2026 North Central Animal Health Update
On May 13 th Alex Sleep and Dr. Tom Bragg traveled to Jorgensen Land and Cattle in
Ideal, SD to give a talk on Mycoplasma Bovis to roughly 40 state animal health officials.
Alex kicked things off by sharing his experience with the disease and how it has
impacted Ted’s operations and him personally. He then asked these animal health
officials for any help that they could offer. The seed has been planted and now we must
wait for an opportunity to help it grow. He finished with a call to action for the State Vets
that are represented in our association to return to the Winter Conference in 2027. He
was successful in getting verbal commitments from Mendell Miller (SD), and Ethan
Andress (ND) as well as USDA official Megan Visger. Dr. Bragg followed up by speaking
about the current state of bison from an animal health perspective. We also mentioned
that the USDA is currently working on an initiative to expand therapeutic options for
minor species of food animals, which would include bison. Many of these animal health
officials had many questions and some great conversations were had over supper. Big
thank you to Dr. Bragg for speaking, Dr. Mendell for putting it all together and allowing
us the opportunity to speak and Jorgensen Land and Cattle for the hospitality!