INVITED REVIEW: Economic consequences of beef cow-calf disease mismanagement: Bovine viral diarrhea virus

Abstract

Objective: This research focuses on the costs associated with adopting a herd health management protocol for eradicating bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDv) from US beef cattle herds. Materials and Methods: Production and market parameters from previous literature, USDA reports, and industry experts were used within a partial budget analysis. Results and Discussion: Potential losses of $54.25/bred cow were found for cow-calf herds that do not have BVDv present (96% of US herds) and a gain of $278.28/bred cow for herds with BVDv present (4% of US herds) when assessed over a 10-yr period, and yearly cash flows were discounted to present dollars. Implications and Applications: The outcomes from this analysis are useful for industry participants and policy makers as baseline incentive levels for cow-calf producers to adopt protocols to eliminate BVDv.