Commitment to Animal Care

Commitment to Animal Care

Commitment to Animal Care

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

In Eltopia on May 19 and 21 D.V.M. and cattle handling expert Dr. Tom Noffsinger will be one of several instructors conducting low-stress cattle handling technique workshops for cattle stocker/feeders, and management practices for receiving, sorting, processing, loading, and transporting cattle. Dr. Noffsinger explains during workshops that low stress cattle handling is the foundation for good cattle health.

NOFFSINGER: Think about the word caregiver and think about the impact that you and I can have on not only the performance of the cattle, but the health and well being of both the cattle and the people. Most cattle hide illness. The way we handle cattle sometimes at an auction market or at a ranch or at a feed yard actually encourages cattle to hide their true state of health.

The best part of our jobs is that we're working with animal instincts. So we need to learn about instincts, and the number 1 instinct in cattle is that they are going to conceal weakness if they don't trust you; they're going to hide it from you.

The workshops are sponsored by the WSU Extension, the Grant County Cattlemen's Association, Washington Cattle Feeders Association, and the Washington Cattlemen's Association. Funding for the workshops is provided by WSU Western Center for Risk Management Education. For more information contact WSU Extension Regional Specialist Sarah Smith at 509-754-2011 ext. 4313.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.

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