News Update
Sept. 22, 2010

National Angus Conference & Tour Airs on AgDay

The American Angus Association’s National Angus Conference & Tour last week was the largest ever conducted, with more than 630 registered attendees who traveled from across the nation to attend. AgDay was there to capture the cattle and camaraderie with a series of interviews that will begin airing tomorrow morning on RFD-TV.

Tune in Thursday morning at 8 a.m. (EST) as the AgDay crew airs segments from the event, which began with a full day of speakers discussing opportunities and challenges in the Angus and beef cattle industries. Tours included guest herds and stops at several Montana operations, including Hyline Angus, Bozeman; Armstrong Angus Ranch, Cardwell; Wheeler Mountain Ranch and Split Diamond Ranch, both of Whitehall; Van Dyke Angus Ranch, Manhattan; the Montana State University Animal Bioscience Lab, Bozeman; Leachman Angus Ranch, Toston; and Sitz Angus Ranch, Harrison.

RFD-TV is available on Dish Network, channel 231; on DirecTV, channel 345; and on more than 625 small, independent cable operators.

Visit the newsroom at www.nationalangusconference.com for additional coverage.

Trichomoniasis in Cattle

Just five years ago, trichomoniasis — a venereal disease of cattle — was virtually unknown in Missouri. Today, “trich” is a likely culprit in cattle herds with low pregnancy rates, said a University of Missouri (MU) Extension veterinarian.

Trich is caused by a protozoan parasite called Tritrichomonas foetus. Transmission of this organism during breeding can reduce the calf crop by as much as 50% due to early embryonic death or abortion, said Craig Payne, veterinarian with MU Extension Commercial Agriculture.

“This disease can have a devastating financial impact because of poor calf crops and expenses associated with cleaning up an infected herd,” he said. Payne talked to Missouri cattle producers about trich at the Sept. 16 beef field day at MU South Farm, Columbia.

Between March and August of this year, at least 18 Missouri counties were known to have cattle herds infected with trich. Most of those counties were in southwest Missouri, but no part of the state appears to be immune.

“The initial infection in the cow usually does not interfere with conception but rather results in death of the embryo or abortion at 50 to 70 days of gestation, on average,” Payne said. “As a result, cows and heifers typically return to estrus one to three months after breeding, but a period of infertility may last for two to six months as a result of the infection.”

Cows and some young bulls tend to clear themselves of the infection eventually, but bulls 3 years and older tend to become permanent carriers. A small percentage of cows, though still able to deliver normal calves, may become permanent carriers and spread the infection to other bulls in the following breeding season.

There’s no treatment for trich, and individual animals show little or no obvious clinical signs of infection, Payne said. “Symptoms of an infected herd appear as an excessive number of open cows — 40%-50% on average — and/or a calving interval prolonged over several months.”

Diagnosis is usually made by testing the bulls. If you suspect trich, have a veterinarian collect samples and make a diagnosis. Modern tests using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) are far more sensitive than the traditional method of culturing samples and looking for the trich organism under a microscope. “A bull can be declared trich-free with one negative PCR test, whereas the culture method requires three negative tests,” he said. Management of the disease involves culling infected bulls and open cows and replacing them with young, tested bulls and/or virgin heifers.

For more information, contact your veterinarian or an MU Extension livestock specialist. To find a livestock specialist near you, contact your local MU Extension office or see http://extension.missouri.edu/directory/Places.aspx.

— Release by MU Extension.

Regional Beef Cattle Workshop Set for Oct. 6 at San Angelo Producers Livestock Auction

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service will conduct a free regional beef cattle health and marketing workshop from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 6 at Producers Livestock Auction at 1131 N. Bell Street in San Angelo.

“This will be a very informative day for owners of small and large beef herds in the Concho Valley,” said Steve Sturtz, AgriLife Extension agent in Tom Green County. “There are a lot of decisions to be made regarding beef cattle herd management, health and marketing. We hope to equip our producers with the knowledge they need to address those concerns during this workshop.”

Topics and speakers will include:

• Trichomoniasis Infection in Cattle, Scott Porter, Boehringer Ingelheim representative from New Braunfels.
  
• Bovine Viral Diarrhea — Persistent Infection Basics, Neal Odom, IDEXX Laboratories representative from Wellington.
  
• Beef Herd Health Schedule and Vaccination Scheduling, Rick Machen, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Uvalde.
  
• Buyers’ Value of Health and Condition of Calves at Livestock Auctions, Bill Thompson, AgriLife Extension economist, San Angelo.
  
• Value of Your Cull Cows, John Cross with Lone Star Beef of San Angelo.
  
• Buyers’ Value of Beef Cattle Characteristics at Livestock Auctions, Thompson.

The workshop is being conducted by the AgriLife Extension offices in Tom Green, Runnels, Sterling, Coke, Concho, Irion and Schleicher counties.

A hamburger supper sponsored by IDEXX Laboratories and Boehringer Ingelheim will follow the program with donations benefiting the District 7 Texas County Agricultural Agents Association.

Those planning to attend should RSVP by Oct. 4 by contacting Sturtz at 325-659-6524 or s-sturtz@tamu.edu.

— Release by AgriLife Extension.

Extension Youth Programs Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium

The seventh annual Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium is scheduled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Animal Science Complex Nov. 20-22. The symposium is designed to introduce youth to career opportunities and current issues in the beef industry, as well as offer education and practice in the use of leadership skills.

Six participants in the symposium will be awarded a $500 College of Agriculture and Natural Resources scholarship.

More than 30 private and corporate businesses in Nebraska help support the symposium.

Room and all meals are provided.

Symposium Activities:

• Goal setting and leadership development
  
• Trip to the University Research Facility located at Mead, Neb.
  
• Taste panel and project with Chris Calkins and guest chef
  
• Hands-on presentations on innovative cattle production practices
  
• Career panel discussion and networking with beef industry leaders and NYBLS sponsors
  
• Develop a marketing plan for a beef product

To hold your spot in the Nebraska Beef Youth Leadership Symposium, complete the registration forms and send them, along with a check for the $30 registration fee, by Oct. 1, 2010. The late registration fee (due Oct. 19) is $50.
For more information, contact Dennis Brink, Department of Animal Science at 402-472-6446 or e-mail dbrink1@unl.edu; or Sara Ellicott, Extension educator, at 402-624-8007 or e-mail sellicott2@unl.edu.

— Release by UNL Extension.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.