FAA, McDonalds, and crazy cows: what do
they have to do with you?
Take a Wild Ride on the Vet Side (Take a ride on the wild vet side?)
Lana Kaiser, DVM
It has been a wild ride in the cattle business this year, what with check
off, COOL, manure management, environmental issues, food safety, cattle
prices, the border closing and research in the area of fertility, animal
welfare and animal diseases. But the ride seems even longer and bumpier
(more exciting?) when you consider a few veterinary related issues are
especially important to beef producers.
Genetic Testing
Did you ever wonder why Fred the bull gets more cows pregnant than Herb?
Well, it could be that Fred is more dominant, has greater libido and bigger
testicles, but it could also be that Fred is homozygous for fertility
associated antigen (FAA) and Herb is not. FAA is a specific protein that
increases fertility by increasing the ability of the sperm to bind with the
egg. The bull that is homozygous for FAA (++) will pass the desired trait to
all his offspring, certainly a desirable thing to do! The bull that is
heterozygous (+-) will pass the fertility trait to only half his offspring,
not ideal if you are in the seedstock business. Research from the University
of Arizona demonstrates almost 20 percent difference in fertility between
FAA + + bulls and FAA - - bulls. The researchers are working on genetic
tests for FAA and other proteins that influence fertility. In the not too
distant future we can test our bulls not only for tenderness and marbling
genes, but also for fertility genes.
Temperament
Do you give lip service to the importance of temperament, but keep Killer
the cow who can't tell a coyote from a child? Figure that as long as she
calves every year you will be ahead? Temple Grandin demonstrated that
flighty cattle are more likely to be dark cutters. If that isn't enough
evidence for you, researchers in Texas recently demonstrated that
poor-tempered cattle don't gain as well as more even-tempered animals. To
assess temperament they measured exit time -- time out of the chute. Cattle
that ambled out of the chute ate more, gained more and cost less to own than
those who shot out of the chute. "In the first 50 days after weaning, those
with the evil temperament did not gain weight at all, while those with good
temperament gained weight as if they were still nursing their mothers"
according to Ron Randel one of the Texas Ag experiment Station researchers.
Temperament is determined by both genetic and environmental factors. Do
yourself and your bottom line a favor - get rid of the evil cows!
Johne's Disease
Johne's disease is an incurable wasting disease of cattle caused by the
bacteria Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Cattle are infected either in utero
or as youngsters, but do not show clinical signs of disease for years. In
addition, there are currently no tests that accurately identify early
infection. While prevalence of infection may be as high as 40 percent in the
dairy industry, it is generally believed to be much less in beef. This
belief, coupled with the cost and inaccuracies or testing have led many in
the beef industry to ignore Johne's disease. The USDA has developed a
voluntary Johne's disease eradication program and has appropriated 22
million dollars to the education and eradication program. Better tests are
being developed. Despite the statistics, many beef producers aren’t taking
the disease seriously. Publicity linking Johne's disease to Crohn's disease
(a debilitating, incurable gastrointestinal disease of people) might be the
wake up call the beef industry needs. Several recent studies have more
clearly shown that the same bacteria that causes Johne's disease causes
Crohn's. The public perception that Johne's disease could have zoonotic
potential should be a significant concern for cattle producers.
Animal Welfare
Welfare issues are in the forefront in Europe and Australia, and most
commonly involve housing and handling of intensively raised poultry, swine
and dairy cattle. Most studies about food animal welfare and behavior have
examined chickens or pigs; few studies have been done with dairy cows and
even fewer with beef cattle. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to
realize that if (chronic) stress influences production in chickens, pigs and
dairy cattle, chances are it influences the bottom line in beef production
too. The stress can be physical or psychological. Physical stresses, like
heat, poor quality feed, insufficient water or crowding, are generally well
understood by producers. Psychological stress is less well understood, and
often scoffed at by livestock producers. The person who handles the stock
can have a major positive or negative influence on the animals' production.
Harsh and aversive handling can negatively impact production. Recently,
McDonald’s announced that it would only purchase eggs from chickens raised
under certain conditions. These conditions--including increased cage
space--were deemed necessary to provide maximum welfare for the birds.
Although research 20 years ago demonstrated that the current cage space was
insufficient for optimum welfare, it took the poultry industry almost a
quarter of a century and a big push from a Chicken McNugget to improve
welfare for the birds. Public perception of animal handling and welfare can
influence the bottom line – whether it is yours or McDonalds.
Animal Movement
Getting breeding cattle out of Michigan involves at least one whole-herd
test for bovine tuberculosis, frequently additional testing of individual
animals, and quarantine and retesting in the state of destination. Other
states with bovine TB (California, New Mexico, Texas) are also required to
do additional testing to move animals. After one case of BSE in Canada the
US closed the border and the border remains closed to live cattle imports.
According to the Harvard Risk Assessment, the risk of importing BSE infected
animal and that this animal will enter the food chain is low, thus based on
science the border should be reopened. However, US cattle cannot enter
Canada without testing for a variety of diseases, including anaplasmosis,
blue tongue, brucellosis and tuberculosis. USDA believes that this testing
is not based on science, and should be changed before the US border is
reopened. Time will tell how this plays out.
Biosecurity
Biosecurity is basically keeping bad things off your farm, being vigilant to
potential mechanisms of intrusion and providing maximum ability of your
cattle to fight disease through proper nutrition, mineral supplementation,
vaccinations and parasite control. Biosecurity took on added meaning after
the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) in England. A chunk of meat
(infected with FMD) smuggled from the orient to a restaurant, the scraps
went into hog slop which wasn’t properly heated, the pigs were fed the
infected meat and the rest is history. Thousands of animals destroyed and
hundreds of farmers devastated because of one piece of smuggled meat and a
breakdown in preparation of hog slop. Think it couldn’t happen here? Think
it couldn’t happen on your farm, ranch, feedlot or show barn? Where are the
holes in your biosecurity? This was a tragedy as a result of greed and
stupidity. Terrorists could just as easily target animal agriculture with
devastating results.
Animal Identification
Related to animal movement, biosecurity, food safety and animal diseases is
animal identification. The one BSE-infected cow in Canada had traveled quite
extensively in her life. So what was the problem? She didn’t have a social
security number so it was hard and time-consuming to trace her movements and
whereabouts. Unique individual animal identification is coming – it is
imperative to trace disease in a timely fashion, so that appropriate
measures can be taken to stop the spread of disease. The industry is
changing on all levels, and each change has the potential to impact other
segments of the industry. Beef producers have a lot to focus on, so why
should you take the time to consider these issues? To be perfectly
blunt--they will likely impact your bottom line.
|