Herd Health

As dairy producers continue to look for ways to cut expenses, animal health programs often come under intense scrutiny. Is this vaccine necessary? Are there cheaper alternatives? How can we reduce the vet bill?

As a dairy producer, you often focus on areas widely known to impact your herd’s health and overall profitability, such as genetics and nutrition. However, there are countless other underlying factors.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a serious chronic disease that primarily affects cattle. Other mammals, like deer and elk, can also be affected by bTB.

We all know infectious diseases exist on dairies. They can present as an outbreak, be endemic in the herd or potentially both, and some cattle diseases may even pose a health risk to farm employees.

Fresh cows are the most important, and most vulnerable, group of cows in the barn. Between post-calving stress and the metabolic demands of lactation, the immune system of a cow is suppressed during the transition period, leaving her susceptible to a variety of diseases – like mastitis and metritis – that can impact your herd’s milk production and overall profitability.

Mastitis is the most common reason for antimicrobial use for cows on U.S. dairy farms – about 80% of all antimicrobial use was for treatment or prevention of mastitis, which included dry cow therapy.