The document discusses cattle production and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in the US feedlot system. It notes that over 32 million beef cows and 5.6 million replacement heifers are raised on over 766,000 operations. Once weaned, calves are transported to feedlots in groups of around 100 head. There are around 1,800 large feedlots with over 1,000 head capacity that market over 90% of cattle. BRD is a major risk in feedlots, and treatment involves either mass metaphylactic treatment of high-risk calves upon arrival or selective treatment of sick calves identified by pen riders.

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US cattle production –
Current approaches to BRD in US feedlots

2. 2
Why the risk is so high for
pneumonia in US cattle
Bovine Respiratory Disease
(BRD)

3. 3
Calves on the farm

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US Beef cattle production
• Beef Cows – 32,434,500 head
• Replacement Heifers – 5,646,500
head
• Number of operations – 766,350
• Average herd size (cows) – 42.3
USDA. 2008 Beef 2007-08, Part III: Changes in Beef Cow-Calf Industry, 1993-2008

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US beef cattle production
• 54.1 percent of cows from herd size
100 head or more
• Calves born from Feb-April – 58.8 %
• Calf average age at weaning – 207 days
• Calf average weaning weight
– Bulls and steers – 559 lbs (254 kg)
– Other heifers – 515 lbs (234 kg)
– Replacement heifers – 532 lbs (241 kg)
USDA. 2008 Beef 2007-08, Part III: Changes in Beef Cow-Calf Industry, 1993-2008

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US beef cattle production
USDA NASS

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Trailer to the auction

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Through the auction

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US beef cattle production
• Marketing Methods in the US
– Auction – 82.4 %
– Direct-video – 1.1 %
– Direct-private treaty – 11.6 %
– Consignment – 1.1 %
– Forward contract – 0.3 %
USDA. 2008 Beef 2007-08, Part III: Changes in Beef Cow-Calf Industry, 1993-2008

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Re-grouped into trucks

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US beef cattle production
• Transported to feedlots in “pots”
– Pots are the common term for the type of
trailer used
– A full trailer is termed a “pot load”
– A pot load = 50,000 lbs (22,680 kg) of
calves
– At 500 lbs a head = approximately 100
head of calves per pot load
– On average – calves from at least 2 origins
on each pot load

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Into the feedlot (150K head)

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US beef cattle production
• US Feedlots – in 1995
– 41,365 feedlot operations in the top 13
states marketed 23.4 million cattle
– 95.3% of feedlots had less than 1000 head
one time capacity
– Feedlots with 1000 head or greater one
time capacity marketed 90.2% of cattle
– Number of 1000 head plus capacity –
approximately 1,800 (1999)
Managing for Today’s Cattle Market and Beyond, March 2002, CE Ward, TC Schroeder

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US beef cattle production
Managing for Today’s Cattle Market and Beyond, March 2002, CE Ward, TC Schroeder
22

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US beef cattle production
Animal Health Research Reviews 10(2); 101-103, 2009. DG Miles

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US beef cattle production
NASS, USDA, Agriculture Statistics Board, Cattle on Feed, December 2009

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US beef cattle production
NASS, USDA, Agriculture Statistics Board, Cattle on Feed, December 2009

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Processed at the feedlot

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US beef cattle production
USDA. 2000 Part I: Baseline Reference of Feedlot Management Practices, 1999.

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US beef cattle production
USDA. 2000 Part I: Baseline Reference of Feedlot Management Practices, 1999.

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2 points of antibiotic use
Off the truck Sick in pen

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US beef cattle production
USDA VS Info Sheet, Treatment of Respiratory Disease in US Feedlots, October 2001

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US beef cattle production
USDA VS Info Sheet, Treatment of Respiratory Disease in US Feedlots, October 2001

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US beef cattle production
USDA VS Info Sheet, Treatment of Respiratory Disease in US Feedlots, October 2001

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US beef cattle production
Animal Health Research Reviews 10(2); 101-103, 2009. DG Miles

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US beef cattle production
Animal Health Research Reviews 10(2); 101-103, 2009. DG Miles

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Terminology
Metaphylaxis
= control
= prevention
Treatment
= pull & treat

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US beef cattle production
Treatment protocol
Arrival
processing
at feedlot
“Low risk”
No metaphylaxis
1st pull treatment
“Expensive” long
acting product
Re-pull treatment
Cheaper product
Possible
“moratorium”
Risk determination based on origin, source and history

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US beef cattle production
Canadian Veterinary Journal 2008; 49:373-378. MW Sanderson, DA Dargatz, BA Wagner

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US beef cattle production
J Anim Sci 2009.87:314-327. AH Babcock, BJ White, SS Dritz, DU Thomson, DG Renter

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US beef cattle production
J Anim Sci 2009.87:314-327. AH Babcock, BJ White, SS Dritz, DU Thomson, DG Renter

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US beef cattle production
• Data from Midwest feedlot collected from 1
Jan 2001 to 2 Feb 2006
• 31,131 cattle treated for respiratory disease
• Diagnosis based on opinion of feedlot
personnel
– Diagnosis based on
– Animal appearance
– Animal demeanor
– Body temperature
J Anim Sci 2009.87:314-327. AH Babcock, BJ White, SS Dritz, DU Thomson, DG Renter

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US beef cattle production
Conclusions
• For 5WT and 6WT cattle, the earlier in the
feeding period that cattle were diagnosed with
BRD and treated the more times they were
treated and had a decrease in ADG
• Steers were treated an average of 1.6 times
J Anim Sci 2009.87:314-327. AH Babcock, BJ White, SS Dritz, DU Thomson, DG Renter

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Key individual
Pen rider

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US beef cattle production
• Pen rider – “Cowboy”
• The most important decisions
about health
• Determines the need for further
evaluation and/ or treatment
– Diagnosis of “buckets”
• BRD, GI, lameness, brainer, other

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US beef cattle production
• Illness determination
• Almost uniformly “subjective”
• Animal appearance
– Lack of rumen fill, nasal discharge, increased
respiratory rate and/or effort
• Animal demeanor
– Lowered head and ears, reluctance to move,
decreased response to stimuli
• Rectal temperature ?
– Must be interpreted in the context of the
animals other clinical signs
2007, 79th
Western Veterinary Conference, Robert L Larson

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US beef cattle production
Metaphylaxis protocol
Arrival
processing
at feedlot
“High risk”
Metaphylaxis
Treat all animals in the
group
“Expensive” long
acting product
Re-pull treatment
Cheaper product
Possible
“moratorium”
Risk determination based on origin, source and history

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US beef cattle production -
Metaphylaxis
• Definition – the mass treatment of
animal populations currently
experiencing any level of disease
before the onset of blatant illness
• Can be considered as a prevention
as well as a curative treatment
Vet Clin Food Anim 26 (2010) 285-301. JS Nickell, BJ White

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US beef cattle production -
Metaphylaxis
• General guidelines for metaphylactic
treatment
– 1. clinical appearance of cattle on arrival
– 2. current (and expected) morbidity/ mortality
patterns
– 3. feed consumption
– 4. elevated body temperature
– 5. efficacy of products labeled for the control of BRD
Vet Clin Food Anim 26 (2010) 285-301. JS Nickell, BJ White

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US beef cattle production -
Metaphylaxis
• Factors to consider in predicting BRD
– Lightweight cattle from multiple origins
– Previous health history
– Distance of travel to feedlot
– Time of year
– Weather
– Transit conditions (weather extremes)
It may be helpful to plot BRD cases to predict disease
incidence using epidemic curves
Vet Clin Food Anim 26 (2010) 285-301. JS Nickell, BJ White

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US beef cattle production -
Metaphylaxis
Vet Clin Food Anim 26 (2010) 285-301. JS Nickell, BJ White

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Questions?