With large-scale livestock operations now emerging in Morocco, the U.S. Grains Council recently brought 10 key opinion leaders from the dairy and beef industries, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Moroccan Feed Millers Association to the United States for a look at health issues in large herds.

Currently, Moroccan regulations on importing vaccines are a challenge, requiring livestock producers to file vaccine requests that may face months of delay before even a limited supply of vaccines reaches the farms. 

The Council, its members, and the team are working together on an array of issues, including registering vaccines so they can be imported more readily, broader improvements in herd health management, and vaccine protocols that can be rolled out not only for large Moroccan integrators but for smaller farms too.

“It was a great pleasure to host these key leaders and provide them with information about animal feeding, housing and well-care,� said Isabelle von Richthofen, who shared vaccination protocols and information on mastitis prevention and treatment with the delegates.

The schedule also exposed delegates to beef production, a dairy cooperative milking more than 6,000 head, management of a calf ranch with more than 50,000 head, and information on using feed grains and distillers dried grains with solubles.

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) briefed the group on sorghum use in feed rations and how it can serve their needs.

“We worked closely with the Council to achieve an excellent program,� said Florentino Lopez, USCP executive director. “It was wonderful how everyone – grains, cattle, the vaccine experts, and the Council – worked together in synergy to create a meaningful experience for this important group.

“It was very meaningful for our producers to have an opportunity to provide information for people who can be end-users of our grain,� he concluded, noting that in addition to feeding guides for sorghum, USCP shared information about how the sorghum checkoff works.