Georgia cattle producers learned about the coming implementation of a key portion of the Food and Drug Administration's Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD), strategies to mitigate falling cattle prices and how money from the Georgia beef assessment is being used during the 2016 Georgia Cattlemen's Association (GCA) Annual Convention and Beef Expo, held March 31-April 2 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter in Perry.
GCA officials estimated that 1,500 people attended at least one day of the event, including a record 107 vendors Beef Expo Vendors.
"It's just encouraging more than anything," said new GCA President Kyle Gillooly. "We came off an unusual high in the cattle business in the last two years with the tremendous markets and just record-setting numbers, and the last several months we've seen the change in the markets so to see the excitement level and still the interest from these members and prospective cattlemen and producers, it's a good thing."
The VFD goes into effect Jan. 1, 2017, placing restrictions on the use of drugs in livestock feed that are medically important to humans. According to an FDA fact sheet, using these drugs for production purposes will be illegal and authorization from a licensed veterinarian will be needed in order to use them for prevention, control or treatment of specific diseases.
"It's something they've got time to work on," said outgoing GCA President Randy Fordham. "It didn't just happen yesterday. It's something that's been in the works for three years."
Gillooly said a significant challenge presented by the VFD is ensuring enough large animal veterinarians are available to allow producers to be in compliance.
"The producers know they have to have a relationship with their veterinarian before this takes place," Gillooly said. "The concern is there's going to be a lot of large animal veterinarians bombarded here in the next several months."
The convention featured presentations from Zoetis Livestock Production Specialist Jennie Schutte, Kevin Good from Cattle Fax and National Cattlemen's Beef Association Vice President for Government Affairs Colin Woodall, as well as a roundtable discussion on Georgia's beef checkoff.
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