Jan. Article

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.