With my training and experience as a veterinary practice owner, later in the pharmaceutical industry and also as a beef producer myself, I question things from several different angles. If there is a more practical, safe or cost-effective way of doing things, that’s the road I take.
When veterinarians give advice. it’s also important that we consider decisions from the producer standpoint. That way we get a better appreciation of whether the advice, regardless of how good, is convenient to implement.
Here are a few thoughts on production practices and issues I observe:
Read Also
Letter to the Editor: Selenium, science and the risk of overstating harm
A letter to the editor of Grainews regarding an April 8, 2025 column on the risks of selenium contamination in waterways.
Thoughts on spaying
We often get asked about spaying heifers. Most producers don’t realize the cost involved and inherent health risks associated with the procedure. It requires lots of medications and the use of growth implants. The risk of death loss is still an issue, so ponder before spaying is even considered. I can only think of one or two veterinarians who have developed the skill level to keep their death loss low. It is absolutely necessary to seek an experienced practitioner.
Revisit measuring
After hearing from several veterinarians that calving birth weights appear to be a bit higher this year, perhaps we should give thought to bringing back more pelvic measuring, where we go in and measure the minimum height and maximum width and calculate pelvic area.
Depending on when we are measuring the heifers, we can make a calculation to predict how big a calf the heifer can deliver with no assistance. By not paying attention to the female side for birth weight, we can get into a bit of a calving dilemma. If that happens we must examine birth weight of sire and dam as well as closely look at pelvic size of the heifer. When selecting sires, make sure you know how to interpret data available as expected progeny differences (EPDs) or the newer DNA snip technology. That information all help us make informed breeding decisions.
Withdrawal times
Have you ever looked at the slaughter withdrawal times for different veterinary products and wondered why there is such a difference between Canada and the U.S. regulations? (U.S. withdrawal periods are usually half of ours.) This is because Canadian regulators feel Canadians eat way more meat than Americans, so the times between the last dose and slaughter date are longer. This is why meat withdrawal times have a huge safety margin in Canada, and supports why our meat products are considered the safest in the world. This is another important part of the beef production story we need to explain to the consuming public.
Injection methods
Label recommendations for administering many antimicrobials still advise not to inject more than 10 cc per product per injection site, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect the fact that most products now have gone from being intramuscular injection (IM) to almost all subcutaneous injection (SC) methods.
The fact is, you can get away with administering much more than 10 cc if administered SC per site for most products. Absorption may be slightly altered, as well as withdrawal times, but we can avoid the use of so many needles which helps reduce animal discomfort as well as reducing the labour needed to administer the product.
The dosage for different products is an important discussion to have with your veterinarian. We used to say double the dose means double the withdrawal period, but giving a product by a different route may alter the withdrawal time. So ask.
If it wasn’t such a costly process, companies would do the testing themselves, and perhaps change or update label recommendations. Also, even though we recommend SC injections in the neck area and behind the shoulder, really anywhere under the skin is OK. Proper absorption will happen. It often depends on which site is the most accessible, and the safest spot to give the product, depending on the size of animal going through the chute.
BSE testing is important
Remember that it’s important to keep BSE testing of any suspect cattle, to maintain our export markets. Producers do get a small amount of compensation but more importantly, there is no cost to find out why a cow may have died suddenly. Knowing cause of death may also help in your herd health decisions down the line.
About preg checking
I know many producers are enamoured with the high-tech method of using ultrasound for preg-checking cattle, but it is important to remember that rectal palpating is still a very valuable and useful tool as well. Accuracy of the palpation method is based more on the experience of the vet but it can be an effective method to detect real early pregnancies and twins. An experienced veterinarian can detect these pregnancies at an early stage of pregnancy.
Message for breeders
A couple of things regarding bull purchasing: Almost all vets across Western Canada use the ReliaBull Scrotal Circumference (SC) brand measuring tape. Using the same tool helps us all be consistent, plus because of the wider spring-load tape, I believe it measures ½ to 1 cm bigger than the old metal tapes. For this reason, I feel all minimum measurements for age should probably be upped by one centimetre. Does this make sense to you?
Also, there is no standard timing to determine birth weight of newborn calves. Those breeders that weigh right at birth will record a higher weight than if that calf is weighed at one day of age. The same thing happens with human babies — they lose weight soon after they are born. We as vets have to give some direction with the birth weight measurement.
Great information source
A great reference source (besides the magazine and article you are reading now) are the talks (webinars), disease summaries, production calculators and educational videos and many other materials produced by the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC).
Check out their website at beefresearch.ca or just enter “Calf 911” in the search engine to find all their short educational videos. It’s all free to you and paid for with your beef checkoff dollars so take advantage of it. If you like what you see, tell a neighbour, friend or fellow cattlemen.
Talk to your vet
Last but not least, if you haven’t done so, already develop and keep a good relationship with your veterinarian. Large-animal vets are not only in short supply but are also struggling to get enough staff to be on call. There may come a day when some clinics start to limit their clientele and you don’t want to be left on the outside. We all need to become more efficient and find ways to eliminate travel time where possible. Tele-veterinary medicine is already helping somewhat. At the same time, many procedures need to be hands-on. So stay connected to your local veterinarian.
Have a great calving season everyone, and let’s hope 2022 is a real improvement over last year regarding feed supply and weather.
