Herd Health Monitoring and Records Analysis

Food animal veterinarians who wish to do more than just react to their clients' problems need to become involved in the management of the farm. To do so, they must become information managers. They must be able to extract information from farm record systems. They must also become computer literate and be comfortable with data and numbers. While there will always be a need to look at the individual animal, more and more herd problems will be investigated by examining record systems, not just animals. To do so efficiently, veterinarians must be adept at data management. In addition to information about the specific farm, veterinarians must also understand the general conditions facing agricultural industries in the area.