This is a guest post written by Karin Schmid, Research and Production Manager with the Alberta Beef Producers.
A surprising proportion of producers believe they run a closed herd. The 2017 Western Canadian Cow-Calf Survey requested reasons why certain management practices were not employed on individual operations. Out of the approximately 25% of respondents who did not vaccinate their cows and heifers against reproductive diseases such as IBR and BVD, over half of those reported that their reason for forgoing those vaccinations was because they had a closed herd. Similarly, over 20% of respondents did not vaccinate their calves against respiratory disease (BRD), and 30% of those indicated having a closed herd was their main reason for not vaccinating.
This high rate of mistaken belief in having a closed herd is not just a Canadian phenomenon. A 2019 UK survey of almost 1000 producers indicated that over half of those who stated they ran a closed herd had purchased cattle within the past two years. According to the US Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) 2007-08 survey, over 88% of operations with 50 head or more brought new cattle onto their operations in the past three years. Continue reading