Dr. L D Barker Says Veterinary Feed Directive Should Have Positive Impact On Profitability

Jun 21, 2016

By Dr. L D Barker

Livestock producers who use medications in feed to prevent and treat certain disease conditions will soon be required to work with their veterinarian to create a protocol for those supplements. The USDA mandated veterinary feed directive (VFD) goes into effect January 1, 2017 and Newcastle veterinarian Dr. L D Barker says it will ultimately benefit a producer’s bottom line.

“I think this mandate kind of brings around a method that we can work together for their economic advantage as well, and our job is to enhance health and reduce costs,” he says. “That’s our whole goal as veterinarians is to reach out and do that.”

The first step, Barker says, is developing a relationship between the rancher and veterinarian.

“We need to know about their operation, whether it’s at the clinic or at their site or their facility,” he says. “We’ve got to know that and have the ability to go there and understand their whole program - their ins and outs of it - and what’s happening there to really help them.”

Barker says livestock nutritionists also play a vital role in herd health and profitability.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.