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2019 January Newsletter

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Catawba Valley Cattlemen’s Association
(meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month)
This month’s meeting is on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at the Newton Extension office building.

Meeting Agenda                                         BBQ Fundraiser Meal, February 22th .
6:00 p.m. – Supper is served.
6:45 p.m. – Business meeting – Andrew Rector, president   –  Discussion: BBQ Meal Organization.
7:00 p.m. – Educational Program – “Pinkeye – Basics and Control” Dr. Tom Van Dyke, DVM, Extension State Veterinarian ,
8:00 p.m. – Meeting adjourned         Please pay annual dues to Amanda Whitener.

Announcements

  • We need cakes baked for both the North Carolina Cattlemen’s Friday Night Banquet and the Youth Recognition Breakfast” Auction on Saturday morning Feb. 23th.
  • FRIDAY night, February 22, we will cook and serve (7 p.m.) a BBQ Meal. We need your help. Plan to attend and work at cooking, serving, or cleaning. The money raised last year was more than the fall BBQ. We need your help to make this job easy and we enjoy your company! Volunteer at the meeting for good planning. Call our president, Andrew Rector (828-291-1076); secretary, Jeff Carpenter (704-530-1867); livestock extension agent, Glenn Detweiler (405-219-1902) if you can’t attend the meeting and want to help out at the BBQ meal.
  • NC Cattlemen’s Conference Feb.22, 8:45 – Feb. 23, 12:00; Total pre-cost 85.00: Fri. AM Educational Package=25.00/with meal $60.00. Topics include: Genetic Tools to Improve Beef Cattle, Heifer Management, Functional Efficiency, & More.
  • SATURDAY Feb. 23; 9 a.m.-12noon. Bring the entire family (Youth) to the demonstration stations and trade show. Adults $10.00 & $5.00/Youth. Beef Skillathon Contest, Forage Quiz Bowl, Dairy Cow Milking Demo and more.
  • NC Agritunity Conference and Trade Show Saturday Feb 9,2019, 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Iredell Ag Extension Center, Topics include: Bees for Pollination(D,N,O,X)-9:00 10:00, Vaccine Protocol & Parasite Update(D,K,N,X) 10:30-11:30 a.m., From Production to Marketing (Cattle&Hogs)-Lee Menius (NCchoices) 1:30-2:30 p.m.
  • Poultry Litter Spreader Calibration Demo February 27 Richmond County.
    3 hours Animal Waste Credits. Call 252-448-9621
  • Novel Tall Fescue Workshop , March 12, 8:30-5 p.m. Info & tools to convert Ky31 Fescue to Novel fescue. $70/person or 100/couple.

Pinkeye Preventives and Treatments

Infectious Bovine Keratoconjuntivitis – (Pinkeye) in Beef Cattle commonly called pinkeye, is a contagious bacterial eye disease. This disease spreads rapidly and causes economic losses. A study estimated U.S. losses of $150 million from decreased weight gain, milk production, and treatment. Young stock are most susceptible to pinkeye. Many older animals may have a natural immunity to pinkeye because of previous exposure. Pinkeye is most frequently found in grazing and feedlot cattle. Summer herd outbreaks involving up to 80% of young cattle and lasting 3 to 4 weeks are common. The main cause of the infectious pinkeye syndrome is the bacterium Moraxella bovis.. High numbers of face flies (Musca autumnalis) are associated with higher rates of pinkeye. These flies cluster at the edge of the eyes to feed on tears and are very irritating to cattle’s eyes. Face flies also carry and transfer the bacteria M. bovis from infected to non-infected animals. The house fly (Musca domestica) and the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) also may spread pinkeye infections. (We now have a winter pinkeye (Moraxella bovoculi) which is not dependent on fly transmission which our speaker will discuss.) Other contributing factors causing pinkeye include eye irritants such as ultraviolet sunlight, mechanical irritation from seeds, tall pasture grasses, awns on small grain seed heads, and dust. Rough forages such as fescue, hybrid Sudan grass and other forage sorghums mechanically irritate the eyes. Weeds and brush produce air-borne irritants, pollen and chaff, as well as serve as mechanical irritants. The incidence of foreign body irritation is greatly increased when animals eat out the middle of round bales, leaving a hay shelf over their heads. The same situation occurs when hay is fed in overhead feeders. This is especially true with hay made from small grains. Cattle with pink eyelids are more susceptible to pinkeye than dark-faced breeds, possibly because more ultraviolet rays enter the eye. Some researchers recommend that only bulls with fully pigmented eyelids be used as herd sires since eyelid pigmentation is moderately heritable (26 -34 percent). The best protection against pinkeye is prevention. Vaccination against pinkeye is economically justified if the vaccine protects against multiple strains of pinkeye. We now have the ability to build farm and regional vaccines. We will learn about this and hear from a producer who did this last year.
Most strains of M. bovis appear to be sensitive to tetracyclines, penicillin, erythromycin and neomycin. The bacterium is usually resistant to cloxacillin (commonly found in dry cow mastitis ointments). Injection of a mixture of antibiotics such as penicillin, streptomycin or gentamycin, under the lining of the affected eyelids is recommended in herd outbreaks where repeated treatments are impractical. Often one injection is sufficient, but the treatment will need to be repeated in three or four days for severe or advanced cases of pinkeye. An intramuscular treatment is generally not recommended because very high dosages of an antibiotic are required to ensure adequate levels of the drug reach the eyes and tear glands. While many optical antibiotics are available for pinkeye, treatment is not always successful in saving vision. Success depends on finding and treating cases early in the course of the disease. Complete recovery may take 3 to 5 weeks. Since face flies and possibly other flies carry the bacteria that causes pinkeye from one animal to another and irritate the eye, fly control is extremely important once pinkeye has been diagnosed. Fly control should be an important part of a pinkeye prevention program. Identify the type of fly and treat accordingly. The normal recommended threshold for treatment is 200 flies per cow. Sprays, pour-on products, back-rubs, and fly tags are all good. You must however rotate the active ingredient chemical yearly to maintain fly control. Written by: Livestock Agents: Seth Nagy (Caldwell County) and Glenn Detweiler, (Catawba and Lincoln County)