Veterinary Agri-Health Services Ltd.

08/28/2024

Hey all you aspiring ‘Cow Vets’! It’s that time of year again… we are accepting applications for our 8th annual Advanced Beef Production Medicine Rotation taking place July 14-25, 2025! Head to our website (www.vahs.net/students) for details on how to apply for this once in a lifetime externship experience! Feel free to message Dr. Elizabeth R. Homerosky if you have any questions. Applications are due Oct. 15 for both US and Canadian students. Student membership in AABP, AVC, WCABP, CABV or equivalent organization is required.

08/26/2024

Vet Ag was represented well at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference last week in Saskatoon! Dr. Brittany is a Canadian Cattle Young Leaders semi-finalist and was participating in the final round of the selections process. Dr. Elizabeth was rounding out her 5th and final year as chair. Many thanks to all the partner organizations, sponsors, and committee members that helped make CBIC 2024 one for the books!

08/15/2024

August 14, 2024 marked a bittersweet day for the team at Vet Ag as we wished Field Services Assistant, David Peacock, farewell. The future doctor was recently admitted to veterinary school at the University of Calgary and will begin classes in a couple weeks. As much as we’ll miss David and his positive attitude, strong work ethic, and willingness to always help those around him, we are so proud of him for following his dream. We are thankful David allowed us to be part of his journey and are excited to see where his career takes him.

From the bottom of our hearts, congratulations David! You are going to make an amazing veterinarian!

07/27/2024

What an amazing 2 weeks it has been with some incredible folks! We rounded out the 10th and final day of our 7th annual Advanced Beef Production Medicine rotation with student presentations in morning and some fierce competition in the afternoon.

Congratulations to our winning Beef Cattle Jeopardy team, consisting of Vanessa from the University of Calgary, Jenny from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and Bailey from The Ohio State University. Another round of applause goes out to Bailey who was crowned Champion at our inaugural Cow Vet Olympics competition!

Many thanks to ALL the students… you were an absolute blast and are going to make phenomenal cow vets! We wish you all the best throughout the rest of your clinical year and look forward to seeing you again soon.

On behalf of all of us at Vet Ag, THANK YOU to all of our guest speakers, hosts, and sponsors! Without you this rotation would not be possible. It’s an honour to be able to provide this opportunity for the next generation of cow vets.

Thank you as well to the staff at VAHS who were working behind the scenes to ensure the rotation went off without a hitch:

- To Tricia, who organized the food (and the other members of the team who were still running calls!)
- Lauren, for being one of the primary points of contact for the students leading up to the rotation, and for ensuring veterinarians and students alike had the equipment they needed while on fieldtrips
- Sandy and Melissa who were busy as ever, managing pharmaceutical orders so client’s could still get what they needed in good time
- FSA’s Dawn, Nolan, and David, who shuttled students, kept trucks fueled, and ran last-minute errands, all while enduring the scorching heat and managing the necropsy load
- And Adele, for being back-up on phone duty

Happy trails!

07/26/2024

Day 9 kicked off with Dr. Cameron Olson and Dr. Lacey Tillotson from Elanco who taught our students all about medicated feed additives and followed up by an interactive session on writing feed prescriptions. We then visited Thorlakson Feedyards to check out their feed mill and UFA Micro Beef machine that is used to deliver precise dosages of vitamins, minerals, monensin, and other products!

In the afternoon we welcomed Ryan Copithorne, Dr. Adam Shreck, and Wayne Hanson who shared with us their expertise on feedlot management and marketing, feedlot cost of gain, carcass evaluation, and vertical integration. The day concluded with a session from Telus Ag’s Virgil Lowe, and our own Dr. Tommy Ware who discussed the future of technology in the beef industry!

Thank you to the team at Elanco, Thorlakson Feedyards, and our guest speakers for your contributions!

07/25/2024

Rumenostomies, enucleations, and claw amputations, oh my! Can you guess the primary topic of day 8?

Bovine surgery!

Dr. Mike started off the morning teaching our students about common feedlot diseases and surgeries used to cure some of these ailments. After lunch, we headed to a feedlot where our students could practice on cadavers and hone their surgical skills! Procedures included: rumenostomies to alleviate recurrent free gas bloat, claw amputations to treat arthritis, enucleations to cure eye cancer/trauma/infections, and perineal urethrostomies to remedy urolithiasis (aka “water belly”). Thank you Dr. Natasha Kutryk, as well as all the UCVM veterinarians for your guidance and one-on-one instruction. A big shout out to Merck Animal Health for keeping these budding surgeons clean and dry in their snazzy new Udder Techs!

Note: No animals were harmed during this wetlab. All surgeries were performed on cadavers that were humanely euthanized due to chronic illness or died of natural causes. We are grateful for the opportunity to use these cadavers for teaching purposes.

07/25/2024

Day 7 of our Advanced Beef Production Medicine rotation was all about animal care and feedlot management! With the help and guidance of the amazing crew at Namaka Farms, our students had the opportunity to work alongside seasoned pen checkers, feed truck drivers, and hospital crews in order to better understand day-to-day operations at a large commercial feedlot.

Animal care comes with great responsibility, and one of those responsibilities includes proper and humane management of sick and injured animals. Our students spent the afternoon performing necropsies on animals that were humanely euthanized due to chronic illness. Not only can necropsies give us valuable real-time information on an individual animal’s ailment, but it can indicate disease prevalence on site, and help influence health management decisions.

We are so appreciative of Namaka Farms and their amazing owners, managers, and staff, for giving our students this incredible opportunity to make them better veterinarians and feedlot consultants. Thank you also to the UCVM faculty for helping demonstrate how its done!

07/23/2024

Practical beef cattle nutrition was the focus on Day 6! With help from Dr. W. Mark Hilton from Midwest Beef Cattle Consultants and the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), the students learned about cow-calf and feedlot nutrition, how to collect feed samples and evaluate nutrient analyses, and balance rations for different groups of cattle using CowBytes software. Of course, we can’t forget to thank one of our favourite local restaurants, Tequila & Tacos, for the delicious lunch!

To wrap up the day, our colleague from Mosaic Veterinary Partners, Dr. Jonathon Leicht, enlightened the students with advice on picking your first practice as a new veterinarian. Thank you Dr. Leicht and Mosaic Veterinary Partners for the presentation and for the delicious steak dinner, courtesy of Alexander’s Steakhouse & Pizzeria!

07/22/2024

Day 5 was full of variety! To kick start the morning, we had the opportunity to tour AVL/Solvet Canada, a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. Here we learned about product research and development, licensing, and quality control.

Next, we travelled south to Chinook Ranch Ltd, which is home to McDonald's 1st flagship farmer, Stephen Hughes. Stephen and his family taught us all about management-intensive grazing, sustainable beef production, and conservation. Just like the native bison herds, cows at Chinook Ranch are conditioned to graze year-round. Groups are rotated regularly to maintain grass in a vegetative state and solar power is used to deliver clean water.

The day concluded with our second saloon-stop of the week – Twin Cities in Longview! – for a debrief on week 1.

Thank you to today’s hosts, Solvet, Chinook Ranch Ltd., and Twin Cities Saloon!



Check out McDonald’s flagship farmers at https://www.flagshipfarmers.com/en/profile/stephen-hughes/

07/19/2024

Another field trip for Day 4! We were delighted to participate in a site visit led by Scott and Glenn at Regehr Land & Cattle! Dr. Brittany and UCVM faculty, Dr. Karin Orsel, were excellent mentors to these budding cow vets and offered tools on how to make the most out of their time on the ranch, including what questions to ask to foster informative discussions with clients and develop comprehensive herd health management plans. The group also spent time conversing about the role a veterinarian plays in establishing biosecurity protocols, and what recommendations they can make to their clients to ensure disease surveillance and prevention plans are executed properly when integrating their herd into community pastures.

Of course, a trip to Linden wouldn’t be the same without a stop at our favourite coffee shop, High Seas Coffee Co.!

The day concluded with a stop in at Anchor JB Ranch, where Jim Bauer shared his expertise on different forages and grazing management!

Thank you to Regehr Land & Cattle, High Seas Coffee Co., and Anchor JB Ranch for your hospitality!

07/18/2024

Day 3 was all about the technical component of calf processing!

The day started out with Kristin Jarvis from Leader Products, who dove into the various tag customization features offered by the company.

The remainder of the morning was spent rounding out their protocol knowledgebase as they learned about all the components of feedlot processing, brought to us by Dr. Brian Warr, Dr. Bruce Kostelansky, and Chance Butterfield.

The afternoon was spent enjoying the sunshine and practicing their implanting technique, as demonstrated by VAHS RVT, Sandy!

***No cattle were harmed during the implant wetlab. VAHS is thankful to have access to cadaver ears from cattle presented for necropsy to use for teaching purposes

07/17/2024

Day 2 of our Advanced Beef Production Medicine rotation was all about cow-calf management! Dr’s Tommy and Elizabeth kicked off the day sharing their tried-and-true cow-vet tips and tricks! They also were introduced to the meat-and-potatoes of customized herd-health protocol development.

We were also fortunate to visit W.A. Ranches at the University of Calgary where we learned about the importance of strategic calving pasture management and how this can help mitigate scours and other neonatal diseases.

The day concluded with a stop at the local watering hole, the Water Valley Saloon, where we indulged in their famous wings!

Many thanks to Jim Harbidge from Boehringer Ingelheim for joining us for the day, the Ranch, Heidi Bennett and Dr. Karin Orsel for hosting us and sharing their insights, and the staff at the Water Valley Saloon for their great service!

07/16/2024

Guess what time it is!

It’s the VAHS Advanced Beef Production Medicine Rotation! For the 7th year in a row, we are honoured to invite 10 final year veterinary students from all over North America. This year, we are thrilled to be hosting students from schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ohio, and Georgia!

This year, Dr. Elizabeth kicked us off with a presentation on replacement heifer management, followed by Dr. Dave Lamb from CEVA who talked our students through reproductive management using timed artificial insemination protocols. The morning concluded with Dr. Carling’s first ever presentation here at Vet Ag, where she presented on sire selection using expected progeny differences (EPDs) and genomics.

The day concluded with a visit to Bar GB Land And Cattle - Gallelli Charolais, where the students got to apply their knowledge of EPDs and experience the bull selection process first-hand.

Thank you to Russell Gallelli and family for your hospitality, and to Dr. Dave Lamb, for spending the day with us and sharing your expertise!

06/20/2024

As veterinarians, we love rounding about cases! This past week, Dr. Tommy was honoured to share his experience working up an unusual BRD outbreak with other practitioners across Alberta. Thank you to Dr. Janzen and UCVM for hosting a great event!

06/19/2024

Congrats to our own, Dr. Brittany Sigfusson, and all the other CYL semi-finalists!

We are excited to share this year’s Canadian Cattle Young Leaders semi-finalists. These outstanding individuals will be competing for a spot in the upcoming program year at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in August. Click here to learn more: https://bit.ly/3zch547

05/15/2024

VAHS is teaming up with the Beef Cattle Research Council to bring you...

"Who Darted?" - A Seminar & Workshop on Remote Drug Delivery Best Practices

Learn how to identify and treat common diseases on pasture, and lots of tips and tricks when selecting, filling, loading, and safely firing darts. Lunch is provided!

Interested in attending? Shoot (no pun intended 😉) an email to [email protected] to reserve your spot! (You do not need to be a VAHS client to attend.)

Please note: Spots are limited, so it's first come, first served!
- Only 2 participants per operation are permitted.
- PARTICIPANTS MUST BE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER and be active cattle producers.

Payment of $25/attendee is due at the time of registration confirmation, payable by etransfer ONLY.

05/13/2024

On this Meet the Team Monday we have our newest addition, Dr. Carling Matejka!

As per protocol, we asked her...

1. What’s your favorite thing about your career?

"Choosing a favorite thing about my career is challenging because I love it so much about it. I especially enjoy collaborating with producers who are as enthusiastic about agriculture as I am."

2. Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car?

"Ride a horse." (Simple. Straight forward. Love it.)

3. What is a fun or interesting fact about your hometown/home state?

"I'm from Ponoka, Alberta, famous for both the Ponoka Stampede and the Centennial Center for Mental Health and Brain Injury."

4. What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?

"I prefer to blend socializing with physical activity. Whether it's skiing, golfing, or doing CrossFit, I thrive on being active and engaging with friends/family."

5. If you were an animal what kind would you be, and why?

"I’d be a cow. Cows are social creatures that enjoy their meals and exhibit a gentle nature—until they're crossed. Then, they show a fiery energy, much like myself."

05/06/2024

Next up for Meet the Team Monday! Frequently seen around the feedlot with a knife and ax in hand...but not in a scary way...Field Services Assistant, David Peacock!

1. What’s your favorite thing about your career?

"My favorite thing about my job is never knowing what I’m going to find during post mortems and getting hands on experience learning more about bovine anatomy. Also tons of driving so I can get caught up on all my podcasts."

2. Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car?

"Drive a car. Less likely to fall out of a car then off a horse or bike!"

3. What is a fun or interesting fact about your hometown/home state?

"An interesting fact about my hometown Peace River is it’s where Twelve Foot Davis set up a trading post after the Caribou Country Gold Rush and also where he was buried. He gained his nickname through striking gold during the Gold Rush on a twelve foot plot of land."

4. What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?

"My favourite thing to do outside of work is listen to music. I have a large collection of vinyl’s, cassettes, 8-tracks, and CD’s to keep myself busy with."

5.If you were an animal what kind would you be, and why?

"If I were an animal I would be a cat. They can disappear for several days and come waltzing back up like nothing happened. No one bats an eye."

04/29/2024

Have you been missing "Meet the Team Monday"!? Because we sure have AND we just so happen to have a whole group of employees who haven't been subjected to our line of questioning yet.

First up! Dr. Brittany Sigfusson...

1.What’s your favorite thing about your career?

"My favorite thing about my career is that I get to work with colleagues and producers who are as passionate about beef cattle as I am and are constantly striving to improve the industry. I also love that I get to be outside everyday."

2.Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car?

"If the world still moved slow enough, I would ride a horse absolutely everywhere. I am the happiest when I am on the back of my horse."

3. What is a fun or interesting fact about your hometown/home state?

"An interesting fact about my hometown Fort Vermilion, is that it is the oldest settlement in Alberta. My family has deep roots in the community and I come from a long line of Métis people."

4. What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?

"My favourite thing to do when I am not working is spend time with my family and my animals. I am currently trying to halter break my two highland heifers, so you can find me in their pen every weekend."

5. If you were an animal what kind would you be, and why?

"I would probably be a Panda because I am extremely clumsy, need a lot of sleep and usually have dark circles under my eyes from being a toddler mom."

04/27/2024

In great honour of…

04/19/2024

Student Feature!

For the past 2 weeks we've had the pleasure of hosting 4th year Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - University of Calgary - UCVM student, Emma!

Emma enjoys all aspects of bovine and small ruminant medicine and is excited to take on the challenges and opportunities that come with rural veterinary practice. When asked how she found her rotation here at VAHS, she said it "has provided her with many skills and knowledge she will continue to build on during her first year."

Congratulations and best of luck on your future endeavours, Emma!

04/10/2024

Another great Beef Cattle Research Council video featuring our own, dr.carling!

Happy calving!

03/08/2024

Happy to the wonderful women of Vet Ag!

03/06/2024

On March 5, 2024, Veterinary Agri-Health Services was honoured to host upwards of 130 clients and industry partners at our annual Cow-Calf Producer Meeting! The evening was filled with enticing discussion and thought-provoking take-home messages, presented by our 3 wonderful speakers:

Ryder Lee, Canadian Cattle Association – Ryder’s talk centred around what CCA is doing at an international level to advocate for Canadian producers, and touched on campaigns focused on shifting the way animal agriculture is perceived to the general public. (PS. Check out the “Reduce, Reuse, Ruminate” documentary, which highlights opportunities to utilize cattle production for their remarkable upcycling ability.)

Dr. Brittany Sigfusson, Veterinary Agri-Health Services – Dr. Brittany’s presentation prompted producers to consider re-evaluating the length of their standard breeding season and offered recommendations on how to “set your heifers up for success” by allowing nature to help determine who to retain in your herd to increase reproductive efficiency and longevity.

Tim Wray, Wray Ranch – Our Keynote speaker, 2023 winner of The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA), Tim Wray of Wray Ranch, empowered us to “Re-Member” the farm from the ground up by considering how producers can take advantage of the symbiotic relationship between cattle and land to regenerate their pastures and foster a year-round grazing system. Additionally, Tim challenged producers to consider their succession plans and how they can enable profitability for generations to come.

Special shout-outs to VAHS RVT, Lauren Stefaniuk for being our emcee for the evening, the Irricana Lions Club for catering, VAHS veterinarian's Dr. Tommy Ware for providing all the technical support and Dr. Brian Warr for leading the blessing, and to VAHS office manager, Tricia Wade, for coordinating the event from start to finish and overseeing all the details, big and small.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who was able to make the trip out. Events like these truly wouldn't be successful without you and it means so much to us to be able to come together and deliberate as a group.

Sincerely,

~ The VAHS Team

03/03/2024

Congrats to our friends at Rebel Livestock Ltd. on a fantastic sale! As always, great bulls and great hospitality!

02/17/2024

Be sure to tune in Tuesday night at 6pm MST/7pm CST to hear our own Dr. Brittany Sigfusson talk about diseases that negatively affect fertility and strategies to prevent losses!

Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives Inc. and Manitoba Beef Producers have partnered to bring producers an online meeting series on Factors Affecting Beef Cow Fertility.

Zoom link in comments for you to add the next sessions to your calendar, or you can use the email in the photo for more information.

Thanks to all who participated in the first presentation with Dr. Cheryl Waldner last week!

Here is the video link if you were not able to attend or if you would like to review the presentation again.
https://youtu.be/i4iwFHwykJw

Manitoba Beef Producers & MBFI will be hosting the second webinar in the series this coming Feb 20th Tuesday evening at 7pm with Dr. Brittany Sigfusson of Veterinary Agri-Health Services presenting.

Topic: Waking up on the wrong side of the calf bed: Common cow bugs that affect fertility
Time: Feb 20, 2024 07:00 PM Winnipeg

Meeting link in the comments below!

02/16/2024

Calling all beef producers… this is a great project to be a part of!

The Beef Cattle Research Council is committed to funding leading-edge research and extension

02/13/2024

Happy to our wonderful clients, colleagues, and friends!

01/20/2024

***UPDATE*** - All rabbits have been rehomed! Thank you all so much for resharing!

*SEEKING HOMES*

These 4 kiddos were found boxed up and abandoned at the side of the road just off the Dickson Stevenson the other day.

They are currently in the very caring and capable hands of Dr’s Tommy and Peyton Ware but they are in need of more permanent homes.

If you are interested in adopting one (FREE OF CHARGE) please email [email protected] .

01/17/2024

Catch our very own Dr. Elizabeth R. Homerosky alongside the legendary Stephen Hughes from Chinook Ranch Ltd TONIGHT at 7pm as they discuss "Raising Heifers for Reproductive Success", hosted by the Beef Cattle Research Council !

Key strategies to getting heifers started on the right hoof to ensure they remain productive as valuable mothers in the herd for years to come.