spread the ricotta mixture on the top of the beef, tomatoes, and pasta. Then top with the mozzarella and Parmesan mixture.

8.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the cheese is browned on top.

If you have a recipe that you would like to feature in The Pot Roast section of Protein Producers, email us at protein.producers@pacdvms.com.

CHUCKLES FROM DOWN UNDER....

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, age 5, and Ryan, age 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.

“If Jesus were sitting here, He would say: ‘Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’”

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”

Courtesy of Jenny Mahon and Bell Veterinary Services

Operator: 911, what’s your emergency?

Man: A guy just got hit by a car. I need an ambulance.

Operator: What’s your location?

Man: I’m on Eucalyptus Street.

Operator: Can you spell that for me?

Man: (long awkward pause) Operator: Sir? Are you there?

Man: I’m going to drag him over to Pine Street and call right back.

Courtesy of Jo-Anne Watts and Bell Veterinary Services

68 chuckles from down under

Production Animal Consultation PO Box 41 Oakley, KS 67748 pacdvms.com

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