A discussion of the situation involving H5N1 (avian influenza/bird flu) and dairy cattle with UNL’s BeefWatch Podcast host Aaron Berger, beef Extension educator and Dr. Matt Hille, an assistant professor and diagnostic pathologist at the Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center based on the campus of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

As May is upon us, many will be turning cattle out to pasture shortly or have done so already.  Cool-season grasses across the state have started to grow. Current moisture conditions will be a strong driver of cool-season grass growth. The month of April began drier for much of the state outside the panhandle but has been wet—very wet in some cases—for most of the state in the last two weeks. As such, a majority of locations in Nebraska are above average on precipitation for the water year, with much of the panhandle, Sandhills, and northeast sections coming in well above average.