Evaluating biosecurity practices across beef cattle production types in Illinois, USA: Differences in disease...

Assessing beef cattle farmers' on-farm biosecurity practices and understanding differences across various production types is essential for implementing effective disease prevention and preparedness plans. A stratified random survey of beef cattle producers in Illinois was conducted between June and August 2022, with 537 producers responding to all or some of the survey questions. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was used to explore associations between biosecurity practices and production types, while multinomial logistic regression models quantified the likelihood of a farm being classified into one of the four production types (cow-calf, feedlot, backgrounder/stocker, and whole-cycle) based on the presence of specific biosecurity and health management practices. Significant differences in the adoption of both internal and external biosecurity measures and animal health management among different production types were identified. Feedlot operations were more likely to check their cattle for illness and record disease events. In contrast, cow-calf operations focused less on health management but were more likely to implement external biosecurity measures such as fencing to control wild animals and limiting access points to the farm. Backgrounder operations had strong internal biosecurity practices, including illness monitoring and antibiotic treatment, but were less likely to engage in external biosecurity measures. Whole-cycle operations were characterized by a combination of disease event recording and greater control over visitor access, but showed less emphasis on personal protective equipment and handwashing compared to cow-calf operations. These findings highlight the variation in biosecurity practices across different production systems and suggest that strategies should be adapted to the needs and disease risks of each production type to enhance disease prevention and preparedness. Future research should focus on evaluating the impact of specific biosecurity measures on disease incidence to understand which practices are most successful in reducing risk.