The raising of beef cattle for breeding and consumption is a common farming occupation in Iowa, second only to hogs as the leading source of the state’s livestock income. Like any livestock, beef cattle must be kept healthy both for their own sake as well as their profitability. Dr. Luke Thole, a veterinarian at Rolling Hills Clinic in Cascade, and formerly of Dyersville, explained.
“First and foremost it’s the instinct of a farmer to care for livestock, but also caring for animals is how farmers make their living. So for the public, especially these animal rights groups, to generalize and make comments about how farmers don’t care for their animals, they just don’t get the whole picture. Farmers have to care for their animals to make a living. A non-healthy animal does not perform.”
According to Thole, the first and most important factor in beef cattle health is the quality of the care given by the farmer to the livestock, requiring knowledge, skill and understanding to sense what the animal needs.
“For the basic needs of beef cattle in general, the number one priority is the caretaker,” said Thole. “We’re lucky in this area that the farmers are unbelievable in the way they take care of these animals. A lot of the farmers are second, third or even fourth generation farmers who have been doing this since they were little kids and you won’t find any better caretakers in the world in my opinion than you will in this area. Farmers need to meet the livestock’s nutritional needs, they need to make sure the livestock are properly vaccinated and housed, but first and foremost it goes back to a caretaker’s effort. These farmers have an eye for knowing a healthy calf from a nonhealthy calf and what these cattle need to thrive, and we’re lucky in this area for these farmers.”
When cattle fall sick, there are several key warning signs farmers use to tell that something is wrong, often related to behavior.
“The biggest thing they need is making sure nutritional requirements are met, and that’s not an easy task,” said Thole. “In a sick calf, cow or feeder, there’s signs to look for and the farmers know them. It’s lethargy, head down or not wanting to be a part of the group. Cows and calves have a herd mentality and want to be close to the group, so if one’s off or doesn’t come up to eat when they get fed, there’s a lot of things to look for.”
Threats to cattle health come from a variety of places, requiring both internal and external care. According to Thole, many beef cattle are currently receiving their springtime vaccinations in preparation for pasturing.
“Right now, we’re in the spring and the cow-calf pairs are going to be turned out to pasture soon if they haven’t already. The big vaccines we administer right now at Rolling Hills would be first and foremost a respiratory vaccine for pneumonia and a Clostridial vaccine. Also, a lot of producers opt to get a Pinkeye vaccine. Those are the three major vaccines right now. And then in the fall, when these calves get worked for the second time, they’ll get a respiratory vaccine again and another Clostridium vaccine prior to being weaned. Being dewormed is also important then.”
Farmers must pay close attention to the coats and hoofs as well, as parasites on the skin or unhealthy hoofs can lead to severe problems if left untreated.
“Farmers and veterinarians deal with external parasites, as well,” said Thole. “One of the external parasites we deal with is lice, which can be an issue in cattle. However, with proper protocols, it’s very treatable. Hoof care is very important in all bovine. Dairy cows have regular maintenance hoof care; bovine will not achieve their full potential without healthy hoofs. The farmer puts a lot of resources, money and energy into making sure their livestock is healthy. Healthy livestock perform for the farmers and performance is what pays. If you have a beef cow with poor hoof health, she’s not going to produce enough milk for her calf. If it’s a bull with poor hoof health, he’s not going to breed cows, and if it’s a calf on pasture or a weaned feeder in a feedlot, it’s not going to gain well and the farmer isn’t going to make money.”
One of the more well-known problems for cattle are flies with treatment by fly tags. Not only do keeping flies away with tags and other treatments ensure greater pest-free comfort for the livestock, they help prevent diseases carried by the insects.
Thole said, “Fly pressure presents a significant problem for cows and calves going to pasture right now. Increasing fly pressure decreases weight gain and increases the likelihood of pinkeye. Flies can transfer the organisms that cause pinkeye. We do our best to create protocols and use products that mitigate the fly pressure during the summer months. All farmers will do something to mitigate that pressure.”
While the maintenance is high ensuring the health of a beef cattle herd, they are the easier of the two cattle types to raise due to not needing some of the more specialized care dairy cattle require.
“Dairy and beef cows obviously are similar but do present unique challenges when talking about their health,” said Thole. “We ask so much more of a dairy cow than a beef cow. We’re asking a dairy cow to put a ton of energy into milk production, so the nutritional requirements of a dairy cow are drastically different from a beef cow. We deal with many more metabolic issues in dairy cows than beef cows because we ask so much of them. Beef cows produce milk typically to raise one calf each year, so they’re not giving the same quantity of milk as a dairy cow does.”
As a final piece of advice, Thole encouraged new beef farmers to learn as much about beef cattle health as they can before investing in their first venture contributing to the farming economy.
“If they don’t have a background in beef cattle, definitely do your homework before you get into it. Talk to other farmers, start talking with nutritionists and to a local veterinarian. Don’t buy your livestock and then go do that, do the homework first. New and young people getting into agriculture is exciting but it’s also absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy and vibrant rural America.”
May 19, 2021 at 05:00PM
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Veterinarian gives insight into the health and care of beef cattle - Cascade Pioneer
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