Most Recent Blog Posts

Mar. 28, 2012

Pain Management Is An Issue Industry Must Continue To Address

What products do we have that are labeled for analgesia (pain control) in food animals? The answer is none. It isn’t that scientists aren....More
Jan. 26, 2012

Cephalosporins Aren’t Withdrawn From The Market

FDA’s Center forVeterinary Medicine (CVM) released a final rule in early January prohibiting some extralabel uses of cephalosporins in food....More
Dec. 27, 2011

HSUS Sets Its Sights On The Beef Industry

The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) has been a focus of mine for some time. While I strongly support animal welfare, I am opposed to animal rights....More
Nov. 25, 2011

It’s Time To Be Hay-Smart

There is no doubt that nutrition is one of the keys to health. A pregnant cow that receives proper nutrition mounts a stronger immune response in the....More
Oct. 21, 2011

Nitrate Accumulation In Plants Is A Matter Of Many Factors

Drought has made it a very rough year for many herds in the U.S. In the midst of this scramble for forage in drought areas, we need to be careful....More
Oct. 1, 2011

Independent, Third-Party Assessments Help Gauge The Job You’re Doing In Animal Handling

I recently attended a meeting of the Academy of Veterinary Consultants, a national organization of veterinarians whose practice focus is beef cattle....More
Aug. 19, 2011

Extended Calving Season Limits Profitability

An extended calving season limits the ability to maximize profitability. To illustrate this point, I’ve created a “virtual herd.”....More
Aug. 1, 2011

Food Safety: What Is An Acceptable Risk?

Perceptions of risk will be responsible for deciding the future structure of the cattle industry and the availability of the tools we have to....More
Jun. 1, 2011

Take A Big Picture View Of Animal Health

While having many choices is generally seen as a good thing, too many choices can sometimes be overwhelming. For instance, there are 73 federally-....More
Apr. 22, 2011

Whole Foods’ Welfare Ratings Have Big Credibility Gap

Whole Foods Market is a natural and organic food store that recently received some press based on their cooperation with Global Animal Partnership (....More
Mar. 10, 2011

10 Steps To A Violative Residue

The dairy industry has recently been in the news due to drug residues in cull cows and bob veal calves. I should say “some” of the dairy industry has....More
Feb. 24, 2011

Calving Time Is Here; Be Ready To Assist

In general, our cows in the U.S. are low-maintenance creatures that take care of themselves. They calve unassisted and the calf nurses within an hour....More
Feb. 2, 2011

Colostrum Is Important In Calf Health

In the last year, many producers have spent a great deal of time, effort and money selecting the right bulls, culling the less-productive cows,....More
Jan. 6, 2011

New Generation Of Agriculturalists Will Serve Industry Well

It would be awfully easy today to immerse ourselves in a negative spiral induced by a doom-and-gloom outlook on agriculture. There are some places to....More
Nov. 23, 2010

Be Diligent On Genetic Defects When Buying Bulls

While pregnancy testing a group of cows for a client recently, he mentioned that his 2½-year-old herd bull was lame. On closer inspection, I saw the....More
Contributors

Dave Sjeklocha

Dave Sjeklocha is a feedlot consulting veterinarian at the Haskell County Animal Hospital in Sublette, KS.

Mike Apley

Mike Apley, DVM, PhD, is a professor in clinical sciences at Kansas State University in Manhattan.
What's Vet's Opinion?

Three top U.S. veterinarians provide tightly focused discussion of specific beef cattle health and welfare topics.

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