Dairy Producer's Banquet If you get this reminder before December 5, come to the Knights Hall in Maria Stein between 9 and 3 we have some great speakers and a full meal for you.

Dr. Hardesty Attends Merck meeting in Lansing Merck sponsored a meeting in Lansing that featured presentations on Calf Health and pain mgt., Parasitology, and Implant programs for growing cattle. We will pass that information along

H5N1 National Testing We will know more in about a week as Ohio State Veterinarian, Dennis Sommers is currently conducting meetings with veterinarians that influence the majority of the dairy cows in Ohio. We will also have the perspective of Dr. Barb Petersen presented at our Dairy Producers banquet. Dr. Petersen was in the middle of the initial outbreak in West Texas. She identified the causative organism as H5N1 and has maintained regular contact with the knowledge bank regarding bovine H5N1.

Veterinarians that have worked with H5N1 have regularly said we don't know enough about this disease. USDA's effort to learn more has involved mandatory testing for lactating cows moving across state lines not for slaughter. There is now a voluntary bulk tank testing program. At last discussion regarding the bulk tank testing, Dr Sommers said, the program is voluntary until you don't volunteer. We have not heard from Acting Indiana State Veterinarian, Kyle Shipman yet, but we assume Indiana's approach will mirror Ohio's If you didn't know former Indiana State Veterinarian, Brett Marsh has assumed the duties of Dean at the Purdue Veterinary College. We really enjoyed working with Dr. Marsh and assume he will bring his practical, steady hand to Purdue as Dean.

 

The USDA needs a critical mass of testing information to make decisions. Should more bio­ security measures be put in place? Should vaccination be facilitated? We are sure the answers to those questions vary, depending on when and where you are producing milk. Texas was the first and hardest hit, but is now free by all assessments. Are their bulk tanks positive due to residual antibodies or latent infections? Are residual antibodies protective? How long do they last? Are youngstock carriers? More information would be helpful. We are not sure if it would have prevent the rampant H5N1 in Colorado two months ago or California last month. We have now seen enough human cases to say this is not a good disease to have. Most of the human cases have been in people working closely with infected cows. Buying lactating cows is the highest risk, but shared service providers are also a concern.

The biggest advantage of bulk tank testing is to know the herd is going to break almost two weeks before it does. One advantage is to have a supply of electrolytes on hand to pump cows when they break. We stocked some in when the first herd broke, but we've had that experience where electrolytes were purchased from other sources and our pallet went out of condition. What about extra help to pump cows if it comes to that? What if you are drinking raw milk out of the tank? Sure, I did that the first 20 years of my life, but wouldn't advise it with H5N1 positive milk.

Testing requires a weekly bulk tank milk sample sent expense free to ODA. 3 negative bulk tank tests and one fresh cow and hospital sample qualifies as unaffected status, which is maintained with weekly bulk tank tests. There is financial support for unaffected and affected herds. Dr. Petersen states this is a dress rehearsal for any future Foreign Animal Disease.

Parasitology Internal and external parasites were the very beginning of veterinary medicine 150 years ago. Many of the early wormers were labor intensive or had toxicity potential. In 1984 there was a huge leap forward with both lvomectin and Fenbendazole coming to the market. Internal parasites were easily controlled with both and lvomec had/has significant external parasite control. Resistance was not expected. Forty years later we have resistance.  Some of this is the result of regular de-worming programs with the same products without testing to determine a need.

Pour on products have made this easy and they are really cheap compared to the name brand injectable products of 40 years ago. De-worming is the most profitable technique in cow/calf with a $200 return.  This is the sum of more rapid breed back, not having open cows, and increased calf weight.

 

So how do we evaluate your worming program? You can take industry knowledge or perform your own Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test. These test are free of charge through Merck. The reduction tests are based on two Modified Wisconsin Sugar Flotation Techniques performed on 20 samples from each production group prior to de-worming and 14 days post de-worming. This test is sensitive to 1 egg per 3 grams of feces. Less than 90% reduction in egg counts is a failure. We can also conduct observational flotations that give us some indication of the worm burden, but not the effectiveness of our de-worming program.
 

Industry observations are shared as follows: Pour Ons:

• Dectomax 71 / 64

• Cydectin 76 / 89

• Safe Guard 98 I 100

• Panacur 88 I 100

There is no resistance to the Benzendazoles. Safeguard, Panacur, and Synanthic and fall in this class.

Feed formulations of Safeguard effectiveness: Feed 100, mineral 96, Flaked meal 97, minipellets96, liquid 96, cubes 98, blocks 92%
 

Combination Products:
 

• Safeguard & Pour on 99199

• Safeguard and Injectable 99 I 100

• Safeguard 98 / 99

• Pour On 60 / 62

• Injectable 
  59170

So what do we do?
 

Worm in Fall around Killing Frost Use injectable Dectomax or Cydectin
 

Turn out around May 1. Don't de-worm there is not yet a need. 6-8 weeks after turn out de-worm with a feed through. Yearlings have less immunity, so worm them 4-5 weeks after turn out. If we have a wet summer, do observational fecals in August or September.

We will change what we stock and Cydectin will be the only Pour On and Dectomax injectable will be on our shelves.

Do the Hard things:

• Starting a business is hard, so most work jobs they hate.

• Saving money is hard, so most are broke.

• Taking responsibility is hard, so most play the victim.

• The hard path builds strength, the easy path keeps you weak.