Antibiotic Stewardship for Beef - Dr. David Sjeklocha, Director of Animal Health and Welfare, Cattle Empire, from the 2015 NIAA Antibiotic Symposium - Stewardship: From Metrics to Management, November 3-5, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. More presentations at http://swinecast.com/2015-niaa-symposium-antibiotics-stewardship-from-metrics-to-management

1. Antibiotic Stewardship –
Our Approach
DAVE SJEKLOCHA, DVM; OPERATIONS MANAGER OF ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE;
CATTLE EMPIRE, LLC; SATANTA, KS
NIAA, NOVEMBER 4, 2015

2. Cattle Empire
 4 Feedyards
 18,000 – 87,500 capacity
 1 calf ranch
 50,000 capacity
 Holstein bulls/steers
 Large farming operation
 Family-owned
 All in Haskell County
 2004-2011: Consultant; 2011-Present: Staff

3. Haskell County, Kansas

4. Philosophy
 All drugs are poisons. Therapy results from proper drug regimen.

5. Philosophy
 All drugs are poisons. Therapy results from proper drug regimen.
 Use of an antibiotic is an indication our management practices have failed.

6. Philosophy
 All drugs are poisons. Therapy results from proper drug regimen.
 Use of an antibiotic is an indication our management practices have failed.
 If we manage our cattle better, our antibiotic use will decrease.

7. Philosophy
 All drugs are poisons. Therapy results from proper drug regimen.
 Use of an antibiotic is an indication our management practices have failed.
 If we manage our cattle better, our antibiotic use will decrease.
 Does not mean we can manage our way out of all antibiotic use.

8. Philosophy
 All drugs are poisons. Therapy results from proper drug regimen.
 Use of an antibiotic is an indication our management practices have failed.
 If we manage our cattle better, our antibiotic use will decrease.
 Does not mean we can manage our way out of all antibiotic use.
 Using antibiotics according to label does not equate to good stewardship.

9. BVDV PI Free
 Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus
 Fetus infected with BVDV between 40-120 days of gestation
 Accepts BVDV as “self” – never clears the virus (Persistent Infection)
 Sheds huge amounts of virus every day of life
 Immunosuppression; Penmates/herdmates constantly under immune challenge
 All cattle are tested for PI BVDV at arrival; Positive animals are quarantined

10. Post Treatment Intervals
 Long acting antibiotics (7-14 days)
 What is the point of these long-acting antibiotics?
 2005 - Hospital manager approached us about limiting how soon an animal can be
presented for re-treatment

11. Post Treatment Intervals
 Long acting antibiotics (7-14 days)
 What is the point of these long-acting antibiotics?
 2005 - Hospital manager approached us about limiting how soon an animal can be
presented for re-treatment
 Initiated PTI, got lots of “feedback”

12. Reduction in AB use

13. Reduction in AB use
# Lots Total Hdct Feed
Conversion
$ Med./hd Death Loss
%
Cattle
Empire
93 10,276 6.08 $12.31 1.71
Central
Plains
694 85,215 6.39 $20.95 2.03
All U.S. 1975 266,369 6.61 $19.68 2.19

14. Technology
 Southfork System
 CE is shareholder of technology
 High-frequency eartag, antenna
 Tracks how often calf visits bunk, how long
it stays there
 Does not detect if calf actually eats or how
much it may eat
 Bunk visit data is entered into algorithm,
daily pull list is made

15. Technology
 Southfork System
 CE is shareholder of technology
 High-frequency eartag, antenna
 Tracks frequency of calf visiting bunk, how
long it stays there
 Does not detect if calf actually eats or how
much it may eat
 Bunk visit data is entered into algorithm,
daily pull list is made

16. Southfork Technology
 Study: Compare conventional disease detection methods (Cowboy) with Southfork
 Randomized by 5 hd into “Conventional” pen (C), 5 hd into Southfork (S), 5 hd into
C, etc. until pens were full
 Each C group placed next to its corresponding S group
 At initial processing, tulathromycin used for metaphylaxis, with 10 day PMI
 60 day starter period
 Once PMI was met, cowboys pulled as they normally would from C pens, only
pulled cattle on list in S pens

17. Southfork Technology
Conv. Southfork P - value
Headcount 697 699
1st Pulls % 38.2 19.6 .0001
2nd Pulls % 44.4 23.1 .0001
3rd Pulls % 54.4 36.7 .0001
BRD Mortality % 5.1 3.9

18. Acknowledgements
 Roy Brown, CEO, Cattle Empire
 The entire Brown Family