Survey of cow-calf producer perspectives on management strategies and industry challenges. Part 1: handling practices, and health and industry challenges

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to benchmark cow-calf producer perspectives on management strategies and challenges, and to determine if demographic differences and Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certification status influenced the frequency of certain management strategies. A total of 1,414 responses from cow-calf producers in 44 states were collected through an online survey conducted in partnership with BEEF, a producer-focused magazine. Survey recipients were asked 30 questions to gather demographic information, respondents’ current handling and health management practices, and how they prioritized industry challenges. The frequency of management methods and decisions such as preconditioning and identification methods were impacted by respondent age, operation size, location, and BQA certification (Ps ≤ 0.009). BQA-certified respondents more frequently used electronic ear tags and freeze branding (Ps = 0.009). Overall, 74.5% of respondents were preconditioning their calves. Respondents who were BQA certified more frequently preconditioned their calves (449; 81.5%) compared with those who were not BQA certified (582; 70.4%) (P < 0.001). BQA training seems to be having a positive impact on production practices. Respondents identified cow-calf health as the biggest beef industry challenge and identified land availability or price as the biggest challenge to producers’ own operation. Respondents identified bovine respiratory disease, flies, pinkeye, and reproductive health as the most important animal health issues on producers’ operations. Health challenge responses varied significantly by producer age, beef cow inventory, and region of the United States (Ps < 0.001). Calf or neonate health was most commonly identified as the biggest challenge for respondents under the age of 30 years. Producers between the ages of 55 and 70 years most commonly responded that the Veterinary Feed Directive or regulations were more of a challenge than other age groups. Respondents clearly identified managing herd health as a challenge throughout the survey. Respondents with similar herd health challenges were identified based on demographic categorization, such as age of respondent and region.

Audience engagement when disseminating livestock information through infographics on social media

“…Beef cattle, equine, poultry, and swine Extension Facebook pages had similar follower demographics; most followers were female, middle-aged, and from the United States. Beef and dairy cattle followers in this study tended to be younger than average ages previously reported for U.S. beef (55 to 70 years) and dairy cattle producers (>50 years; Martin et al, 2018;Sitienei et al, 2020;USDA NASS, 2015Wagner et al, 2020). In contrast, age demographics observed for equine, poultry, and swine followers were consistent with past reports for U.S. equine caretakers (45 to 60 years) and poultry (35 to 64 years) and swine producers (averaged 37 to 51 years; American Horse Council, 2018; Simpson et al, 2020;Stowe, 2012;USDA NASS, 2014, 2020.…”

Longitudinal assessment of the bovine ocular bacterial community dynamics in calves

“…One of the most significant diseases in beef cattle is Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye [ 1 – 3 ]. IBK costs the US beef cattle industry more than 150 million US dollars annually and a recent survey ranked it as the third highest animal health challenge with 12.5% of producers indicating IBK was the most significant animal health challenge [ 4 ]. The clinical signs of IBK are variable with afflicted animals exhibiting corneal ulceration and edema [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Survey of cow-calf producer perspectives on management strategies and industry challenges. Part 2. Marketing and selection decisions1

“…Survey demographic information is found in detail in the paired paper, Martin et al (unpublished). Briefly, those who responded to the survey were most frequently aged 55 to 70, with beef cows in the Midwest region of the United States, with a beef cow inventory of 51 to 200 cows ( Martin et al, 2019 ).…”

“…As referenced in Part I of Martin et al (2019) , survey questions regarding current management and marketing practices on U.S. cow-calf operations were developed by Colorado State University in partnership with Penton Research (Penton, New York, NY). The survey was constructed for electronic dissemination using Qualtrics survey software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT).…”