Keep Trouble Outside The Fence

By: Barb Anderson

When Kniebel Cattle Company joined a value-added marketing program, it took a fresh look at its herd health plan. The Kniebels were concerned something as common as trichomoniasis or bovine viral diarrhea might be a stumbling block from which it would be hard for their operation to recover. As a precaution, they added an extra layer of biosecurity.

“Herd health is especially important to our bottom line now,” said Mary Ann Kniebel, White City, Kansas. She’s plugged in to the issue of herd health as a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Beef Cattle Herd Security/BVD Working Group. The Kniebels also participate in U.S. Premium Beef’s Naturewell program, which requires they use no implants, hormones or antibiotics the last 120 days of production.

Kniebel Cattle Company is a 136-year-old family operation with a 125-head registered Red Angus herd and a 500-head commercial cow/calf herd. They feed 800 to 1,000 head annually in their feedlot and have always sold finished cattle. They are a founding member of U.S. Premium Beef.

For Mary Ann, asking about biosecurity is just putting a new label on an old way of raising cattle.