The sponsor for the news center at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference is Merial. We really appreciate their support of the ag media who cover the conference. Here are some of the things you’ll find new from the company.

Merial is putting the spotlight on parasite control through a bold new program called “EPRINEX Kills It.” Because economic losses from parasite infections of cattle can be significant,1 effective parasite control is vital to the health of a herd and the profitability of an operation. In fact, of all the animal health practices used to increase production, treating beef cows for parasites gives the greatest economic return – up to $201 per head.

To set its parasite control messaging apart and emphasize product performance, Merial put a humorous twist on the features of its IVOMEC EPRINEX product.

Here’s one of the videos that Merial produced for the campaign.

Merial has also just introduced a new product – ZACTRAN®.

ZACTRAN® (gamithromycin), a new antimicrobial from Merial, provides producers with a rapid-response weapon in the battle against BRD.1 It can be used for control of BRD in high-risk cattle or as a first-pull treatment of sick cattle.

“BRD causes between $800 to $900 million annually in economic losses from death, reduced feed efficiency and treatment costs.3 Given the significant impact of BRD, producers need cattle to respond quickly to treatment,” says Bruce Nosky, DVM, Manager, Merial’s Large Animal Veterinary Services. “In field studies, cattle treated with ZACTRAN showed a rapid improvement in BRD clinical signs.1 More than three- quarters of the cattle with a fever had a significant decrease in temperature within 24 hours.4 And the majority of those cattle treated with ZACTRAN remained healthy throughout the 10-day study.”

2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

This is one of the most familiar sights for ag journalists to see at a Cattle Industry Convention. You can believe that the company representative that is probably interviewed the most is therefore with Merial.

In what seems to be becoming a tradition I interviewed Dr. Frank Hurtig during the convention to find out what’s new from Merial. He says that once again the company will be offering the Ivomec Challenge. He says that it’s coming on the heels of what many parasitologists are saying will be one of the worst springs and summers for parasites out on pastures due to 2009 weather patterns. To participate in the Ivomec Challenge a producer has to treat all their cows and calves with Ivomec this spring and then if those calves don’t weigh more this fall than last fall Merial will give them enough Ivomec product to treat their herd again this fall at no charge.

To hear other news from Merial just listen to my interview with Frank below:

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