July 8, 2025 • 28 mins
Dive into the world of veterinary medicine and food safety with Dr. Samantha Holeck, New Mexico's State Veterinarian, as she shares her remarkable journey from growing up on a small Carlsbad cattle ranch to safeguarding the health of livestock across the entire state.
Dr. Holeck pulls back the curtain on the critical yet often unseen work of protecting our food supply, revealing how her 15 years as a mobile livestock veterinarian prepared her for monitoring and managing animal health on a statewide scale. With candor and expertise, she addresses the most pressing challenges facing New Mexico's livestock industries today, including the looming threat of New World screwworm – a devastating parasitic fly that can kill animals within days if untreated.
The conversation takes us through the fascinating science behind screwworm eradication efforts, including the release of millions of sterile flies weekly in Mexico and the rigorous border inspection protocols designed to prevent its reintroduction to the United States. Dr. Holeck also discusses other significant health concerns, from tuberculosis to avian influenza, and shares how the state's Ag Livestock Incident Response Team (ALIRT) stands ready to identify and address foreign animal disease outbreaks.
Beyond disease management, Dr. Holeck highlights recent legislative successes in addressing rural veterinarian shortages and explains how her role extends to modernizing decades-old regulations to meet current agricultural needs. Her passion for supporting the hardworking producers who feed the world shines through, especially when she confesses her love for that quintessential New Mexican favorite – the green chile cheeseburger.
Whether you're involved in agriculture or simply curious about where your food comes from, this episode offers valuable insights into the dedicated professionals working behind the scenes to ensure a safe, sustainable food supply for generations to come. Listen now to gain a deeper appreciation for the complex systems that bring beef from pasture to plate.
Dion's is has a new menu item! Try their Green Chile Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza today.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the
Burger.
I am Carol Ann Romo, theExecutive Director of the New
Mexico Beef Council, and we'rehere in Ria Doso for the Dairy
Producers of New Mexico AnnualMeeting, and I'm here with Dr
Sammy Hullock.
She is our New Mexico StateVeterinarian.
Thank you so much for joiningme for a podcast.
(00:25):
I guess, first off, will youjust introduce yourself and tell
us about your background.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Sure, yeah, so I'm Sammy Hollick.
I am a native New Mexican.
I was born and raised inCarlsbad, grew up on a small
cattle ranch there, and we alsoraised sheep and a few other
animals for 4-H.
I was an active participant in4-H.
My folks were in the FarmBureau for as long as I can
(00:51):
remember, my dad also worked atthe post office as a letter
carrier to support his cattlehabit.
Because you know as many haveto, I kind of have that
full-time job.
But yeah, so I grew up inCarlsbad and then I went to
school at Colorado StateUniversity, got my bachelor's
degree in wildlife biology andstayed there to go to veterinary
(01:14):
school and I did some graduatework as well, but I mostly
focused on livestock medicinewhen I was in vet school.
And I came back to Carlsbad in2006, and I opened my own mobile
vet practice and I did that forabout 15 years and then I
(01:36):
shifted a little bit more intoshelter medicine.
I was trying to slow down alittle bit as far as being on
call 24-7.
So that last year and a half Iwas mostly at the shelter but I
was still picking up a littlecattle work and other stuff on
the side.
And then, about a year and ahalf ago, I applied for the
(01:56):
position of state veterinarian,a job I thought I would never
ever apply for.
At the behest of the previousstate veterinarian, dr Zimmerman
, he called me and encouraged meto throw my hat in the ring,
and so you know, I have alsobeen a part of the Ag Livestock
(02:20):
Incident Response Team in NewMexico since it began almost 20
years ago now, and a lot of thework that I did, a lot of the
training I had with that program, I think, prepared me pretty
well for what I do now.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Oh, absolutely that makes a lot of sense and I think
, as far as everyone talks aboutin the New Mexico beef industry
and agriculture industries,we're really glad that a year
and a half ago somebodyconvinced you, because I know
you've done some great work forus already.
So well, tell me.
So you kind of already talkedabout your career and kind of
what led you to this role, but Idon't know that everybody knows
(02:54):
that we have a state veterinary, necessarily, and obviously
it's a full-time job managingall the things that you do and
paying attention to that.
So we'll kind of talk about.
I want to ask you about yourlove for agriculture, or you
know what makes you kind ofchoose that agriculture route.
Right, you could be.
There's a lot of animals outthere.
(03:15):
Why was a lot of your time inbeef and yeah, well, I mean,
that's how I grew up.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You know we raised beef that.
You know we ate some of our ownbeef that we produced.
I think being in 4 as aveterinarian and I began to see
(03:47):
other sides of agriculture thatI didn't get exposed to as a kid
.
You know, I didn't really havea lot of exposure to the dairy
industry or to larger sheepoperations or you know, even the
larger cattle operations.
I mean ours was very smallscale and so understanding what
(04:07):
happens after we take calves tothe sale, where do they go and
why is it important to vaccinateyour animals and do you know
properly manage them and youknow what does that product look
like on the other end, and sogetting a bigger, better idea,
start to finish what that lookslike and then dealing with other
types of industries too.
(04:28):
I mean I had no exposure topoultry when I was growing up
other than what we raised athome, and so large-scale poultry
operations and all thedifferent types of poultry
operations, swine, you know, youname it.
There were a lot of things thatI've learned just in the last
year and a half too, so it'sbeen really an interesting
(04:49):
adventure so far.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, quite the adventure.
I know I grew up in 4-H too,and I feel like it's such a
great starting point and such agreat inspiration to want for
more.
Right, I had no idea aboutcommercial agriculture, but I
understood.
You know where our food camefrom in some ways, and the more
(05:12):
I learn, the more I love, I feellike.
Well, so what do you think isthe most rewarding part being in
the agriculture industry?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Oh, you know, I think , reinforcing the security of
our food supply really, you know, you hear so much bad media,
bad press about agriculture andthe misconceptions that are out
there.
But going firsthand into afacility that is, you know,
(05:41):
raising animals that are going,that are destined for food
production, and then actuallygoing into those, you know, like
a slaughter plant, you watchthat whole process and how
meticulous it is and how carefulthey are about the product and
all the different things thatare in place to ensure that it's
a good, safe product that comesout.
The other side, Milk productiontoo, I mean, that was something
(06:03):
when I was in school.
You know we did a lot of dairywork at Colorado State and you
know, start to finish seeingwhat that production looks like
and how careful we are with milksupply, and I think all of
those things are reallyimportant.
And to me I feel like my role,going from private practitioner
to state veterinarian.
(06:24):
I'm helping different parts ofthe industry with that but
bringing all of that experiencealong the way so that as state
veterinarian, hopefully, I'mdoing an adequate job of
supporting our industry andkeeping that momentum going
forward and helping theveterinarian with the private
practice understand what'scoming or how you can help them,
(06:47):
because you have that personalexperience.
Yeah, being able to answer theirquestions because I was in
their shoes makes a bigdifference.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
So let's talk about kind of NewMexico and the landscape.
How does New Mexico's landscapeand climate, you know, shape
what you do and maybe shapedisease management and all of
that?
Because we think we're unique,right?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Oh, we are, we are.
We have got such a wide varietyacross the state too.
You know, you look at eachcorner of our state is a little
bit different the geography, theway that livestock are managed,
and even just you know, if youtake beef cattle, for example,
and grazing leases versusprivate land versus, you know,
(07:33):
you've got community allotmentsand all the different factors
that go into that.
It really we do have a lot ofvariety around the state, and so
it creates some challenges, butit also creates good
opportunities for our producers.
And when it comes to managingdiseases, sometimes it's almost
(07:54):
easier if we have things thatare more isolated or separated,
but then we've got some veryag-dense areas that can make it
challenging, so, especially whenwe get a disease that crosses
species, and so now we've gotmore than just one industry
affected.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I think it's surprising how different New
Mexico is and how it can caterto certain agriculture
industries in different areas.
So what so?
Um?
What is something you're proudof that you've accomplished
recently?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Oh uh or maybe you're still working on it.
Um gosh, uh, I feel like I'mstill digging out.
Well, one thing, yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You're still.
Yeah, but one thing I wasthinking uh, not to speak for
you that I think is really neatis in the last legislative
session with the veterinarianstudent loans.
That was a really great thing.
Livestock Board helped passright.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, yeah, we supported that actively and that
was carried pretty heavily, ofcourse, by our higher education
department and our cattlegrowers, cattle growers and, of
course, our New Mexico Extensionveterinarian.
We wouldn't be able to dowithout Dr Wenzel, but I was
happy to be there and supportthat and to be part of the
(09:17):
process as we develop thatcommittee and begin to review
applications and helpveterinarians.
And I think the timing of thatbill being passed was perfect
because we are still waiting onthe federal program, which that
federal program has been inplace for almost 20 years but,
(09:41):
like a lot of other federalfunding, it's kind of been on
hold this year and so it wasvery timely that New Mexico
stepped up and offered thatsupport, because then we can
continue to help thoseveterinarians.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, and because we we're underserved as far as
veterinarians go in our state,right.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, well, all states pretty much are
underserved.
Yeah, we need moreveterinarians, those rural
communities especially.
Yeah, it's hard to incentivizethem.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
When we get more veterinarians, those rural
communities especially.
Yeah, it's hard to incentivizethem.
Yeah, when what is one of thebiggest challenges or maybe
there's a couple challenges thatNew Mexico is facing with
animal health?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Well, you know, the one I think that's on
everybody's mind, of course isscrewworm.
It's not here yet, but we'repreparing for that because our
industry has been through thatbefore.
You know, we were dealing withthat clear into the early 80s.
You know, my experience waspretty limited because I was
just little back then, but myfamily dealt with it.
(10:36):
My sisters can tell you storiesabout it and my dad, when he
was still alive, you know, he,he was very familiar with it and
so that is pressing um, closerand closer all the time, and so
it's not just livestock thatit'll affect it, it can affect
anything, and so wildlife and inpeople and pets, and so that
(11:00):
really has a far-reachingconsequence if it makes it back
into the United States.
So that one, of course, isthere.
We still are dealing with TB.
You know it seems like we can'tget away from it.
Throughout this area we were,we are TB free, but you know it
(11:23):
just it, it keeps knocking atthe door.
Yes, we're dealing with thosetraces, but of course avian
influenza made a big impressionon the state last year when it
came through and affected bothdairy cattle and poultry in our
state, and I think we'verecovered really well and I'm
(11:44):
hoping that we stay clear of it.
You know we've had somebackyard detections this year,
but so far it seems to besettling down.
We'll see what happens whenfall migration comes back around
.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Right, right, when the birds come back.
Yeah Well, if you don't minddiving into the New World
screwworm a little bit more, canyou tell me what that?
It's a parasite?
Right, tell me a little bitmore about the parasite and then
what it does and maybe what'sgoing on with that.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, so it's actually a fly that is attracted
to any sort of wound orsensitive area on animals and so
even something as small as atick bite, just a little bit of
blood from that, can attractthose female flies.
They'll lay two or threehundred eggs at a time, some,
(12:35):
you know, and they'll do thatseveral times in their lifespan.
Up to two to three thousandeggs in their lifetime, and
those eggs will hatch, usuallywithin 12 to 24 hours, and then
they burrow into the flesh andthey don't just stop at the
edges of a wound.
So most fly larvae that feed ondecaying flesh.
(12:58):
They'll just eat the rottendead flesh and that's it.
Screwworm larvae will actuallyburrow into live, healthy tissue
and that makes the woundpainful.
It causes the wound to grow insize.
You get this really foulsmelling discharge from the
wound.
Untreated it can actually killan animal within seven to ten
(13:21):
days.
And so it'll burrow in throughthings like the navel on a
newborn calf, and those babiesare going to be the most
susceptible to it because they,you know they can't really fight
that off.
That navel is a great accessright into the abdomen and you
know they'll.
Yeah, it's really tragic whenthat strikes, but a lot of
(13:45):
common management practicesdehorning castration.
But a lot of common managementpractices dehorning castration.
Even an injection site fromgiving a vaccine, any places
where you've got like dischargeor drainage in the skin, is just
weak.
It's damaged right and sothey'll get into the eyes, you
(14:23):
know, up into the sinuses.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
I mean it can be pretty extensive and it is not
in the US right now, but it was,and it was eradicated by use of
sterile flies to end thebreeding and life cycle.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
And that was back in the 80s, right Well so
technically it was eliminatedfrom the United States in 1966,
but we had incursions, so theytalk about 1966 because that was
the last indigenous populationof flies, and so everything that
happened after that wasre-infestations or re-incursions
(14:58):
from outside of the UnitedStates along that southern
border.
And so screwworm collectionkits were distributed from USDA
to all the producers and itliterally was a cardboard tube
with a little vial that alreadyhad some fluid in it, and so if
they were riding out through thepasture and they found
(15:19):
something with larvae, all theyhad to do was they actually had
a little maggot bag in there.
So you could carry that in yoursaddle, carry your maggot bag,
wear a maggot bag and then takethat back and take the larvae
out of that and put them intothe vial and ship it to USDA.
And if they confirmed that itwas screwworm, then there were
(15:40):
going to be planes flying overand dropping boxes of sterile
flies, so that whole sterile flyor sterile insect technique.
The reason that it worked isbecause female screwworm flies
only mate once in their lifetime, and so they would raise these
screwworms and irradiate themjust enough to make them sterile
.
So they're not glowing in thedark, they're not radioactive,
(16:01):
but they're not productiveeither, so they go out and the
males will mate with thosefemales, and then the eggs that
she lays are not fertile, and sothat ends her life cycle, and
over time it will slowly pushthose flies further south, and
that's how over the 80s andearly 90s it was pushed down
(16:21):
through Mexico, central Americaall the way down to Panama, and
it was held there until abouttwo, two and a half years ago,
about two, two and a half yearsago.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Okay, and so we are.
That's why the borders areclosed, right?
So right now, no, no animals orno livestock are coming through
the Mexican border into US toprevent this, and they're
working on eradicating it inMexico before we can open up the
borders, kind of right.
Is that a good?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
summary yeah, they're setting up additional control
measures and surveillance andtrying to hold it south of the
isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Look at the map of Mexico andgeographically, where it narrows
down there towards the Yucatan,there's that last little narrow
place that it's the isthmus ofTawantipik.
(17:09):
And so that is kind of the hardline for us, because if the
flies get past that, thengeographically it becomes much
harder for us to control them,because there's only one plant
in the entire world thatproduces sterile flies right now
and it's the one in Panama, andthey are at maximum capacity,
producing roughly 100 million to110 million flies per week.
(17:30):
All of those are beingdistributed in mexico right now
and, uh, so they're having to,uh, they're, the goal is 44
flights a week.
Okay, drop flies there and keepit from moving past that,
because that's that's when theborder shut down.
It's because it had made itpast.
(17:50):
That there were three or fourcases that were confirmed, and
so they were able to get thosecases under control no more
active cases up there and nowthey're trying to keep it back
south of there.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Okay, and that's USDA that.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Panama.
Usda funds about 95% of thatfacility in Panama.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Okay, and so the the intention is we keep it stopped
there and then and there I thinkthe USDA is re-evaluating every
30 days whether or not theborder will be opened again.
Right, and there were, therewere extra.
Or I mean, when an animal comesacross the border, there are
lots of inspections, right.
Right, when an animal comesacross the border.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
There are lots of inspections, right?
Right, there's a whole process,at least three inspections,
right?
So they've got these facilitieswhere they'll make a lot and
they'll inspect them and makesure there's no open wounds, no
drainage, no, anything that'sgoing to indicate a problem, a
(18:52):
problem so then, and they'lltreat them with ivermectin, and
then they move from there to apre-import or pre-export
inspection facility, and so thatis where they'll be inspected
again by Senececa and they gothrough a dip at one of those
and then they'll move from therewithin 24 hours, I think, they
move from there to the APHISinspection facility and so
(19:16):
they'll undergo one additionalinspection there before they're
allowed to cross.
And so you know, they'reinspected three times, they're
treated with ivermectin, they'redipped at least once, if not
twice, before they actuallycross Well, when they were
crossing Right and then into theUS, and then, of course, on the
US side, we have veterinariansat, you know, the sail barns and
(19:41):
the ports on the US side, whoare inspecting them again before
they go on to whatever theirdestination is across the
country.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So we have lots of security protocols and all that.
And then when you say dip toobecause I guess the intention of
the podcast is that we'retalking to people that maybe
don't understand agriculture, Adip is another treatment for.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
That is more for ticks.
Okay, so we don't.
Obviously we don't want cattlefever tick introduced.
We're already dealing with thatacross the surface.
Another problem we don't wantany more.
But so that dip they go througha dipping vat so the cattle
actually swim through and thedipping vat come out the other
side and that dipping vat hascoumaphos in it, which is one of
(20:25):
the things to treat screwworm.
So the dipping vat takes careof superficial things but it's
not going to penetrate deep intoa wound and that's the reason
USDA requires the ivermectininjection, because it's going to
get things that are deep in thetissue so that we're the larvae
burrow in.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Okay, so tons of steps and attempts to keep it.
So is there anything that weneed to know or you want people
to know about this effort?
I mean, I think it's importantto know that, the attention to
detail and the efforts to keepit out of the United States, I
think that's evident.
But yeah, is there anythingelse?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well, I mean, I think that it's important to
understand that there are straycattle that cross and the Texas
tick riders are paying a lot ofattention to that and isolating
and treating those animals.
We have wildlife moving backand forth across the border all
the time.
Pets, of course, are at risk.
Any sort of warm-bloodedanimals are at risk.
Even humans can be infestedwith screwworm, and so you know,
(21:27):
I think that we have a lot ofbigger risk factors besides.
You know cattle are pretty wellinspected before they come
across if they're crossingthrough the ports.
But there's a lot of otheranimals that aren't.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah, absolutely we're not going to be able to
stop wildlife.
Yeah, and yeah, so well, Ithank you for your work on that.
And then, I don't know, maybementioning you I don't know the
acronym or the name, but theincident management that you
kind of mentioned earlier oh,alert, yeah you guys have that
too, right?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, so you know Ag Livestock Incident Response Team
, the ALERT members so there'sabout 20 to 25 veterinarians
scattered all around New Mexicowho are part of this team, and
so they receive specializedtraining on recognizing foreign
animal diseases, responding tothings like screwworm, and they
(22:19):
can actually be called up ordeployed if we have a response,
and so we'll probably we'llutilize our alert veterinarians,
as well as extension offices,to get information out and then
also have sampling kitsavailable, so if they have a
detection, they can go ahead andget that sample collected and
then we'll get those to our NMSUentomologist.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Perfect, and if anyone has questions they can
contact you guys at theLivestock Board.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yep, it is a reportable disease.
So if people suspect it, yeah,they need to give us a call,
yeah absolutely Please.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
What is one thing maybe people don't know about
your role, or about agriculturein New Mexico, or just, yeah,
anything that you find thatpeople don't know.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I mean, I think one of the things about my role that
is probably not well known isthe participating in legislation
activities like what youmentioned, and policy making,
rule making.
You know, having to act onthose or even change some of
those policies to meet the thetimes right, because some of
(23:28):
these laws and things werewritten decades ago and are
outdated, so we've got to bringthat language up to date.
I can't think of, I mean as faras New Mexico I think, just the
variety within our industry.
We may not have a lot of largescale commercial like poultry
(23:50):
and well, we've got one largescale commercial poultry but
swine things like that but we dohave a lot of backyard sort of
niche markets and smallerfacilities and so I think that
there are things we'revulnerable to that people maybe
underestimate yeah, yeah, nodoubt.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I know there's a lot of even direct-to-consumer
farmers and ranchers.
I think it's a neat opportunityfor consumers in New Mexico,
but then also a unique challengefor management of disease and
illness.
So what is your favorite partof the agriculture industry,
maybe even the favorite part ofyour job?
Speaker 2 (24:29):
I mean I've got gotta say beef industry is near and
dear to my heart because that'swhat I grew up in.
That you know.
Really I love all differentaspects of agriculture but, yeah
, working with cows, that'sprobably where I'm happiest.
Whether it's beef or dairy,either one, I enjoy it that's
perfect, we're, we're glad wehave you.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Um, it's hard what you do, right you've got.
You have to deal with so manythings, so many aspects that
maybe you didn't know about, andand then you know, trying to
manage herd health for a wholestate, basically right.
What makes you keep going?
Why do you do what you do?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I mean that's it.
You know healthy industry.
You know I look at our kids, Ilook at our future generations,
and you know, sustainingagriculture, keeping it feeding
the world.
I mean we are such a smallpercentage of people who feed a
(25:30):
huge percentage of the world,absolutely.
So yeah, I think you know beingable to just support that any
way that I can.
You know there's a lot ofreally wonderful people in
agriculture that if it wasn'tfor them, I mean we would all
(25:50):
starve, that if it wasn't forthem I mean we would all starve,
but no, it just I don't know.
It's a very fulfilling thing tohelp support the producers in
the industry.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Absolutely, I say every podcast that someone says
something like that is.
I agree.
What an honor to be able toserve an industry that's feeding
the world and that cares somuch about the attention to
detail.
So here's the most importantquestion.
We joke, or I think I'm funny,so I joke what is your favorite
(26:20):
way to eat beef?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Well, so my favorite way is when my husband cooks a
steak.
He's got me spoiled.
It's hard to eat steak anywhereelse other than at home.
But also, I mean, green chilicheeseburger is my all-time
hands down, that's.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
The best, the best, it is the best.
Yep, it's a true New Mexicanfavorite, and you support a lot
of industries.
You're supporting dairy andbeef and green chili and then
even onion farmers.
There's a lot of industries.
You're supporting dairy andbeef and green chili and then
even onion farmers.
There's a lot of onions on, soyou're supporting a lot of New
Mexico favorites.
So that's perfect.
Well, we love a green chilicheeseburger.
Well, thank you so much for allyou do for our industry.
(27:03):
And then thank you for yourtime.
Hopefully, listeners won't hearall the times that my podcast
equipment died, but thank youfor your patience.
And again, thank you for whatyou do and thanks for your time
today.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Oh, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Behind the Burger is a podcast produced by the New
Mexico Beef Council with thegoal of telling the stories of
the cattlemen and cattlewomen ofthe New Mexico beef industry.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode.
If you'd like more information,please visit nmbeefcom.
Whether it be a burger, a steakor another beef dish, we hope
(27:41):
you're enjoying beef at yournext meal.
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the
Burger.
I am Carol Ann Romo, theExecutive Director of the New
Mexico Beef Council, and we'rehere in Ria Doso for the Dairy
Producers of New Mexico AnnualMeeting, and I'm here with Dr
Sammy Hullock.
She is our New Mexico StateVeterinarian.
Thank you so much for joiningme for a podcast.
(00:25):
I guess, first off, will youjust introduce yourself and tell
us about your background.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Sure, yeah, so I'm Sammy Hollick.
I am a native New Mexican.
I was born and raised inCarlsbad, grew up on a small
cattle ranch there, and we alsoraised sheep and a few other
animals for 4-H.
I was an active participant in4-H.
My folks were in the FarmBureau for as long as I can
(00:51):
remember, my dad also worked atthe post office as a letter
carrier to support his cattlehabit.
Because you know as many haveto, I kind of have that
full-time job.
But yeah, so I grew up inCarlsbad and then I went to
school at Colorado StateUniversity, got my bachelor's
degree in wildlife biology andstayed there to go to veterinary
(01:14):
school and I did some graduatework as well, but I mostly
focused on livestock medicinewhen I was in vet school.
And I came back to Carlsbad in2006, and I opened my own mobile
vet practice and I did that forabout 15 years and then I
(01:36):
shifted a little bit more intoshelter medicine.
I was trying to slow down alittle bit as far as being on
call 24-7.
So that last year and a half Iwas mostly at the shelter but I
was still picking up a littlecattle work and other stuff on
the side.
And then, about a year and ahalf ago, I applied for the
(01:56):
position of state veterinarian,a job I thought I would never
ever apply for.
At the behest of the previousstate veterinarian, dr Zimmerman
, he called me and encouraged meto throw my hat in the ring,
and so you know, I have alsobeen a part of the Ag Livestock
(02:20):
Incident Response Team in NewMexico since it began almost 20
years ago now, and a lot of thework that I did, a lot of the
training I had with that program, I think, prepared me pretty
well for what I do now.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Oh, absolutely that makes a lot of sense and I think
, as far as everyone talks aboutin the New Mexico beef industry
and agriculture industries,we're really glad that a year
and a half ago somebodyconvinced you, because I know
you've done some great work forus already.
So well, tell me.
So you kind of already talkedabout your career and kind of
what led you to this role, but Idon't know that everybody knows
(02:54):
that we have a state veterinary, necessarily, and obviously
it's a full-time job managingall the things that you do and
paying attention to that.
So we'll kind of talk about.
I want to ask you about yourlove for agriculture, or you
know what makes you kind ofchoose that agriculture route.
Right, you could be.
There's a lot of animals outthere.
(03:15):
Why was a lot of your time inbeef and yeah, well, I mean,
that's how I grew up.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You know we raised beef that.
You know we ate some of our ownbeef that we produced.
I think being in 4 as aveterinarian and I began to see
(03:47):
other sides of agriculture thatI didn't get exposed to as a kid
.
You know, I didn't really havea lot of exposure to the dairy
industry or to larger sheepoperations or you know, even the
larger cattle operations.
I mean ours was very smallscale and so understanding what
(04:07):
happens after we take calves tothe sale, where do they go and
why is it important to vaccinateyour animals and do you know
properly manage them and youknow what does that product look
like on the other end, and sogetting a bigger, better idea,
start to finish what that lookslike and then dealing with other
types of industries too.
(04:28):
I mean I had no exposure topoultry when I was growing up
other than what we raised athome, and so large-scale poultry
operations and all thedifferent types of poultry
operations, swine, you know, youname it.
There were a lot of things thatI've learned just in the last
year and a half too, so it'sbeen really an interesting
(04:49):
adventure so far.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, quite the adventure.
I know I grew up in 4-H too,and I feel like it's such a
great starting point and such agreat inspiration to want for
more.
Right, I had no idea aboutcommercial agriculture, but I
understood.
You know where our food camefrom in some ways, and the more
(05:12):
I learn, the more I love, I feellike.
Well, so what do you think isthe most rewarding part being in
the agriculture industry?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Oh, you know, I think , reinforcing the security of
our food supply really, you know, you hear so much bad media,
bad press about agriculture andthe misconceptions that are out
there.
But going firsthand into afacility that is, you know,
(05:41):
raising animals that are going,that are destined for food
production, and then actuallygoing into those, you know, like
a slaughter plant, you watchthat whole process and how
meticulous it is and how carefulthey are about the product and
all the different things thatare in place to ensure that it's
a good, safe product that comesout.
The other side, Milk productiontoo, I mean, that was something
(06:03):
when I was in school.
You know we did a lot of dairywork at Colorado State and you
know, start to finish seeingwhat that production looks like
and how careful we are with milksupply, and I think all of
those things are reallyimportant.
And to me I feel like my role,going from private practitioner
to state veterinarian.
(06:24):
I'm helping different parts ofthe industry with that but
bringing all of that experiencealong the way so that as state
veterinarian, hopefully, I'mdoing an adequate job of
supporting our industry andkeeping that momentum going
forward and helping theveterinarian with the private
practice understand what'scoming or how you can help them,
(06:47):
because you have that personalexperience.
Yeah, being able to answer theirquestions because I was in
their shoes makes a bigdifference.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
So let's talk about kind of NewMexico and the landscape.
How does New Mexico's landscapeand climate, you know, shape
what you do and maybe shapedisease management and all of
that?
Because we think we're unique,right?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Oh, we are, we are.
We have got such a wide varietyacross the state too.
You know, you look at eachcorner of our state is a little
bit different the geography, theway that livestock are managed,
and even just you know, if youtake beef cattle, for example,
and grazing leases versusprivate land versus, you know,
(07:33):
you've got community allotmentsand all the different factors
that go into that.
It really we do have a lot ofvariety around the state, and so
it creates some challenges, butit also creates good
opportunities for our producers.
And when it comes to managingdiseases, sometimes it's almost
(07:54):
easier if we have things thatare more isolated or separated,
but then we've got some veryag-dense areas that can make it
challenging, so, especially whenwe get a disease that crosses
species, and so now we've gotmore than just one industry
affected.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I think it's surprising how different New
Mexico is and how it can caterto certain agriculture
industries in different areas.
So what so?
Um?
What is something you're proudof that you've accomplished
recently?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Oh uh or maybe you're still working on it.
Um gosh, uh, I feel like I'mstill digging out.
Well, one thing, yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You're still.
Yeah, but one thing I wasthinking uh, not to speak for
you that I think is really neatis in the last legislative
session with the veterinarianstudent loans.
That was a really great thing.
Livestock Board helped passright.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, yeah, we supported that actively and that
was carried pretty heavily, ofcourse, by our higher education
department and our cattlegrowers, cattle growers and, of
course, our New Mexico Extensionveterinarian.
We wouldn't be able to dowithout Dr Wenzel, but I was
happy to be there and supportthat and to be part of the
(09:17):
process as we develop thatcommittee and begin to review
applications and helpveterinarians.
And I think the timing of thatbill being passed was perfect
because we are still waiting onthe federal program, which that
federal program has been inplace for almost 20 years but,
(09:41):
like a lot of other federalfunding, it's kind of been on
hold this year and so it wasvery timely that New Mexico
stepped up and offered thatsupport, because then we can
continue to help thoseveterinarians.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, and because we we're underserved as far as
veterinarians go in our state,right.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, well, all states pretty much are
underserved.
Yeah, we need moreveterinarians, those rural
communities especially.
Yeah, it's hard to incentivizethem.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
When we get more veterinarians, those rural
communities especially.
Yeah, it's hard to incentivizethem.
Yeah, when what is one of thebiggest challenges or maybe
there's a couple challenges thatNew Mexico is facing with
animal health?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Well, you know, the one I think that's on
everybody's mind, of course isscrewworm.
It's not here yet, but we'repreparing for that because our
industry has been through thatbefore.
You know, we were dealing withthat clear into the early 80s.
You know, my experience waspretty limited because I was
just little back then, but myfamily dealt with it.
(10:36):
My sisters can tell you storiesabout it and my dad, when he
was still alive, you know, he,he was very familiar with it and
so that is pressing um, closerand closer all the time, and so
it's not just livestock thatit'll affect it, it can affect
anything, and so wildlife and inpeople and pets, and so that
(11:00):
really has a far-reachingconsequence if it makes it back
into the United States.
So that one, of course, isthere.
We still are dealing with TB.
You know it seems like we can'tget away from it.
Throughout this area we were,we are TB free, but you know it
(11:23):
just it, it keeps knocking atthe door.
Yes, we're dealing with thosetraces, but of course avian
influenza made a big impressionon the state last year when it
came through and affected bothdairy cattle and poultry in our
state, and I think we'verecovered really well and I'm
(11:44):
hoping that we stay clear of it.
You know we've had somebackyard detections this year,
but so far it seems to besettling down.
We'll see what happens whenfall migration comes back around
.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Right, right, when the birds come back.
Yeah Well, if you don't minddiving into the New World
screwworm a little bit more, canyou tell me what that?
It's a parasite?
Right, tell me a little bitmore about the parasite and then
what it does and maybe what'sgoing on with that.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, so it's actually a fly that is attracted
to any sort of wound orsensitive area on animals and so
even something as small as atick bite, just a little bit of
blood from that, can attractthose female flies.
They'll lay two or threehundred eggs at a time, some,
(12:35):
you know, and they'll do thatseveral times in their lifespan.
Up to two to three thousandeggs in their lifetime, and
those eggs will hatch, usuallywithin 12 to 24 hours, and then
they burrow into the flesh andthey don't just stop at the
edges of a wound.
So most fly larvae that feed ondecaying flesh.
(12:58):
They'll just eat the rottendead flesh and that's it.
Screwworm larvae will actuallyburrow into live, healthy tissue
and that makes the woundpainful.
It causes the wound to grow insize.
You get this really foulsmelling discharge from the
wound.
Untreated it can actually killan animal within seven to ten
(13:21):
days.
And so it'll burrow in throughthings like the navel on a
newborn calf, and those babiesare going to be the most
susceptible to it because they,you know they can't really fight
that off.
That navel is a great accessright into the abdomen and you
know they'll.
Yeah, it's really tragic whenthat strikes, but a lot of
(13:45):
common management practicesdehorning castration.
But a lot of common managementpractices dehorning castration.
Even an injection site fromgiving a vaccine, any places
where you've got like dischargeor drainage in the skin, is just
weak.
It's damaged right and sothey'll get into the eyes, you
(14:23):
know, up into the sinuses.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
I mean it can be pretty extensive and it is not
in the US right now, but it was,and it was eradicated by use of
sterile flies to end thebreeding and life cycle.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
And that was back in the 80s, right Well so
technically it was eliminatedfrom the United States in 1966,
but we had incursions, so theytalk about 1966 because that was
the last indigenous populationof flies, and so everything that
happened after that wasre-infestations or re-incursions
(14:58):
from outside of the UnitedStates along that southern
border.
And so screwworm collectionkits were distributed from USDA
to all the producers and itliterally was a cardboard tube
with a little vial that alreadyhad some fluid in it, and so if
they were riding out through thepasture and they found
(15:19):
something with larvae, all theyhad to do was they actually had
a little maggot bag in there.
So you could carry that in yoursaddle, carry your maggot bag,
wear a maggot bag and then takethat back and take the larvae
out of that and put them intothe vial and ship it to USDA.
And if they confirmed that itwas screwworm, then there were
(15:40):
going to be planes flying overand dropping boxes of sterile
flies, so that whole sterile flyor sterile insect technique.
The reason that it worked isbecause female screwworm flies
only mate once in their lifetime, and so they would raise these
screwworms and irradiate themjust enough to make them sterile
.
So they're not glowing in thedark, they're not radioactive,
(16:01):
but they're not productiveeither, so they go out and the
males will mate with thosefemales, and then the eggs that
she lays are not fertile, and sothat ends her life cycle, and
over time it will slowly pushthose flies further south, and
that's how over the 80s andearly 90s it was pushed down
(16:21):
through Mexico, central Americaall the way down to Panama, and
it was held there until abouttwo, two and a half years ago,
about two, two and a half yearsago.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Okay, and so we are.
That's why the borders areclosed, right?
So right now, no, no animals orno livestock are coming through
the Mexican border into US toprevent this, and they're
working on eradicating it inMexico before we can open up the
borders, kind of right.
Is that a good?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
summary yeah, they're setting up additional control
measures and surveillance andtrying to hold it south of the
isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Look at the map of Mexico andgeographically, where it narrows
down there towards the Yucatan,there's that last little narrow
place that it's the isthmus ofTawantipik.
(17:09):
And so that is kind of the hardline for us, because if the
flies get past that, thengeographically it becomes much
harder for us to control them,because there's only one plant
in the entire world thatproduces sterile flies right now
and it's the one in Panama, andthey are at maximum capacity,
producing roughly 100 million to110 million flies per week.
(17:30):
All of those are beingdistributed in mexico right now
and, uh, so they're having to,uh, they're, the goal is 44
flights a week.
Okay, drop flies there and keepit from moving past that,
because that's that's when theborder shut down.
It's because it had made itpast.
(17:50):
That there were three or fourcases that were confirmed, and
so they were able to get thosecases under control no more
active cases up there and nowthey're trying to keep it back
south of there.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Okay, and that's USDA that.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Panama.
Usda funds about 95% of thatfacility in Panama.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Okay, and so the the intention is we keep it stopped
there and then and there I thinkthe USDA is re-evaluating every
30 days whether or not theborder will be opened again.
Right, and there were, therewere extra.
Or I mean, when an animal comesacross the border, there are
lots of inspections, right.
Right, when an animal comesacross the border.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
There are lots of inspections, right?
Right, there's a whole process,at least three inspections,
right?
So they've got these facilitieswhere they'll make a lot and
they'll inspect them and makesure there's no open wounds, no
drainage, no, anything that'sgoing to indicate a problem, a
(18:52):
problem so then, and they'lltreat them with ivermectin, and
then they move from there to apre-import or pre-export
inspection facility, and so thatis where they'll be inspected
again by Senececa and they gothrough a dip at one of those
and then they'll move from therewithin 24 hours, I think, they
move from there to the APHISinspection facility and so
(19:16):
they'll undergo one additionalinspection there before they're
allowed to cross.
And so you know, they'reinspected three times, they're
treated with ivermectin, they'redipped at least once, if not
twice, before they actuallycross Well, when they were
crossing Right and then into theUS, and then, of course, on the
US side, we have veterinariansat, you know, the sail barns and
(19:41):
the ports on the US side, whoare inspecting them again before
they go on to whatever theirdestination is across the
country.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So we have lots of security protocols and all that.
And then when you say dip toobecause I guess the intention of
the podcast is that we'retalking to people that maybe
don't understand agriculture, Adip is another treatment for.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
That is more for ticks.
Okay, so we don't.
Obviously we don't want cattlefever tick introduced.
We're already dealing with thatacross the surface.
Another problem we don't wantany more.
But so that dip they go througha dipping vat so the cattle
actually swim through and thedipping vat come out the other
side and that dipping vat hascoumaphos in it, which is one of
(20:25):
the things to treat screwworm.
So the dipping vat takes careof superficial things but it's
not going to penetrate deep intoa wound and that's the reason
USDA requires the ivermectininjection, because it's going to
get things that are deep in thetissue so that we're the larvae
burrow in.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Okay, so tons of steps and attempts to keep it.
So is there anything that weneed to know or you want people
to know about this effort?
I mean, I think it's importantto know that, the attention to
detail and the efforts to keepit out of the United States, I
think that's evident.
But yeah, is there anythingelse?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well, I mean, I think that it's important to
understand that there are straycattle that cross and the Texas
tick riders are paying a lot ofattention to that and isolating
and treating those animals.
We have wildlife moving backand forth across the border all
the time.
Pets, of course, are at risk.
Any sort of warm-bloodedanimals are at risk.
Even humans can be infestedwith screwworm, and so you know,
(21:27):
I think that we have a lot ofbigger risk factors besides.
You know cattle are pretty wellinspected before they come
across if they're crossingthrough the ports.
But there's a lot of otheranimals that aren't.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah, absolutely we're not going to be able to
stop wildlife.
Yeah, and yeah, so well, Ithank you for your work on that.
And then, I don't know, maybementioning you I don't know the
acronym or the name, but theincident management that you
kind of mentioned earlier oh,alert, yeah you guys have that
too, right?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, so you know Ag Livestock Incident Response Team
, the ALERT members so there'sabout 20 to 25 veterinarians
scattered all around New Mexicowho are part of this team, and
so they receive specializedtraining on recognizing foreign
animal diseases, responding tothings like screwworm, and they
(22:19):
can actually be called up ordeployed if we have a response,
and so we'll probably we'llutilize our alert veterinarians,
as well as extension offices,to get information out and then
also have sampling kitsavailable, so if they have a
detection, they can go ahead andget that sample collected and
then we'll get those to our NMSUentomologist.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Perfect, and if anyone has questions they can
contact you guys at theLivestock Board.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yep, it is a reportable disease.
So if people suspect it, yeah,they need to give us a call,
yeah absolutely Please.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
What is one thing maybe people don't know about
your role, or about agriculturein New Mexico, or just, yeah,
anything that you find thatpeople don't know.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I mean, I think one of the things about my role that
is probably not well known isthe participating in legislation
activities like what youmentioned, and policy making,
rule making.
You know, having to act onthose or even change some of
those policies to meet the thetimes right, because some of
(23:28):
these laws and things werewritten decades ago and are
outdated, so we've got to bringthat language up to date.
I can't think of, I mean as faras New Mexico I think, just the
variety within our industry.
We may not have a lot of largescale commercial like poultry
(23:50):
and well, we've got one largescale commercial poultry but
swine things like that but we dohave a lot of backyard sort of
niche markets and smallerfacilities and so I think that
there are things we'revulnerable to that people maybe
underestimate yeah, yeah, nodoubt.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I know there's a lot of even direct-to-consumer
farmers and ranchers.
I think it's a neat opportunityfor consumers in New Mexico,
but then also a unique challengefor management of disease and
illness.
So what is your favorite partof the agriculture industry,
maybe even the favorite part ofyour job?
Speaker 2 (24:29):
I mean I've got gotta say beef industry is near and
dear to my heart because that'swhat I grew up in.
That you know.
Really I love all differentaspects of agriculture but, yeah
, working with cows, that'sprobably where I'm happiest.
Whether it's beef or dairy,either one, I enjoy it that's
perfect, we're, we're glad wehave you.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Um, it's hard what you do, right you've got.
You have to deal with so manythings, so many aspects that
maybe you didn't know about, andand then you know, trying to
manage herd health for a wholestate, basically right.
What makes you keep going?
Why do you do what you do?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I mean that's it.
You know healthy industry.
You know I look at our kids, Ilook at our future generations,
and you know, sustainingagriculture, keeping it feeding
the world.
I mean we are such a smallpercentage of people who feed a
(25:30):
huge percentage of the world,absolutely.
So yeah, I think you know beingable to just support that any
way that I can.
You know there's a lot ofreally wonderful people in
agriculture that if it wasn'tfor them, I mean we would all
(25:50):
starve, that if it wasn't forthem I mean we would all starve,
but no, it just I don't know.
It's a very fulfilling thing tohelp support the producers in
the industry.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Absolutely, I say every podcast that someone says
something like that is.
I agree.
What an honor to be able toserve an industry that's feeding
the world and that cares somuch about the attention to
detail.
So here's the most importantquestion.
We joke, or I think I'm funny,so I joke what is your favorite
(26:20):
way to eat beef?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Well, so my favorite way is when my husband cooks a
steak.
He's got me spoiled.
It's hard to eat steak anywhereelse other than at home.
But also, I mean, green chilicheeseburger is my all-time
hands down, that's.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
The best, the best, it is the best.
Yep, it's a true New Mexicanfavorite, and you support a lot
of industries.
You're supporting dairy andbeef and green chili and then
even onion farmers.
There's a lot of industries.
You're supporting dairy andbeef and green chili and then
even onion farmers.
There's a lot of onions on, soyou're supporting a lot of New
Mexico favorites.
So that's perfect.
Well, we love a green chilicheeseburger.
Well, thank you so much for allyou do for our industry.
(27:03):
And then thank you for yourtime.
Hopefully, listeners won't hearall the times that my podcast
equipment died, but thank youfor your patience.
And again, thank you for whatyou do and thanks for your time
today.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Oh, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Behind the Burger is a podcast produced by the New
Mexico Beef Council with thegoal of telling the stories of
the cattlemen and cattlewomen ofthe New Mexico beef industry.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode.
If you'd like more information,please visit nmbeefcom.
Whether it be a burger, a steakor another beef dish, we hope
(27:41):
you're enjoying beef at yournext meal.
Host
Carollann Romo
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