Merck Animal Health Urges Cattle Producers to Review Parasite Management Plans
Parasites remain a constant and costly threat for cattle producers, and Merck Animal Health is reminding producers to make sure their parasite management protocols are firmly in place. As herds move through the grazing season and producers begin thinking ahead to fall management, addressing internal parasites is critical for maintaining animal health, performance, and profitability.
We caught up with Deana Hardee, Technical Services Veterinarian with Merck Animal Health, to discuss why parasite control should remain a top priority for cow-calf operations. According to Hardee, intestinal parasites affect far more than just basic nutrition.
“So when we think about intestinal parasites, I think most of us intuitively know they probably cause some nutrition problems and that is certainly the case,” Hardee explained. “We are not getting the full potential of a calf from a production standpoint if they’re heavily parasitized.”
Research and field experience show that calves carrying heavy parasite loads often experience suppressed appetites. This means they are not fully utilizing available forage or grazing resources, which directly impacts weight gain and overall performance. However, Hardee notes that nutrition is only part of the story.
“But as a veterinarian, one of the things we don’t, I think, spend enough time talking about is what parasites do to the immune system,” she said.
Parasites can significantly interfere with immune function, which becomes especially concerning during key management events. In cow-calf operations, producers often vaccinate calves ahead of stressful periods such as weaning. When calves are heavily parasitized, vaccine response may be compromised.
“So if you’ve got a cow-calf operation and you’ve got calves out there that are heavily parasitized and we go to vaccinate them, trying to do the right thing ahead of maybe a stressful event like weaning, we may not get that response that we’re looking for because those calves are heavily parasitized and that competes with the immune system and that immune response,” Hardee said.
She emphasizes that parasites impact cattle in multiple ways. “So really parasites kind of are threefold, the nutrition, really getting that performance out of them, and then also from a health standpoint, it’s important to deworm.”
As producers move into the fall season, Hardee acknowledges that gathering cattle after a hard frost may not always be practical. Fortunately, alternative parasite control options are available.
“So as we think about going into the fall and after a hard frost, maybe it’s not a time that we’re getting up our cow herd. We do have options of feed-through products, whether that’s in cubes, minerals, etc., so it safeguards our product in that space.”
By maintaining a consistent parasite management strategy, cattle producers can better protect herd health, maximize performance, and support long-term productivity.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.