Have You Herd? AABP PodCasts

Latest Episodes:

AABP Preconference Seminars with Dr. Sandra Godden Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP Vice-President Dr. Sandra Godden. Dr. Godden is responsible for coordinating the pre-conference seminars for the AABP conference. The seminars will be held Sunday October 3rd through Wednesday October 6th. We discuss the high level, targeted continuing education that is tailored to small groups of 30 or fewer people. Dr. Godden discusses that we have 13 seminars available and 9 of these are new or redesigned with 4 standards that are repeat seminars with prior success. Preconference seminars are approved for 8-hours of continuing education and will be for in-person attendees who are current members of AABP or AASRP. Several of the seminars are also available for AABP and AASRP student members for a $50 fee. Seminars will help you hone a skill or provide the resources for attendees to return home and offer a new service to their clients. Join us as we discuss the highlights of each of the seminars that will be offered this year in Salt Lake City. Attendees can register for the conference and arrive early to take a seminar or you have the ability to register for seminar-only registration! Find out information about each of the preconference seminars at this link. Register for the conference and view the schedule on the AABP website under the Conference menu or directly at this link.

A systems approach to managing neonatal calf scours Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

What is systems thinking? What is the impact of neonatal calf scours to the producer and the calves? Dr. Fred Gingrich, Executive Director of AABP, is joined by Dr. Dale Grotelueschen and Dr. Dave Smith to discuss prevention strategies for calf scours. The incidence rate of calf scours in the US is 5 – 11%, however this is variable between herd. Calf scours is not random and there are herd predictors that increase risk such as calving cows and heifers together, longer calving seasons, keeping all animals together in the same lot the entire calving season and failure of passive transfer. Calf scours is the leading cause of infectious death in calves less than 3 weeks of age and a major reason for use of antibiotics in cow-calf herds. Managing outbreaks can take an emotional toll on producers and veterinarians.

The veterinarian is often called in for assistance when the epidemic becomes unmanageable. The veterinarian is often asked “what is the cause” and we should ask ourselves if knowing the etiologic agent will alter your treatment or prevention recommendations. The Sandhills Calving System involves age segregation of calves by moving heavies (cows that have not calved) into new pastures to recreate the start of the calving season so we may have 8 one-week seasons versus 1 eight-week season to stop the pathogen buildup from shedding calves. This system can be implemented in all size herds in all regions. It is about age segregation, not square footage. Veterinarians are also critical to ensuring reproductive efficiency through pregnancy checks and breeding soundness exams of bulls to ensure a short calving season. Client communication and ensuring buy-in by the client is critical to the success of the program. The veterinarian is also critical in planning for record keeping to evaluate performance over the years.

Relevant publications:

Population Dynamics of Undifferentiated Neonatal Calf Diarrhea among Ranch Beef Calves

D. Smith, D.M. Grotelueschen, T.R. Knott, S.L. Clowser, G.R. Nason
Bovine Practitioner
No. 42 Vol. 1 pp. 1-9

Design of management and preventive strategies for neonatal calf diarrhea in beef systems

Dale M. Grotelueschen
Proceedings of the First AABP Recent Graduate Conference
2018 pp. 68-70

Animal Ag Alliance – Connect/Engage/Protect Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Fred Gingrich, Executive Director of AABP, is joined by Hannah Thompson-Weeman the Vice President of Strategic Engagement with the Animal Ag Alliance. Founded in 1987, the Animal Agriculture Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that brings together farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, animal feed companies, animal health companies, processors, allied associations and others involved in getting food from the farm to our forks! They safeguard the future of animal agriculture and its value to society by bridging the communication gap between the farm and food communities. The Animal Ag Alliance connects key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. They engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. In addition, they protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.

Hannah discusses some of the resources available on their website. Animal Ag Allies is an initiative that provides opportunities for networking, training, and continuous development of issue expertise and communication skills. The website also has an animal rights group web that demonstrates how these organizations are well-funded and interconnected to monitor activism. The alliance also has an interactive legislative map that identifies the key legislative activity in each state. Hannah also provides tips for veterinarians to assist their clients in preventing or addressing activist protests or trespassing on their farms. We discuss prevention of activist protests at the AABP conference, security measures we have instituted, and how attendees can do their part in preventing a protest as well as how to react if a protest occurs.

AABP is a member of the Animal Ag Alliance. Members can join the alliance or encourage their associations to join or make a donation by visiting this link.

Poultry Veterinary Medicine with Dr. Suzanne Dougherty from AAAP Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Fred Gingrich, AABP Executive Director, talks with Dr. Suzanne Dougherty a poultry veterinarian and Executive Vice President of the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP). AABP, AASV and AAAP often collaborate advocacy efforts as allied organizations of the AVMA. Suzanne shares information about the poultry industry which includes broilers, turkeys, egg layers, and other birds such as ducks, quail, and pheasants. She discusses improvements in animal welfare and antimicrobial stewardship efforts as well as challenges associated with “no antibiotics ever” programs. Just like the cattle industry, improvements in management, nutrition, genetics and preventive medicine programs have improved production efficiencies, sustainability and animal well-being. Suzanne explains some of the major disease challenges the poultry industry faces, such as respiratory and enteric disease, and the process for depopulation in the event of a disease outbreak or environmental disaster. The AVMA depopulation guidelines are utilized to assist veterinarians and producers during these unfortunate circumstances. We also discuss small backyard poultry, the disease risks such flocks can bring to commercial flocks due to differences in surveillance, and resources AAAP has for veterinarians working with small backyard flocks. She discusses the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) from the USDA that is utilized by the poultry industry. The NPIP is a voluntary State–Federal cooperative testing and certification program for poultry breeding flocks, baby chicks, poults, hatching eggs, hatcheries, and dealers. You can learn more about AAAP and join this association by visiting this link.

Veterinary practice valuation May 31, 2021

Show notes

In this episode of Have You Herd? Dr. Fred Gingrich, AABP Executive Director discussed veterinary practice valuation with David McCormick from Simmons and Associates. David has worked with AABP in the practice management workshops as well as presented in the Practice Management sessions at the AABP Annual Conference. We discuss that the three methods of valuing practices which are asset valuation, market valuation, and income valuation. Income valuation is the most used method to value veterinary practices and is based on a multiple of the profit of the practice. David states that it is the responsibility of the seller of the practice to provide a valuation and he suggests utilizing a third-party evaluator to establish that value. A good rule of thumb is to have veterinary practices valued every three years as a “financial health physical exam”. Once the value is established, practice owners can work with appraisers to identify areas to improve the value of the practice which will not only increase profits, but also increase the sale price of the practice when the owners are ready to sell. “Good will” is the intangible assets of the practice. David states that every practice has good will but not all good will has value because the overall value of the practice is based on the profit and how likely that profit will continue after the transition to a new owner. David also states that the number one disease in a veterinary practice is inventory management. Learning to manage your inventory will increase your profit. He also identified three pitfalls he has seen during practice transitions: lack of preparedness; unrealistic timeline expectations; and hiring family to advise during the transition. David will be offering a pre-conference seminar on practice valuation where owners and those seeking to own a practice can learn about practice valuation and improving practice profitability. Learn more about attending this seminar, which will be held at the AABP conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 6, 2022 at this link. Not an AABP member? You can join us today by going to this link so that you can attend our pre-conference seminars, get free unlimited on-demand access to our recorded conference sessions and webinars, and get discounted registration rates to our conferences!

Bovine Respiratory Disease during the mid-portion of the feeding period May 24, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Fred Gingrich, Executive Director of AABP, is joined by Dr. Miles Theurer, a veterinarian involved in clinical research with Veterinary Consulting and Research Services, and Dr. Myriah Johnson, Senior Director of Beef Sustainability Research at National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to discuss recent research on mid-day bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in feedlot cattle. The highest risk period for BRD is within the first 45 days of the feeding period, however mid-day BRD occurs between 45-120 days on feed. This syndrome has a more rapid progression and can affect cattle who are higher performing in terms of average daily gain, feed efficiency, and carcass grade versus high-risk calves who are more likely to develop BRD during the first 45 days on feed. This syndrome is seen across the industry and our guests discuss the need for further research on this topic to develop management strategies both in the feedlot and at the cow-calf ranch. The researchers looked at vaccination history of calves at the cow-calf ranch that were subsequently affected with mid-day BRD in the feedyard. Cattle that received three or more modified live vaccines had a greater first treatment for BRD (21.32%) versus cattle vaccinated one time (9.56%; p = 0.06). Although treatment success for mid-day BRD is similar to BRD treatment at earlier times in the feeding period, mid-day BRD has higher economic consequences due to the cattle being heavier and more input costs have been realized with this syndrome. We also discuss the importance of record keeping throughout the supply chain to provide the data needed to evaluate the impacts of management interventions at the cow-calf level on the health and performance of animals in the finishing period. Finally, we discuss the AABP peer-reviewed publication the Bovine Practitioner. Dr. Theurer encourages veterinarians in private practice to work with colleagues performing research, academics and industry veterinarians to develop a research trial and consider submitting to the Bovine Practitioner. You can find the journal open access at this link.

Links to the articles published as a result of this research:

Miles E. Theurer, Myriah D. Johnson, Trent Fox, Travis M. McCarty, Ryan M. McCollum, Tom M. Jones, Deke O. Alkire, Bovine respiratory disease during the mid-portion of the feeding period: Observations from vaccination history, viral and bacterial prevalence, and rate of gain in feedlot cattle, Applied Animal Science, Volume 37, Issue 1, 2021, Pages 59-67.

Miles E. Theurer, Myriah D. Johnson, Trent Fox, Travis M. McCarty, Ryan M. McCollum, Tom M. Jones, Deke O. Alkire, Bovine respiratory disease during the mid-portion of the feeding period: Observations of frequency, timing, and population from the field, Applied Animal Science, Volume 37, Issue 1, 2021,

Pages 52-58.

Improving practice profitability using managerial accounting May 17, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Fred Gingrich, AABP Executive Director, is joined by Dick Lewis, a businessman for over 40 years in large and small companies. Dick met AABP member and past president Dr. Roger Saltman on an airplane in 2013 and became involved with our organization, volunteering his time to teach practice management to veterinary practice owners to improve profitability. Veterinarians in rural communities will not be able to provide services to their clients if their practice is not profitable. Unfortunately, many practices only utilize tax-based accounting which is a prescribed treatment of numbers so that every business has some degree of standardization for taxes. Managerial accounting is a system of evaluating revenue and expense categories in a way the helps you dissect your business. Dick suggests setting up 6 to 8 revenue categories and 15 – 20 expense categories in an Excel spreadsheet to monitor trends over time. We discuss COGS (cost of goods) and how to evaluate it within different revenue categories to more accurately evaluate the profitability of each service. Services should continue to increase business profitability to ensure that each category is accretive, meaning the profit margin is not decreasing but is adding to the improving profitability of the practice. He suggests a revenue category of “call fees” or “farm trip fees” and assign a COGS to it to assist owners in designating appropriate fees to this service instead of operating call fees as a loss leader. Dick suggests that all partners sit down and agree to each category to implement managerial accounting principals in their practice and if one partner is managing this each month, assigning a value to that to reflect the partner’s work on managerial accounting versus service revenue. AABP continues to provide business management resources. You can find many resources on the Veterinary Practice Sustainability (VPS) committee resource page. Not a member of AABP? Become an AABP member at this link so that our organization can assist you in making sure your rural practice not only survives but thrives!

Managing buller steer syndrome in feedlot cattle May 10, 2021

Show notes

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP Past President Dr. Calvin Booker to discuss a syndrome sometimes exhibited in feedlot cattle known as “buller syndrome” or “buller steer syndrome.” Buller steer syndrome occurs when an animal is excessively ridden by its pen mates. This can negatively impact animal health and welfare by causing injuries to the animals affected such as musculoskeletal injuries, cellulitis and even death. It can also cause economic damage to not only the individual animal being ridden but also impacting growth performance and profitability in the other animals in the pen. The highest risk is the first 1-3 weeks after arrival to the feedlot as social hierarchy is being established. There is an increased risk with intact males on arrival which Dr. Booker explains is yet another reason for veterinarians to work with cow-calf clients to encourage early castration. Larger pen sizes, interruptions to the cattle due to processing, handling or the feeding schedule, weather, and implant schedules that overlap the effects of hormones can all increase the risk of this syndrome in a pen of cattle. Removing the affected animal and providing supportive care is the best management for the syndrome, while ensuring feedlots incorporate best practices for prevention when possible. We discuss the benefits of networking within AABP so that we can learn about the areas of the cattle in which we do not work with on a day-to-day basis.

Relevant publications:

1. Taylor LF, Booker CW, Jim GK, Guichon PT. Epidemiological investigation of the buller steer syndrome (riding behaviour) in a western Canadian feedlot. Aust Vet J. 1997 Jan;75(1):45-51. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1997.tb13830.x. PMID: 9034499.

2. Taylor LF, Booker CW, Jim GK, Guichon PT. Sickness, mortality and the buller steer syndrome in a western Canadian feedlot. Aust Vet J. 1997 Oct;75(10):732-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1997.tb12257.x. PMID: 9406632.

Veterinary Practice Ownership with Dr. Tera Barnhardt, Dr. Cassandra Gewiss and Dr. Lesley Moser May 03, 2021

Show notes

AVMA data shows that 41% of veterinary practice owners are female even though they comprise over 60% of the veterinary profession. This is an increase from 29% female practice ownership in 2007. In this episode, Dr. Fred Gingrich, AABP Executive Director, has a conversation with three female practice owners – Dr. Tera Barnhardt, Dr. Cassandra Gewiss and Dr. Lesley Moser. Each guest discusses the advantages, disadvantages, challenges and opportunities of practice owners and the paths they took to ownership. We also discuss managing work-life integration and how they manage work time versus family or free time. They also discuss how each of them have experience gender bias and how they addressed it when it occurred. Dr. Gewiss and Dr. Moser each participated in the AABP practice management workshops funded by grants from the USDA NIFA program and learned practice management to assist them as they transitioned to practice ownership. We also discuss the resources that AABP has available to assist practice owners at all stages of their career. AABP members can access our Veterinary Practice Sustainability committee resources at this link. Not an AABP member? Take advantage of the many resources our organization provides to dairy, cow-calf, feedlot, and mixed animal veterinarians by joining us or renewing your dues at this link.

Paying off your student debt Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Anne Budzinski, an AABP member practicing at CalfCare in North Manchester, IN, where she focuses on calf medicine and consulting. Dr. Budzinski is a 2015 graduate of Michigan State University. She shares her story of paying off $184,000 of student loan debt in 5 years and 4 months! We discuss her background of growing up on a farm in Michigan and selling potatoes as a child and baling hay to learn the value of hard work and managing her finances. She recommends only borrowing the amount of money you need for tuition and living expenses while in veterinary school versus taking the maximum amount of loans offered. Continually re-assess your needs each year to limit the amount of debt you incur in veterinary school. After veterinary school, she suggests not taking the grace period but starting payments immediately. Dr. Budzinski offered a few tips for those paying off student loans:

Pay off your smallest debts first and work up to the large ones. As the smaller debts are paid, roll the payments into the next largest debt and so forth. This helps the borrower with a sense of accomplishment as each debt is paid.
Have financial plan or budget. Stick to the budget. Know where your money is going each month.
Make a visual chart of your goal and cross off your accomplishments. She made a chart from 1 to 184 and crossed off the numbers as her debt decreased.
Don’t compare yourself to others. You know your situation and should develop your own plans and goals.

Dr. Budzinski also discusses managing work-life balance as a busy associate veterinarian, a wife and a mother of a young child. She states she is a “work in progress” which is true for all of us. She also shares her goals now that she is debt free which includes increasing her retirement savings contributions, starting a small herd of cows, and taking a trip to the “motherland” – Poland!

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Have You Herd? AABP PodCasts

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected