When we're thinking about these veterinary biologics, are there different levels of approval that sometimes come with these biologics?

So there are.

I- in recent years there's a, there's some more and I know it's, it's often leads to a little bit of confusion in the industry, but we do have varying levels of approval with some of these veterinary l- biologics that are in the marketplace.

So first and foremost, we have full approval.

These products have gone through stringent testing for safety and efficacy in the target species and in lab animals to ensure that that product does what, what it claims to do, and it's safe.

You can use it in all different classes of animals if that's what they've tested it for, and it's all on the label.

Uh, so a- as a purchaser of those products, you can buy them on the open market and you are protected as that purchaser that that product is supposed to do what it says.

What if you use a emergency approval product outside of what its emergency approval is for? Can you get in trouble for that?

When we're thinking about these veterinary biologics, are there different levels of approval that sometimes come with these biologics?

So there are.

I- in recent years there's a, there's some more and I know it's, it's often leads to a little bit of confusion in the industry, but we do have varying levels of approval with some of these veterinary l- biologics that are in the marketplace.

So first and foremost, we have full approval.

These products have gone through stringent testing for safety and efficacy in the target species and in lab animals to ensure that that product does what, what it claims to do, and it's safe.

You can use it in all different classes of animals if that's what they've tested it for, and it's all on the label.

Uh, so a- as a purchaser of those products, you can buy them on the open market and you are protected as that purchaser that that product is supposed to do what it says.

What if you use a emergency approval product outside of what its emergency approval is for? Can you get in trouble for that?

To start off, AJ, do cattle and pastures really need shade?

That's kind of a, that- that's kind of a loaded question, but I- I'll- I'll try to answer it.

Do all pastured cattle need access to shade every day of the year? And the answer is no.

If the question is phrased that way, the answer is no.

Uh, but when it comes to the summer months, are there some potential benefits of have- having shade or shade access for cattle during, uh, grazing? Uh, there are some potential benefits, uh, but I'll be the first one to admit that a lot of the research that's been done has been done either overseas, uh, grazing dairy scenarios, things like that, that don't necessarily overlap with our beef cattle in Kansas.

Uh, now, research is, it, you know, hopefully will be done into the future where we have better economic parameters and overall productivity of utilizing shade.

Uh, but if we look at the basic behavior of those animals during the heat, you know, heat stress days that we've seen, especially the past few weeks here in, here in the state and throughout the Great Plains, there are some potential days and periods of time that we can alleviate heat stress, get those, those, uh, negative behaviors associated with coping with heat stress, and get those animals grazing more, producing more, whether it's a, a pound of gain, whether it's producing milk, whether it's growing, uh, a fetus for a gestational cow.

So, um, but I think making sure that you, if you do provide shade, right, that it's in a very strategic manner in whatever fashion that is, and make sure that, you know, your, the structures or whatever you have have good airflow, and they're not too small or too cramped.

To start off, A.J., do cattle and pastures really need shade?

That's kind of a loaded question, but I'll try to answer it.

Do all pastured cattle need access to shade every day of the year? And the answer is no.

If the question is phrased that way, the answer is no.

But when it comes to the summer months, are there some potential benefits of having shade or shade access for cattle during grazing? There are some potential benefits.

But I'll be the first one to admit that a lot of the research that's been done has been done either overseas, grazing dairy scenarios, things like that, that don't necessarily overlap with our beef cattle at Kansas.

Now, research is, you know, hopefully will be done into the future where we have better economic parameters and overall productivity of utilizing shade.

And make sure that, you know, the structures or whatever you have, have good airflow and they're not too small or too cramped.

We're now going to be joined by K-State's A.J. Tarpoff as he discusses a few reminders for producers when it comes to caring for livestock and potential heat stress events.

When we look at mitigation of heat stress, We can start very simply, feeding water, right? The most essential nutrients of life.

We can't forget about the basics.

Number one, water.

Water needs do increase exponentially whenever that temperature starts to spike.

So during heat stress scenarios, those animals need access and higher quantity of good, cool, clean water.

So the water is number one, feed.

So if you do not have the technology, how do you keep track of

We're now going to be joined by K-State's A.J. Tarpoff as he discusses a few reminders for producers when it comes to caring for livestock and potential heat stress events.

When we look at mitigation of heat stress, We can start very simply, feeding water, right? The most essential nutrients of life.

We can't forget about the basics.

Number one, water.

Water needs do increase exponentially whenever that temperature starts to spike.

So during heat stress scenarios, those animals need access and higher quantity of good, cool, clean water.

So the water is number one, feed.

day.

And when should producers really start monitoring this according to history of heat stress?

So historically now, here we are beginning of June where, you know, no, we're not in the middle of summer.

We don't have the extremes quite yet, but we do have those temperature fluctuations.

We do in right now, we are, we're actually getting moisture and rain through many areas of Kansas that we have elevated humidities.

And then we can have some of these individual days or a series of days where we'll have elevated temperature along with elevated humidity and And wind speed and solar radiation are the other key factors with how animals interact with their environment.

So when we don't have a cloud in the sky and we have no wind with high temperature, high humidity, that is a recipe for disaster.

So planning accordingly and making sure that we're monitoring some of those weather conditions is pretty important.

Should producers maybe also look into shifting when they're feeding their livestock?

And when should producers really start monitoring this according to history of heat stress?

So historically now, here we are beginning of June where, you know, no, we're not in the middle of summer.

We don't have the extremes quite yet, but we do have those temperature fluctuations.

We do in right now, we are, we're actually getting moisture and rain through many areas of Kansas that we have elevated humidities.

And then we can have some of these individual days or a series of days where we'll have elevated temperature along with elevated humidity and And wind speed and solar radiation are the other key factors with how animals interact with their environment.

So when we don't have a cloud in the sky and we have no wind with high temperature, high humidity, that is a recipe for disaster.

So planning accordingly and making sure that we're monitoring some of those weather conditions is pretty important.

Should producers maybe also look into shifting when they're feeding their livestock?

Yeah.

So we, so we can see the traditional jaundice, we can see white mucus membranes, we can see extreme lethargy, uh, just overall not doing well.

If the animal dies, uh, we will see, uh, some things typical of anemia.

We can see, it, you know, it, an enlarged spleen.

We can see the, either the yellowing or very pale fat, uh, one or the other depending on how, how long it's been going on.

Or we can have some things in feeder cattle where we have immune disruption and we have animals that are just non-responsive.

They're non-responsive.

Yeah, I was gonna-

And so keeping, keeping up to date with all the new things that are coming out, we- we're, we're learning as we're going along, we're figuring it out, we're putting the pieces of the puzzle together, um, which is great, but it also means it's a rapidly changing situation, so keeping up to date with the latest information is good.

And Kansas is a unique area.

We're a net importer of animals from all over the country.

Now, when we have a, an quote, quote-unquote, endemic locations from the East Coast, you know, throughout kinda middle of, M- Middle East America, right? Uh, I mean, we're i- importing animals over the last decade that have been positive for Theileria.

Well, if we've been importing animals to Kansas that have been positive, have we been seeing massive outbreaks within the state of Kansas? Well, no, we, we haven't.

Have we had issues? Have we had positives? Yes, of course we have, because we're importing positive animals almost every day.

But that, that's where what we're seeing today is very different than outbreaks in the past.

And so I, I, I think that sometimes it's a, it's a fascinating, it's fascinating how these things evolve and how it changes over time just based on where it, where it impacts next and what that production system looks like.

A.J., for this time of year for spring calving cattle herds, what vaccination things might they be thinking through?

Right.

So right now is an interesting time.

This is for spring calving operations.

We're in the preparation mode, going to grass.

We might be doing some things like working cattle, working the cows, working the calves, identifying the animals, doing all of those different things, preparing these animals to go out to summer pasture.

When it pertains to directly, when we start talking about vaccines, well, there's a lot of options on the market.

When we're thinking about maybe pulling up those vaccinations, is it OK then to set the bottle maybe on the truck bed?

So what does that mean for cattle welfare?

You bet.

So at NCBA, during the Cattlemen's College, I spoke on a panel with some colleagues, Lily Edwards Calloway from Colorado State University and Scott Pullman from Cargill.

And our main focus of what we teamed up for was to bring to light bigger cattle, bigger decisions, what's going on in the industry, kind of a – Big picture look at where we are.

What are some unintended consequences of our success? And realistically, let's just as a kind of call to arms, so to speak, as an industry to better prepare for the future.

So at the beginning of this is we really discuss where we are.

And year over year, we have increased carcass weights and live animal outweights from our finished feeding facilities every year.

Specifically, what goes into cattle not being able to reach those heavy weights of 18, 1900 pounds? Is it structure or what do you mean?

A.J., when we're thinking about calving, maybe more specifically for spring calving herds, what are some things they could be doing right now?

I think right now is an excellent opportunity to do an inventory.

It's just prior to calving season.

The first calf hasn't hit the ground.

You've got some time here in December, hopefully, that it's a good time to get an inventory of all of your calving equipment.

When's the last time you used it? When's the last time you took a look at it? And for most operators, it hasn't even been thought about since last April.

So it's been sitting around for several months.

You mentioned scours earlier, and what else should producers maybe have on hand when it comes to caring for the calves and being able to help identify what is wrong with my animal?

And first off, a few stories when it comes to doing necropsies.

Yeah, that's a good one.

So anytime you ever get around a group of veterinarians, there's always stories to be told about what we've done and different things that we've seen.

But a couple that really pop out, and I think it's fitting for Halloween, is have you ever had that feeling that something or somebody was watching you? Well, I've had a couple of those unique scenarios, one of which I got called out to an operation.

I was doing a necropsy.

And I had that random feeling that something was watching me and I looked around and I didn't see anything.

And then it dawned on me, I needed to look up.

be

So is it all Kansas keeping an eye on or are there certain parts that maybe should pay a little bit more attention?

Yeah, I personally I think it's good for for all livestock producers, all animal owners and just people in general to be stay vigilant and keep an eye out for for different types of tick populations that we may not have seen or something seems out of place.

I think that's always an important place to start.

But this this truly is this Asian longhorned tick.

A lot of the biologists, the entomologists have done some modeling on where, what types of environment that this tick can live and survive and thrive in.

Now, Kansas is on the outermost edge.

It's really found a home in areas of the Ozarks and Arkansas down a little bit further east.

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