# Economic outcomes associated with acute interstitial pneumonia in Central U.S. High Plains feedyards

## TL;DR

This study analyzes the economic impact of acute interstitial pneumonia in cattle in U.S. feedyards, finding that treated animals have significantly lower returns than healthy ones.

## Contribution

The study introduces a decision tree framework to evaluate economic outcomes of treating or culling cattle with acute interstitial pneumonia.

## Key findings

- Expected net returns for cattle treated once for AIP are -$639.71/animal, significantly lower than healthy cattle's $193.67/animal.
- Cattle recovering and finishing with their cohort show positive returns regardless of AIP treatment frequency.
- Economic outcomes vary by sex, placement weight, and number of AIP treatments.

## Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate net returns for Central U.S. high plains feedyard cattle identified with acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) ante-mortem and postmortem (n = 5,339) and to examine economic outcomes across sex, placement weight, and number of AIP treatments. A decision tree framework was implemented to estimate net returns of cattle identified with AIP, where decision nodes represented choices made by the producer, and branches represented potential outcomes following a decision. The initial decision node was whether to treat cattle for AIP after the first identification for illness or to sell (cull) soon after diagnosis at reduced weight and price compared to cattle in the cohort sold at finished weight. Following initial treatment, cattle that remained in the feedyard either finished (with or without further treatment), were culled, or died after additional diagnosis and treatment. Probabilities of incidents at each node were obtained from the data distribution. This research indicates that estimated net returns for feedyard cattle identified with AIP vary by sex, placement weight, and number of AIP treatments. The expected net return to feeding healthy cattle was $193.67/animal, while the expected net return for cattle that finished after AIP treatment was -$639.71/animal for cattle treated once for AIP, -$612.41/animal for those treated twice for AIP, and -$529.57/animal for those treated three or more times for AIP. However, other health indicators and risk factors not included in this analysis should be considered when deciding whether to keep or cull feedyard cattle identified with AIP.

Findings from analysis indicate that expected net returns from feedyard cattle identified with acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) are considerably lower than the expected net return for healthy cattle. However, estimated returns remain positive for cattle that recover and finish with their cohort, regardless of sex, placement weight, or number of AIP treatments.

Graphical Abstract