Veterinary Feed Directive recordkeeping will be a new requirement for many clients. Here are two ways to help them.

Alan Newport, Editor, Beef Producer

August 5, 2016

2 Min Read
VFD records you can offer your clients

As you prepare your clients for the Veterinary Feed Directive implementation, one of the most lacking areas for most ranchers and farmers is good recordkeeping.

You may be able to supply forms to make it easier for them, thanks to a couple of educators in Wisconsin.

Bill Halfman and Sandy Stuttgen have developed a VFD Order Records Summary Sheet, one a PDF-based download for paper copies and records and the other an Excel spreadsheet for computerized records.

Remind your clients who will be using fed antibiotics they are required to retain all VFD orders for two years, producing them for inspection when requested to do so.

VFD orders may be stored electronically or as hard copy paper, so each operator will need to figure out the best method of maintaining these records on his/her farm.

Download the PDF format of the VFD Order Records Summary Sheet
This file is an easy-to-print version for your clients.

You can also remind them they must have a valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) to get a VFD order.

Several other things they need to do:

  1. Inventory the drugs they are currently using: do they contain antibiotics which are impacted by VFD? Will they be able to get these in the future? Do they need to continue to use them?
     

  2. Check their operation to identify hazards which contribute to your risk for needing antibiotics. Explain to them about the process of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, (HACCP, which is part of BQA training).
     

  3. Re-evaluate those hazards and figure out ways to fix them which do not include the use of antibiotics. Using the HAACP model, this would be re-defining their control points, such as vaccination strategies, backgrounding protocols or opportunities, stocking rates, ventilation, ration balancing, supplementation of micro and macro minerals and vitamins.
     

  4. Encourage your clients to get BQA certified and pay special attention to best management practices regarding antibiotic use. This can be done online at www.bqa.org.
     

  5. For further education, you can review producer directives, and may send your clients to this FDA site.

You might also like:

Does it really take six years to cover your costs on a cow? NO!

Enjoy a few laughs with Rubes cartoons

9 new pickups for the ranch in 2016

About the Author(s)

Alan Newport

Editor, Beef Producer

Alan Newport is editor of Beef Producer, a national magazine with editorial content specifically targeted at beef production for Farm Progress’s 17 state and regional farm publications. Beef Producer appears as an insert in these magazines for readers with 50 head or more of beef cattle. Newport lives in north-central Oklahoma and travels the U.S. to meet producers and to chase down the latest and best information about the beef industry.

Subscribe to Our Newsletters
BEEF Magazine is the source for beef production, management and market news.

You May Also Like