While some producers are dealing with heat, others are contending with the aftermath of a rainy start to the summer, which brings its own set of challenges.
An Iowa State Extension Specialist highlights concerns for cattle producers amidst a rainy start to the summer following several dry years.
He says it is time to start monitoring and preventing foot rot, a prolonged risk factor exacerbated by conditions such as deep mud and standing water.
According to Chris Clark, “That bacteria is just pretty ubiquitous in the environment, and it won’t enter intact skin very well, but when the skin gets thin and wet— and then the other thing is when we have drying, that makes the ground kind of rough and you get some lesions as they kind of step in on that rough ground.”
He says that pen maintenance is a key factor in keeping your animals safe. You should keep it level, ensure good footing, and scrape pens and aprons.
“For cow-calf producers, they may want to get cattle up out of the lowland pastures, up out of the bottom ground until it dries out a bit. We may want to take a look at high-traffic areas, you know whether they be around mineral feeders or around waterers, if we have any cattle paths. Anything that might be just kind of chronically muddy and wet, we want to try to alleviate that as much as we can. Minimize the traffic on it. You know, sometimes betting can help,” he adds.
Something else to note is during hot conditions to make sure to keep cattle fenced out of ponds, instead providing them shade and fresh water.
