Using a Systems Thinking Approach for Beef Cattle Management

Learn how to improve client value by taking a systems thinking approach to managing beef and beef x dairy stocker and feeder calves. Get tips for establishing expectations and monitoring outcomes, and review vaccine, antimicrobial and growth implant protocols. New developing Food and Drug Administration guidelines for growth implant use will be covered.

Speaker

Michael Nichols, DVM
Dr. Nichols is a systems-focused beef private practitioner from Grapevine, Texas. He works with cow-calf producers, starter and grow yard managers, stocker operators and feedyards, with most of his time spent with businesses that wean and start calves, particularly calves at high risk of bovine respiratory disease.

Dr. Nichols is a 1986 graduate of the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation, he practiced in Oklahoma for over 20 years, first in mixed animal practice and then concentrated on bovine production medicine with cow-calf ranchers and stocker cattle producers. He left private practice in 2006 to work in industry as a technical services veterinarian. In January 2022, he returned to private practice.