Agricultural News
Veterinarian Sam Barringer Explains Why Health and Vaccinations in Cattle Herds Aren't Synonymous
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 11:48:52 CST
Genetics, no matter how thought out; performance, no matter how strong, go to the wayside if an animal gets sick. Col. Sam Barringer says proactive health is like a rubber band: you stretch it to create resiliency.
“The most important thing to think about is, as we are in the cattle business, is this idea of building resilient cattle so that when we put them into management stretches, that they can bounce back rapidly,” said Col. Sam Barringer, a veterinarian and technical specialist for global nutrition and health company, Diamond V.”
To watch a short video-clip featuring Veterinarian and Air Force Colonel Sam Barringer of Diamond V, address health and vaccinations in cattle herds, and why the two are not synonymous, click or tap the PLAYBOX in the window below.
With new technologies available, health and vaccinations don’t mean the same thing, which can be confusing.
“Over the years, we’ve got this idea that if you vaccinate, that equates to health, and that is not the case,” Barringer said. “Health and vaccination are not synonymous. You vaccinate for those pathogens that you are likely to encounter, but they may not show up. And if organisms show up that were not vaccinated for, cattle are still gonna get sick.”
To create resiliency in a cattle herd, learn how to avoid added pressures.
“The most important thing you need to do is go back and look at your management ideas and say, ‘what am I doing as a human being that are adding additional stresses that force me to use products that take energy out of the system?’ And, as you evaluate your own management practices, you’ll find that you do a lot of things that add stressors,” he explained. “You can also add products that enhance the innate immune system.”
With the beef consumers looking for a high-quality product, cattlemen must set that standard for quality.
“It is very difficult to do what we do,” Barringer concluded, “but it is so important to do it with excellence.”
Things fall into place that way.
Source - Certified Angus Beef
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