On October 10th last, HIPRA organised a HIPRA UNIVERSITY course which brought together Portuguese veterinarians specialising in beef cattle.

The day started with a visit to a beef cattle farm where the veterinarians received information on its production system.

The veterinarians discussed nutrition and management with the owner of the farm, focussing on which vaccination protocols were used on the farm to optimise the reproduction ratios and which beef breeds had a better performance in order to obtain a premium final product.

After the farm visit, HIPRA Product manager Juan Pedro Campillo delivered a technical session entitled “Immunology concepts and implementation of good vaccination protocols for beef cattle”.

The first half of the session covered the different parts of the immune system and how it works after an infection, as well as vaccination, types of vaccines and an explanation of the cases in which vaccination can fail.  The second part focused on what a good vaccination programme should be like, which diseases cows should be protected against and how to implement a vaccination programme under field conditions.

At the end of the day, the veterinarians concluded that the vaccination plan for reproductive cows has to be created based on the epidemiological status of the herd. It must also be an effective and easy vaccination programme, as well as covering a broad spectrum (IBR, BVD, PI3, BRSV).

The HIPRA UNIVERSITY session finished with a meal at the Coromina farm, where guests enjoyed a selection of Catalan products.