Voris
Benefits of a Secure Beef Supply (SBS) Plan, managing anaplasmosis in cowherds and locust tree/yucca shrub control were among the topics discussed at the final KLA/Kansas State University Ranch Management Field Day. Nearly 100 ranchers attended the August 22 event hosted by the Lyman Nuss family near Dorrance.
Kansas Department of Agriculture Animal Health Planner Emily Voris explained how producers implementing a SBS Plan on their operations can help sustain the economic viability of the industry during disease outbreak. A Secure Beef Supply Plan is a comprehensive set of biosecurity protocols that can be an efficient and effective response tool to minimize disease spread in the event of an outbreak, like foot-and-mouth. Plans are operation-specific and should encompass biosecurity measures for all inputs and outputs, she said, including employees, vehicles, feed, incoming/outgoing livestock and manure. For more information, visit www.securebeef.org.
K-State veterinarian Hans Coetzee helped ranchers learn how to identify anaplasmosis in cattle, a disease spread through injection needles, flies and ticks and is estimated to cost the industry $300 million annually. Clinical signs include yellow mucus membranes, fever, anorexia, constipation, anemia, abortion and ataxia. There are multiple control methods, he said, including vaccination use and medicated mineral, but advised ranchers to consult a veterinarian to determine the best management strategy for their operation.
Also during the field day, K-State Range Scientist Keith Harmoney explained how to reduce honey locust trees using an aminopyralid/2,4-D application. In addition, he advised to treat yucca shrubs with a triclopyr/diesel mix for individual control or metsulfuron methyl/2, 4-D for dense populations.
Old World bluestem management strategies and a CattleTrace update rounded out the sessions. More coverage of the CattleTrace pilot project will appear in the November/December Kansas Stockman magazine.
Bayer Animal Health and the Farm Credit Associations of Kansas sponsored the field day.