A SURVEY OF VETERINARIAN AND PRODUCER PERCEPTIONS OF HERD HEALTH-SERVICES IN THE SASKATOON MILKSHED

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the availability, rates of adoption, and producer perceptions of veterinary services in five areas of dairy production medicine: reproduction, milk quality, n utritional consulting, infectious disease control, and heifer rearing. Questionnaires were completed by all veterinary clinics and 86% of th e dairy producers in the Saskatoon milkshed. Veterinary perceptions of services offered were compared with farmer perceptions of services re ceived. The veterinary clinics appeared to over-estimate their service s in the areas of nutritional consulting and heifer rearing. The prima ry determinant of a producer's perception of being on a herd health pr ogram was the occurrence of regularly scheduled reproduction visits. P roducers who perceived themselves as being on a herd health program al so believed that they received more services in the other four main ar eas of production medicine. Grouping of producers, based on whether or not herd records were analyzed by their veterinarian, showed a cluste ring of adopters of more comprehensive herd health services as clients of two practices. This suggests that comprehensive herd health servic es are not readily available from all veterinary clinics in the Saskat oon milkshed.