The present study assessed the economic loss due to treatment of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in Japanese Black calves that were introduced to a backgrounding operation from the age of 3 to 4 months until the age of 10 months. The data collected from a backgrounding operation in Miyazaki, Japan included the records of 2,690 animals entering the farm from 2013 to 2018. The treatment duration was defined as the number of days from the beginning to end of treatment. The cost of treatment was defined as the total cost of treatment during the treatment duration. The average incidence of BRD was 54.6%, and the relative frequency of calves that had BRD once, twice, and three or more times until they left the farm was 64.4%, 26.8%, and 8.8%, respectively (total recorded diagnoses of BRD: 2,494). Among the 2,494 recorded diagnoses, the average and median duration of treatment of BRD was 5.9 days and 3.0 days, respectively. The average and median cost of treatment was 7,767 and 5,600 Japanese yen, respectively. A prolonged duration of treatment and high cost of treatment were associated with BRD relapse, steers, and early stage of production (P<0.05). At the studied farm, the total cost of treatment during the 6-year study period was 19,658,988 yen, and the annual cost was approximately 3 million yen. In summary, the present study showed that BRD had a large economic impact in this backgrounding operation.
Keywords: Japanese Black cattle; backgrounding operation; bovine respiratory disease; economics; treatment duration.