LETTER TO THE EDITOR PREVENTIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE: THE STAR OF OUR PROFESSION IS RISING DEAR SIR: I hope the following information about our herd health programs within the Farm Diversi-
b) Quality good and verified by
test
c) All diets nutritionally adequate 4) Milking practices a) Regula milldng b ng practices good c) Adequate equipment d) Adequate sanitation e) Is mastitis a problem 5) Preventive measures a) Vaccination for Blackleg and M.E., IBR, P13, BVD b) Internal parasite control c) External parasite control d) Disinfection of navel of calves e) Colostrum 6) Health a) Clinical evidence of disease
fication Program (FDP) and outside of it, will be interesting and encouraging to some of my colleagues, as it is time to move into this field. Since May 1974 I have been uneasy about the financial progression of my practice. Being a predominantly dairy and mixed practice it was not immune to galloping inflation and the cancerous effects of dislocated prices of livestock products - for whatever reasons. While discussing some of the seasonal problems in the area of my practice, which were to be included in the section of agricultural news in our local paper, I casually voiced my heartaches to our local agricultural representative, whereupon he invited me to participate in the FDP. (I did not know before, that my Recommendations practice area "agriculturally" belonged to a Since the middle of January 1975, my asregional agricultural district, serviced by a sociate and I have started herd health programs director and under him, specialists in dairy, in all farms of the local FDP. Since that time, beef, swine, soil and nutrition, not forgetting six farms have been revisited. Recently, another the FDP specialist. The latter has a certain farm adviser asked for our participation in number of farm advisers who look after the cow-calf operations. I promised our active parfarms participating or which are financially ticipation, providing that the first positive step, assisted by the province and which number namely, a shute system is put up by the over 3,000 in Manitoba.) I was somewhat sur- farmers so that the herd can be easily handled. prised when, a few days later, I received a So far so good. I charged the Department list of names from two farm advisers and a of Agriculture $18 per hour, portal to portal, phone call from a third one inviting me to plus 17l2 cents per mile, and without a positive initiate herd health programs and follow-up sign of acute hardware disease, I received the with it. proper cheques for January and February. In starting this work it was helpful to evaluIn the last two years, once a month or so, ate the farms using a preprinted reference list our clinic has been participating in veterinary as follows: demonstrations, which were part of the short courses arranged by the Department of Agri1) Housing culture. We demonstrated how to cut horns, a) Adequate space is provided castrate properly, use the trochar when emerb) Air and environmental condition c) Feed handling adequate gency calls for it, trim hooves and talked about d) Good quality water available preventive measures. Usually a cow and bull e) Pens clean and dry calf were provided. In the beginning of March during such a 2) Husbandry meeting, the district nutritionist and local agria) Regular care and attention given b) Proper care at calving and of calves cultural representative were present and I c) Heifers separated and growth fed showed them the evaluation and work done d) Heifers grown up before breeding on these FDP farms, resulting from our first e) Breeding practices for maximum production visits, and pointing out their deficiencies. They f) Cow care as production unit shocked me with their comment, "so we will call in an agricultural engineer for that farm, 3) Nutrition a) Enough feed in and regularly fed a nutritionist for this one and a dairy specialist 177
CAN. VET. JOUR., vol. 16, no. 9, September, 1975
CANADIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL
for the other one, and we will report the very poor management to headquarters ...", then it dawned on me what an enormous hidden power a participating veterinarian has in this situation. But I first had to know the structure, be willing to participate and try to do a good job. The rest of it is appropriate remuneration and self-satisfaction. I was delighted to be a speaker in the dairy herd health program at a meeting on March 4, organized by the Manitoba Department of Agriculture, for the southeast dairy farmers. These were mostly well-established independent people, the cream of the dairy industry in my practice area and were not FDP farms. Over 70 were in attendance. This is what I said on that occasion, "a few decades ago, a veterinarian's college training concentrated mainly on diagnosing and treating sick animals. When I came to this district about 20 years ago, I was almost totally involved in fire engine practice, that is, I was responding to emergency calls. In the meantime I was trying to encourage a program of preventive medicine and gradually to increase pregnancy and sterility service where my ideas were accepted, appreciated and successful". The young veterinary graduates nowadays are trained with modem and broader concepts. Besides diagnosis and treatment their education stresses preventive medicine, laboratory procedures, nutrition, production, reproduction and farm economics, etc. It is somewhat of a misfortune that when a young graduate enters the practical field, that is to say, the real life, his modern training and knowledge is not utilized fully to the benefit of the modern dairy industry. I think there are two main reasons for this: 1) he is not a businessman or a salesman. It is, moreover, hard to "sell" a radically different service to what is the more conservative segment of our society and 20) he is not called by the dairy farmers because they are not acquainted with this type of service and its benefits. Incidentally, quoting Canadian and American statistics, the return on money spent on an annual basis on herd health programs is between 300-500%. Having said this much, I will outline the current herd health program offered by this
clinic:
Maintain individual herd health record on all animals in the herd. Check all bred animals for pregnancy. Check reproductive organs of recently calved animals for early detection of infection or abnormal condition. Routine calls for problem breeders will be carried out at no extra charge. Mastitis control: periodic C.M.T. samples and culturing of reactors, plus culture of milk from cows going dry and treatment during dry period. Our cost of laboratory services will be charged to the owner. Vaccination, calf dehoming, castration and removal of extra teats will be carried out as required. Postmortem examinations will be carried out at no extra charge. Nutrition of herd and prevention of metabolic diseases will be discussed periodically. Magnets will be put in mature animals to prevent hardware disease. Parasite control will be carried out as required. A charge for all vaccines, drugs, hormones, magnets, etc., will be made. The current fee is $10 per cow per year. The owner is billed in advance $5 per cow
semi-annually during the period the verbal agreement is in effect. All heifers bred during this period are checked for pregnancy at no charge to the owner. This fee does not cover emergency or extra calls, nor does it cover the cost of drugs or materials used. Responsibilities of Owner The owner is expected to record calving, heat and breeding dates, plus all disease incidents and home treatment used. The owner is expected to be present to assist with records and restraint of animals at each herd visit. The agreement may be terminated on 30 days notice by the owner or by the veterinarians of South-East Veterinary Clinic. I am convinced that in the not too distant future there will be provincial or national "VETICARE" not only in the dairy industry,
but also in the beef, pork and poultry industry. By this policy it will be assured that comprehensive veterinary services, in close cooperation with the agronomists, nutritionists, engineers and economists, will be extensively used, not only for the benefit of livestock producers, but also for our consuming society. Yours truly,
Responsibilities of Farm Service Veterinarians Regular herd examination at four to six week intervals, with special reference to general herd health, breeding efficiency and mastitis control.
278
STEVEN SONYA Box 667 Steinbach, Manitoba ROA 2AO
b) Quality good and verified by
test
c) All diets nutritionally adequate 4) Milking practices a) Regula milldng b ng practices good c) Adequate equipment d) Adequate sanitation e) Is mastitis a problem 5) Preventive measures a) Vaccination for Blackleg and M.E., IBR, P13, BVD b) Internal parasite control c) External parasite control d) Disinfection of navel of calves e) Colostrum 6) Health a) Clinical evidence of disease
fication Program (FDP) and outside of it, will be interesting and encouraging to some of my colleagues, as it is time to move into this field. Since May 1974 I have been uneasy about the financial progression of my practice. Being a predominantly dairy and mixed practice it was not immune to galloping inflation and the cancerous effects of dislocated prices of livestock products - for whatever reasons. While discussing some of the seasonal problems in the area of my practice, which were to be included in the section of agricultural news in our local paper, I casually voiced my heartaches to our local agricultural representative, whereupon he invited me to participate in the FDP. (I did not know before, that my Recommendations practice area "agriculturally" belonged to a Since the middle of January 1975, my asregional agricultural district, serviced by a sociate and I have started herd health programs director and under him, specialists in dairy, in all farms of the local FDP. Since that time, beef, swine, soil and nutrition, not forgetting six farms have been revisited. Recently, another the FDP specialist. The latter has a certain farm adviser asked for our participation in number of farm advisers who look after the cow-calf operations. I promised our active parfarms participating or which are financially ticipation, providing that the first positive step, assisted by the province and which number namely, a shute system is put up by the over 3,000 in Manitoba.) I was somewhat sur- farmers so that the herd can be easily handled. prised when, a few days later, I received a So far so good. I charged the Department list of names from two farm advisers and a of Agriculture $18 per hour, portal to portal, phone call from a third one inviting me to plus 17l2 cents per mile, and without a positive initiate herd health programs and follow-up sign of acute hardware disease, I received the with it. proper cheques for January and February. In starting this work it was helpful to evaluIn the last two years, once a month or so, ate the farms using a preprinted reference list our clinic has been participating in veterinary as follows: demonstrations, which were part of the short courses arranged by the Department of Agri1) Housing culture. We demonstrated how to cut horns, a) Adequate space is provided castrate properly, use the trochar when emerb) Air and environmental condition c) Feed handling adequate gency calls for it, trim hooves and talked about d) Good quality water available preventive measures. Usually a cow and bull e) Pens clean and dry calf were provided. In the beginning of March during such a 2) Husbandry meeting, the district nutritionist and local agria) Regular care and attention given b) Proper care at calving and of calves cultural representative were present and I c) Heifers separated and growth fed showed them the evaluation and work done d) Heifers grown up before breeding on these FDP farms, resulting from our first e) Breeding practices for maximum production visits, and pointing out their deficiencies. They f) Cow care as production unit shocked me with their comment, "so we will call in an agricultural engineer for that farm, 3) Nutrition a) Enough feed in and regularly fed a nutritionist for this one and a dairy specialist 177
CAN. VET. JOUR., vol. 16, no. 9, September, 1975
CANADIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL
for the other one, and we will report the very poor management to headquarters ...", then it dawned on me what an enormous hidden power a participating veterinarian has in this situation. But I first had to know the structure, be willing to participate and try to do a good job. The rest of it is appropriate remuneration and self-satisfaction. I was delighted to be a speaker in the dairy herd health program at a meeting on March 4, organized by the Manitoba Department of Agriculture, for the southeast dairy farmers. These were mostly well-established independent people, the cream of the dairy industry in my practice area and were not FDP farms. Over 70 were in attendance. This is what I said on that occasion, "a few decades ago, a veterinarian's college training concentrated mainly on diagnosing and treating sick animals. When I came to this district about 20 years ago, I was almost totally involved in fire engine practice, that is, I was responding to emergency calls. In the meantime I was trying to encourage a program of preventive medicine and gradually to increase pregnancy and sterility service where my ideas were accepted, appreciated and successful". The young veterinary graduates nowadays are trained with modem and broader concepts. Besides diagnosis and treatment their education stresses preventive medicine, laboratory procedures, nutrition, production, reproduction and farm economics, etc. It is somewhat of a misfortune that when a young graduate enters the practical field, that is to say, the real life, his modern training and knowledge is not utilized fully to the benefit of the modern dairy industry. I think there are two main reasons for this: 1) he is not a businessman or a salesman. It is, moreover, hard to "sell" a radically different service to what is the more conservative segment of our society and 20) he is not called by the dairy farmers because they are not acquainted with this type of service and its benefits. Incidentally, quoting Canadian and American statistics, the return on money spent on an annual basis on herd health programs is between 300-500%. Having said this much, I will outline the current herd health program offered by this
clinic:
Maintain individual herd health record on all animals in the herd. Check all bred animals for pregnancy. Check reproductive organs of recently calved animals for early detection of infection or abnormal condition. Routine calls for problem breeders will be carried out at no extra charge. Mastitis control: periodic C.M.T. samples and culturing of reactors, plus culture of milk from cows going dry and treatment during dry period. Our cost of laboratory services will be charged to the owner. Vaccination, calf dehoming, castration and removal of extra teats will be carried out as required. Postmortem examinations will be carried out at no extra charge. Nutrition of herd and prevention of metabolic diseases will be discussed periodically. Magnets will be put in mature animals to prevent hardware disease. Parasite control will be carried out as required. A charge for all vaccines, drugs, hormones, magnets, etc., will be made. The current fee is $10 per cow per year. The owner is billed in advance $5 per cow
semi-annually during the period the verbal agreement is in effect. All heifers bred during this period are checked for pregnancy at no charge to the owner. This fee does not cover emergency or extra calls, nor does it cover the cost of drugs or materials used. Responsibilities of Owner The owner is expected to record calving, heat and breeding dates, plus all disease incidents and home treatment used. The owner is expected to be present to assist with records and restraint of animals at each herd visit. The agreement may be terminated on 30 days notice by the owner or by the veterinarians of South-East Veterinary Clinic. I am convinced that in the not too distant future there will be provincial or national "VETICARE" not only in the dairy industry,
but also in the beef, pork and poultry industry. By this policy it will be assured that comprehensive veterinary services, in close cooperation with the agronomists, nutritionists, engineers and economists, will be extensively used, not only for the benefit of livestock producers, but also for our consuming society. Yours truly,
Responsibilities of Farm Service Veterinarians Regular herd examination at four to six week intervals, with special reference to general herd health, breeding efficiency and mastitis control.
278
STEVEN SONYA Box 667 Steinbach, Manitoba ROA 2AO
