What a great week I had at cattlecon21

Transforming the Animal Health Landscape Together?

If there is one thing that’s constant, it’s change. But with change comes opportunity. I had the opportunity to be part of NCBA’s #CattleCon industry convention and trade show in Nashville last week. The turnout and energy surrounding the beef industry’s first major in-person convention since the pandemic hit were fantastic. Resilience is the word I would use to describe what I witnessed.

The livestock industry as a whole– and the beef industry specifically – has been impacted by the ever-changing pandemic landscape with the value chain becoming increasingly more challenging to navigate.

As head of Livestock for Merck Animal Health, I received many questions during the week regarding how COVID-19 has impacted the cattle business as well as our own, and what lessons we learned as a result. The most important lesson is to never lose sight of who we serve, and that is our customer. I’m proud of our team for never veering from this fact and for constantly seeking new ways to serve our customers during this time.

I also received many questions on the increasing role that technology and data are now playing and how they could provide solutions to cattle health and performance.

At Merck Animal Health, we believe technology will truly transform the way the cattle industry better manages animal health and performance. During the show, we had the opportunity to officially welcome Allflex Livestock Intelligence to the Merck Animal Health brand. This created a tremendous amount of buzz from the trade media as well as our customers. By marrying biopharma with animal intelligence, we believe this will offer outstanding value to our customers by providing them with a complete portfolio of animal health solutions – equipping them with the data and insights they need to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

As a leader in animal health, it is our responsibility to provide these tools and solutions in a way that helps our customers reach their food production goals through healthier, better-performing animals and more targeted prevention and treatment, and at the same time, meet the growing demands for transparency to earn consumer trust.

We know these are difficult times for some. We want our customers, partners, and producers to know we have their backs and are committed to keeping the beef industry strong and resilient. I am excited to be part of this industry, and I was glad to have the opportunity to make connections with those who help advance it.