Our Take on Vaccines in Our Program

We want to show both how much we care about this issue, but also keep true to our values of engagement and transparency.

April 12, 2023

The health and welfare of cattle is incredibly important, which is why it's essential to utilize safe tools in the prevention of diseases that can harm our bovine friends. Currently there are two major types of vaccines used for this purpose: modified-live (MLV) or killed/inactivated varieties; both have been proven effective when it comes to preventing ailments in cows. Ultimately though, choosing between them depends on factors such as age, pregnancy status and overall wellbeing - proving that every cow deserves an individual approach so they may stay happily grazing their days away! 

Our Certified Piedmontese has always been proud to carry a Verified Natural Claim, backed and audited by Where Food Comes From, Inc.  The VNB program incorporates three prohibited aspects of production – hormone growth promotants, antibiotics, and animal by-products.  If an animal is needed to be treated with Antibiotics, they are given the course of antibiotics by a Vet and simply sold away from our program.  Thankfully, our sustainable ranching standards and level of care for our animals allows our animals to live very, very healthy lives. Very few animals in our program fall ill and need treated in the first place.  It is a pillar priority for our cattle program.

Today, the social and real world is abuzz about mRNA Technology and its promise to rapidly respond to emerging viral threats. By instructing our cells with a special type of genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA), these vaccines may help mobilize an immune response against potential onslaughts. 

This is not necessarily new technology either as it has been studied for a few decades now, more recently with animals, with specific antigens. After the introduction of COVID in today's world, the government has taken a stronger interest in this technology and has created some concerns over it's use in the cattle industry.  However, it is important to know and understand that mRNA Technology is not commercially approved in our industry and we are not using it in our cattle program.

All Ranchers are focused on the wellbeing of their animals and those who consume the beef they provide.  All Livestock vaccines have a withdrawal time from when the product is given to the animal and when it can be safely harvested for food.  So while even our program offers beef completely free from Antibiotic-use, other programs who do not carry that claim are still providing safe and nutritious beef for you to eat.