YouTube series shows veterinarians, livestock farmers at work

By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com

Veterinarians from Minnesota and Iowa volunteered to have a film crew follow them to livestock farms for a YouTube video series that premiered in September.

"Veterinarians on Call," sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, is online at www.YouTube.com/VeterinariansOnCall.

"A key part of Pfizer Animal Health is to help our customers raise healthy animals," said Clint Lewis, president of Pfizer's U.S. operations. "We want to help showcase to the public the valuable, critical work of veterinarians and farmers dedicated to responsible and safe care of livestock animals."

"We think there is a lot of misinformation about animal welfare in the livestock industry," said series producer John Courtmanche.

As of late January, 10 webisodes, each three to five minutes long, had been posted and at least four more are coming for season one.

They document the work of one of six veterinarians on dairy, beef or pork farms. The most popular video has been watched approximately 36,000 times in the month it's been posted.

Local veterinarians in the series are Angie Supple from Suidae Health and Production in Algona, Iowa; Paul Ruen of the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic in Fairmont, Minn., and Ross Kiehne of the Swine Vet Center in St. Peter, Minn. Other veterinarians are based in Texas and New York, including Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

In his webisode, swine veterinarian Ruen visits farmer Randy Schneider's farrowing facility to help deliver a piglet. He explains that farmers use farrowing stalls to protect the piglets and give better care for the sow by providing clean, comfortable zones for designated care.

"Anytime we have an opportunity as farmers or veterinarians or others who work closely with agriculture, it's helpful just to find a way to explain to the consuming public what we're doing and why. So many folks don't have the opportunities to get out on the farms," Ruen said. "...It's not always obvious to people why we do the things that we do."

Ruen spent about 10 hours with the video crew to tape his five-minute clip. It's been watched more than 12,000 times.

The series not only shows that veterinarians and farmers provide care to their livestock, but also that the care improves food safety, Ruen said. He thinks the public would be most surprised to learn that farmers and veterinarians have a back and forth dialogue that helps both groups continually learn how to provide the best care.

"Hopefully, as a team we're able to continually push in a better direction," he said.

Swine veterinarian Kiehne, who practices in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, visits his father's hog farm in his webisode and says that pork has never been as safe of a product as it is today.

Kiehne agreed to be in the video to share the message of pork producers. The level of professionalism and science in the swine industry may surprise the general public, he said.

"As a veterinarian I think one of the things I'm most proud of would be the way that we are watching out for animals," Kiehne says in the video. "We're the guardians of the welfare for the animals first and foremost."

He has received positive feedback from his pork industry clients for being in the video. So far, everyone who has talked to him about it are people already working in the agriculture industry.

"I hope it continues to keep reaching a wider audience," he said.

Season one was publicized with YouTube advertising and reaching out to media, but a bigger publicity push is planned for season two, which has been filmed and is expected to debut in late spring.

Season two will feature a mix of livestock veterinarians and those who work with dogs, cats and horses. Organizers are beginning to talk to television networks about carrying the series.

User feedback on the website so far is a mix of negative comments about livestock practices and positive remarks. Courtmanche says viewers have given more positive ratings than negative. A survey of a couple hundred viewers showed that 38 percent had a positive impression of animal treatment on farms before watching the videos while 79 percent had a positive impression after watching the videos.

"We've given the public access to modern livestock farming through the eyes of the veterinarians on the farms, and the videos are reassuring viewers that the animals are treated humanely," said Courtmanche.


http://www.agrinews.com/youtube/series/shows/veterinarians/livestock/farmers/at/work/story-4293.html