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Dr. Joe makes it up as he goes over a weekend with his family. Everyone gets a turn on the microphone to talk about cows, and tell embarrassing stories about Dr. Joe if they want. Thanks for listening.
Hosted by members of the University of Minnesota Extension Beef and Dairy Teams, The Moos Room discusses relevant topics to help beef and dairy producers be more successful. The information is evidence-based and presented as an informal conversation between the hosts and guests.
[music]
[cows mooing]
Dr. Joe: Welcome to the Moos Room, everybody. Dr. Joe here. We had some things go a little wrong with our guests last week. I had to reschedule, so we are making it up as we go today. I am at my parents' house this weekend, enjoying a very belated Easter celebration. We, like I said, are just making this up as we go. At certain times here, we're going to have members of my family join us on the podcast. I'm going to be asking them some random questions about cows and just see how ridiculous the answers get.
With that, I am going to be very, very upfront. I have not said anything about her preferences. I have not said anything about what breed is best. Brad and I have our opinions, Emily has her opinion. My mom is here, Patricia Armstrong. She's going to tell us her favorite dairy breed in just a second here. I've shown her pictures of seven different breeds, and she's going to be picking her favorite one among them. I know that immediately Emily's going to be skeptical of this. She's going to be thinking I'm padding the score, but it's an honest choice between these seven breeds, and I'm just going to ask her which one is her favorite. Okay, Mom, which dairy breed is your favorite among those that I showed you?
Patricia Armstrong: Well, I don't know a whole lot about the breeds, but if I had to choose, based on the pictures, I would say I probably would choose a Jersey.
Dr. Joe: [laughs]
Patricia: [laughs] Why is that so funny?
Dr. Joe: That is hilarious because I am about to get so much hate mail because Jersey is the correct answer, as we all know. Jersey is the correct answer. Not only because they're adorable, but they're smaller, easier to work with, more efficient. They're just the right answer. I know you guys are all out there, and I'm going to get emails about this, and I'm fine with that, themoosroom@umn.edu, T-H-E-M-O-O-S-R-O-O-M-@-U-M-N-.E-D-U. Send us the hate mail. I am not patting the score, but I'm happy that it went that direction. All right, we better run down the totals today, that puts Holstein at 17, Jersey is now at 12, Brown Swiss at 5, Montbeliarde at 3, Dutch belted at 2, Normande at 2, Milking shorthorn at 1 and 1, Guernsey named Taffy.
All right, so now that we've got that out of the way, we got the right answer at least once here on Jersey, and we've updated the totals. We're going to ask my mom some questions about what she's thought about this whole process of her son, who grew up in the city, becoming a large animal veterinarian. I've never really got into how much she's worried about it and how much she worries about how dangerous it is. I definitely know that answer from my wife. She does not like the stories that I find funny, at least, and entertaining. Doesn't like me to tell those, so I end up telling them to you guys, to Brad, and to Emily. I don't tell my mom any of them, hardly any of them.
How did you feel when I was like, "Okay, I'm going to go work with cows every day, and I'm going to go live in southwest Iowa for an entire summer with someone you don't know." How did you feel about all of that?
Patricia: First of all, I was surprised. I knew that Joe had a real fondness for nature and animals and everything, but I never expected him to go into veterinary work. I never thought that it would be large animal. I had no idea. I had my concerns, but mostly they didn't come completely round until he was actually practicing, and there were some things that were pretty scary in terms of injuries and what could have been really severe injuries. I have to admit that I have a new admiration for anyone who's in large animal veterinary medicine. It's very, very hard work. I hope that they can keep in mind the safety protocols. I worry about it with Joe all the time, especially when he's actually out in the herds.
Dr. Joe: Well, Emily will be super excited that we got our safety topic in today. Let's see. We've covered our favorite dairy cow breed. We got the right answer. That'll make Brad happy. We've covered our safety topics, so Emily is now happy and shouldn't, I hope, give me too much grief for the whole Jersey being the best breed thing. Final question. I think I'll be asking the same question to a couple other my family members. What's the first thing you think of when someone brings up cows? What's the first thing that comes to mind? Don't think about it too much. Just what's the first thing comes to your mind when I say cows?
Patricia: Well, I have to admit I live in Wisconsin, so milk and cheese.
Dr. Joe: There you go. Milk and cheese perfect answers. Something that we all think about. Don't forget about beef. Hopefully, my other family members will think about steaks and other things as well, but yes, milk and cheese, and since my parents, who live in Wisconsin now, totally fair answer on that end. All right, let's go find some other members of the family. Okay, we are back. We found my padre, my father, Don Armstrong. Again, same preface for this. I have not influenced anything at all. We've not talked about this, nothing. We're going to ask my dad what his favorite breed of beef cattle is and see what his answer is. Dad, what is your favorite breed of beef cattle?
Don Armstrong: Well, you obviously already know the answer to that, Joseph. It's going to be Black Angus.
Dr. Joe: Yes, it is going to be Black Angus because Black Angus is the right answer. Again, note I will have a follow-up question so that I don't get too much hate mail on this dad. Why is it Black Angus? What is the reasoning behind that choice?
Don: I guess it's probably the one that I'm most familiar with. It's the one I've been around most of my life, and quite frankly, it's the one that my son recommends, so I'm a little biased. I have to give you that.
Dr. Joe: That's fine. It's still the right answer. Let's update our totals on the beef side of things. Hold on one second. That puts the totals, Black Angus at 12, Hereford at 8, Black Baldy at 4, Scottish Highlander 3, Belted Galloway 2, Red Angus 2, all with one Stabilizer, Gelbvieh, Brahmin and Keyninya, Charolais, Simmental, Nelore, Jersey, Normande, and Shorthorn.
Don: Why would anybody pick a Highland for beef?
Dr. Joe: They're cute.
Don: That doesn't mean they're any good for beef.
Dr. Joe: But they're cute. I can't argue with the cute thing because it's the main reason-
Don: Yes, that is cute.
Dr. Joe: -that people pick Jerseys on the dairy side, so I can't argue with the cuteness. People want us pick Highlanders, that's fine. I don't like horns, so automatically, they're out for me. All right Dad, we're going to talk beef for a second since we're already on that topic. What's your cut? What's your steak? What's it look like, and which one is it? I know you travel a lot so you get to eat at some nice places. When it's on the menu, what's your go-to?
Don: Well, like you said, I get to travel across the country, and I've eaten in some very nice places, and I will always go back to a bone-in ribeye.
Dr. Joe: You're starting to pick up some themes here, guys, and I'm questioning myself here on whether or not I really liked these things or I've just been brainwashed growing up because a bone-in ribeye is the correct choice. Again, it's the best cut. That's what you should choose when you're at the steak house. I know everyone loves that filet. It's just there's just not enough flavor. There's not enough fat in it. I will eat all of that ribeye too, the gristle, the fat, everything. It's too good. That's the right choice. We asked Mom this question, too, but what's the first thing that comes to mind when someone says cows? Don't think about it too much. Just what's the first thing that comes to mind when someone says cows?
Don: Work. A lot of work.
Dr. Joe: Work. Yes, I think we've all been around ranching a little bit. Family out west, and it's an incredible amount of work. Definitely, a theme there that Mom actually mentioned that too a little bit when we were talking about what she thought of me getting into veterinary medicine and how that came out of nowhere with us growing up in the suburbs. Again, I have told stories to the Moos Room, and my parents listen every once in a while. I've told stories to my colleagues. Don't tell my parents a whole lot of stories about how dangerous it is and all the things I got into. Dad's heard a few more of them than Mom, I will admit that.
I mean, there's an infamous story that we can't really get into, it's not appropriate for this podcast, but it does involve an angry Hereford cow which is rare, a man named Taco, and a rusty revolver. One day, if you meet me in person, ask about it. I can't tell it on the air. We are going to track down my brother at some point here.
Don: That will be an adventure.
Dr. Joe: As my dad says, that'll be an absolute adventure on the podcast, so everyone, get ready for that experience. All right, everybody, my brother is missing. We're not sure where he is right now, but we found sister-in-law Grace. She's here. We're going to talk about cows. Admittedly, Grace doesn't know a whole lot about cows, but we're going to talk about them anyway. [chuckles] First question. Grace, do you know anything about dairy breeds or beef breeds of cattle? Do you know different breeds?
Grace: I could probably name a few.
Dr. Joe: That's important. If you can already name a few, that means you know a couple of names. Again, same things apply here, everybody. The same rules. I've not prepped anybody. I've not told them the answer that it should be. Grace, what is your favorite breed of dairy cow?
Grace: Brown Swiss, is that one? I think they're really pretty.
Dr. Joe: Brown Swiss. Now you all can not send me hate mail because the correct answer is Jersey, just so you're aware, but Brown Swiss is definitely on our list, and I have to update our totals now. As many of you know, one of my goals when I'm talking to people is convince people that Brown Swiss produce chocolate milk. You're aware that they don't produce chocolate milk, right?
Grace: I'm aware.
Dr. Joe: Okay. Grace is aware. That's good. All right. If you guys are keeping track, totals are Holstein at 17, Jersey at 12, Brown Swiss now at 6, Montb�liarde at 3, Dutch Belted at 2, Normande at 2, to Milking Shorthorn at 1, and one Guernsey named Taffy. We've asked everybody else this question so far, but what's the first thing that comes to mind, when someone says cows? Don't think about it too much.
Grace: Beef.
Dr. Joe: What about beef? What do you think of? What's your association with beef in your mind? What comes to mind right away?
Grace: Ground beef and steak. I did work for a butcher for a lot of years.
Dr. Joe: I always forget this about Grace, that she used to work for a butcher, a really, really good butcher. She used to serve charcuterie and all sorts of stuff at a market, all sorts of things. Now we have to talk about that. What's your favorite thing to do when you worked at the butcher?
Grace: I like to give out samples. That's my favorite thing. I like giving out pork and beef salami, and beef steak samples. It's really fun because it's really good.
Dr. Joe: We asked my dad what his favorite cut was, so now we have to ask Grace what her favorite cut is.
Grace: My favorite cut to eat for a steak is a filet mignon. I like tenderloin. I know, I know.
Dr. Joe: [sighs] I can get on board with the samples thing because that's interacting with people, showing them all the different stuff they don't know about, but the filet.
Grace: [chuckles] I know.
Dr. Joe: It's just not the right answer, but that's okay. That's okay. I get it. I guess you can stay in the family. All right, last question for Grace here. One of the things that I think we underestimate is how far the reach of cows go. Now, I'm clearly biased. I'm on a podcast called The Moos Room. We're talking about cows all the time, every week, but cows really are everywhere. I mean, they're in a lot of different things, especially when we get into the rendering process and the side of things, it's everywhere. Now, Grace, I'm going to let her explain what she does. She just got done with school or is close to done and, officially, will graduate soon. Grace is going to take her board exam, which is a huge deal, in three weeks. All right Grace, what do you do? What are you training to do right now?
Grace: I am training to be a medical laboratory technician to work in a hospital lab. One way that cows have infiltrated the medical laboratory is in transfusion medicine and the blood bank in the lab. In our blood typing reactions, we sometimes use bovine serum albumin when we need to add extra protein to help a reaction.
Dr. Joe: Even in the human medical labs, we're using something that came from cows. Just reinforcing the fact, as all of our listeners already know, cows are the best species out there to work with. On the food animal side. I won't argue the dog and cat thing, but cows are the best. As we've all been waiting for, the interview with my brother is coming up next. We'll turn down the volume. It tends to get loud. All right, we found my brother. He's here. All right, Sam, the first question is, what is your favorite beef breed? Again, everyone listening, there was no talking about this beforehand. I didn't influence anything.
Sam: I heard about those Belgian Blues with the huge musculature. I don't even know if they taste good, but I just love them. [chuckles] They're great.
Dr. Joe: Belgian Blue is a beef breed. The double muscling, the attempt to make more meat per animal. I will put it on the board. It's not my favorite answer, but it will be on the board. Let's update those totals. Black Angus with 12, Hereford with 8, Black Baldy with 4, Scottish Highlander with 3, Belted Galloway with 2, Red Angus with 2, and then all with 1, Stabilizer, Gelbvieh, Brahman, Keyninya, Charolais, Simmental, Nelore, Jersey, Normande, Shorthorn, and now Belgian Blue.
Sam: Yay. We're at the bottom where we belong.
Dr. Joe: Yes, exactly. Next question. We've asked everyone this question. Don't think too hard about it. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear cows?
Sam: Old farmers sitting around having coffee at a diner somewhere, complaining about the cows. [laughs] That's exactly what comes to mind.
Dr. Joe: I mean, it's not far off. That small town living with everyone sitting around at a diner talking about the weather, the crops, complaining about,
h, it's always been too late getting the crops in and the cows prices are off." That is a picture I think all of us have in our head as well.
Sam: It's universal.
Dr. Joe: Yes, it's universal. There are crusty farmers in every diner across the country, drinking-
Sam: What else do you do?
Dr. Joe: -coffee together and complaining about all sorts of different things.
Sam: What else is there to do on a Saturday morning? You drink coffee, and you complain. [chuckles]
Dr. Joe: That's Saturday mornings, drink coffee and complain.
Sam: Yes.
Dr. Joe: Sam here is a programmer, and we just talked to Grace about how cows have infiltrated the human medical field in testing, where she uses bovine serum albumin with some of the testing that she does in the lab. We know cows have made it to there, but do you run into cows ever when it comes to programming?
Sam: Do I ever run into cows during programming? Me personally, I don't run into cows programming very often. Conceptually, every once in a while, you find some madman who has some crazed idea about tracking animal behaviors with biometrics using advanced 5G networks over wide-spaced areas to try and, "Oh, we can capture all their biometrics, and we can constantly monitor these cattle." It's insanely overpriced and not viable in any way, shape, or fashion and form, so not very often, no.
Dr. Joe: Another topic that will make Bradley happy, we're talking about sensors. The sensors have come a long ways. We do have sensors that track a lot of these biometrics that Sam is talking about where they're on a Wi-Fi network at this point, but transferring that to a 5G network, it would be cool, but again-
Sam: Good luck.
Dr. Joe: -the expense would be just ridiculous. Not a whole lot of cows going on the programming side, at least when you work for a medical company, right?
Sam: Last time I was in Vegas for re:Invent, I think 2021, I got a chance to sit down with some of the team members who work for Verizon. They do near-network work with AWS's cloud infrastructure and mobile 5G networks for responses to remote areas. That's where some of these ideas pop around. These guys think that maybe they can take a quarter million dollar trailer effectively and dump it out onto some ranch or farmland somewhere and use that as a relay base station to do things like track and monitor biometrics for livestock. The costs are currently into the astronomical for a return on investment that you're looking for. [unintelligible 00:16:37]
Dr. Joe: Yes, cool to think about. Weird concepts to think about, but maybe we'll stick to just monitoring cows with drones and doing it in person at this point. We do have sensors as we talked about, but with the lack of Wi-Fi, and how unreliable Wi-Fi can be in certain areas of the country, maybe one day, at least we're thinking about it. All right. We've talked to almost my whole family. My aunt Jane is here, but she has declined. She has declined the podcasts offer.
Sam: Oooh.
Dr. Joe: [laughs] My wife is somewhere.
Sam: You mean the only other qualified veterinary medical professional here?
Dr. Joe: Agreed. We should probably have a real expert on the show at some point here, and my wife fits that bill. Let's go find Alexandra. All right, we have found Alexandra, cookie in hand. She is ready to get started on the podcast. Alexandra, we need to know your favorite dairy breed.
Alexandra: Swiss.
Sam: Brown Swiss.
Alexandra: Brown Swiss because they make chocolate milk.
Sam: They do not make chocolate milk.
Alexandra: [laughs]
Sam: [laughs]
Dr. Joe: All right. Well, we're going with Brown Swiss. Unfortunately, an incorrect answer.
Alexandra: No, I changed my mind.
Dr. Joe: Oh, she's changing her mind now.
Alexandra: The ones that look like Oreos. Belted.
Dr. Joe: Are you going Dutch belted instead?
Alexandra: Yes. Has anyone ever done Dutch belted?
Dr. Joe: Yes.
Alexandra: [laughs]
Dr. Joe: That's actually a worse answer than Swiss, to be honest, because that is Emily's favorite breed.
Alexandra: Yes. I knew there was a reason I wanted to say Dutch Belted. [crosstalk]
Dr. Joe: We better update the totals. Unfortunately, they're not going the way I wanted them to. Holsteins at 17, Jersey at 12, Brown Swiss at 6, Montb�liarde at 3, Dutch Belted now at 3, Normande at 2, Milking Shorthorn at 1, and one Guernsey named Taffy. We should ask you your favorite cut of beef. I don't think I'll like the answer, but we'll ask you anyway.
Alexandra: I don't have a favorite. I like them all for different things. That's something I like about cooking.
Sam: It's not flank steak, ribeye or filet, skirt steak, flat iron, porterhouse.
Alexandra: No.
Sam: You don't have a favorite one?
Alexandra: Yes.
Sam: You like them all?
Alexandra: I like them all. I will eat a steak if you cook it for me. [laughs]
Dr. Joe: I don't think anyone could be mad about that answer.
Alexandra: [chuckles] The answer.
Dr. Joe: She'll eat it as long as it's cooked for her. [chuckles] Okay, that's the answer.
Alexandra: [laughs] Am I embarrassing you?
Dr. Joe: No. This is how it is. I don't think anyone can be mad about you just liking all steak, as long as someone cooks it for you. We talked with Grace about how cows have actually made their way into the medical lab and some of the testing that she does. There's cows there. Even Sam had something to say about cows when it came to programming. Now we're talking with an actual expert, as Sam alluded to, at some point here. It's not just my wife, Alexandra, but Alexandra is a veterinarian. She's a boarded pathologist, just turned in her thesis on her Ph.D., so we're talking to someone much smarter than myself and anyone else on the podcast. Sorry, Bradley or Emily. It's Dr. Dr. Alexandra Roland Armstrong, Ph.D., boarded pathologist, 20 letters behind her name. Has not been out of school in any time that we've known each other, so we do have a wealth of knowledge here. We've been on calls together, actually, several quite memorable ones. Nothing dangerous, really. As we've said before, I don't really tell the dangerous stories to my wife or my mom. Sometimes to my brother and my dad. What's the most memorable call that we went on together in your mind? What comes to mind first when I talk about when we used to go on calls together, and I know what's coming, so we might as well just get the story out of the way.
Alexandra: I was just thinking about including some of these stories in my lectures when I teach this fall. I know the one you're thinking of when we went out to do a field necropsy on a cow that was a rabies suspect. It was, I think, a Friday afternoon. We knew if we went together, it would be faster than you going by yourself, so I agreed to come along for the ride. We pulled up, and the cow had been euthanized or died, I don't remember which and was in the barn. We went in together and started working on the necropsy. You were working on removing the head, which is the most important part for rabies necropsy for submitting samples.
You need to get samples from the brainstem, and you were really struggling, so we traded spots. I was able to take it right off. The farmer was there watching, and he was very impressed by my skills and asked if you could go make us a sandwich. [laughs]
Dr. Joe: Yes, that was quite the night for me. It was probably eleven o'clock at night. We're out in the barn, and I really was struggling to get that head off, and I think I was a joint too far back, so we switched spots, and no joke, it was like 30 seconds later. Alexandra had the head off, and the farmer turned to me and said, "Hey, if you go inside, open the fridge. There's a drawer with all the sandwich fixings. If you could make us both a sandwich, that'd be great." That was quite a memorable call. I'm fine with it. Probably not a whole lot of people that can say that their wife can cut the head off a cow better than they can, so I'm fine with it.
We've been on some other calls, too. I know there's been ones that were less embarrassing for myself, [chuckles] which is good. We've done some surgeries together. We actually did surgeries all the way back in vet school together.
Alexandra: We did that first surgery together, Dr. Joe.
Dr. Joe: Yes. We did our first surgery together, which was fun. Wasn't it just a dog neuter?
Alexandra: Cat. [laughs]
Dr. Joe: It was a cat neuter. See, I don't even remember. It was a while ago now. I was actually almost said pig, but that was quite a while ago. Alexandra's had her own stories pop up as well. One, I remember her being a little late coming home one night. I'll let her tell what happened to her that day while she was on the necropsy floor.
Alexandra: Yes. Pathologists have an appreciation for getting dirty on the job, just the way those out in practice, too. I was on the necropsy floor for the week. It was a Monday morning bright and early, and went out to get started on a horse necropsy. Went to open up the horse's abdomen. It had been sitting for a little bit of time, and it was very bloated, which is common. It was a obstruction of the GI case, so they have a lot of gut, and there can be a lot of twisting and a lot of fluid, but nothing I didn't think I could handle. I'd done these cases before and was working on opening it up.
For whatever reason. It ruptured while I was doing that, and I have luckily very quick reflexes, so I closed my mouth and my eyes and avoided anything too disgusting. I spun away, but I was just drenched in abdominal fluid, head to toe. There was another pathologist out working on a different case at the time who just started laughing, and I was standing there dripping, my face and arms sticking away from my body, waiting for someone to come help me. He finally got his laughter under control and brought me a towel, and I went and showered in the locker rooms there, which I think no one has ever done before.
Then I had to get back out there. I went without a bra because I was soaked literally down to my underwear and got some new whites. We wear all white on the necropsy floor, so you know when something gets on you. I went back and finished the equine necropsy.
Dr. Joe: Great success. We've all done those necropsies in the field as well when cattle have been sitting a while. You're tossing knives at them, trying to get them to explode without you standing right there, so it happens even on the necropsy floor. We have a cow story that I have not heard from Alexandra. We have to get-
Alexandra: We do.
Dr. Joe: -that on record. She's telling me that there was one from before we met. Alex used to work at a company that did a lot of research with biomedical devices and some preclinical stuff, so I'm guessing that's where it was, right?
Alexandra: You don't see cattle that often in the preclinical or medical device world, but they can be really valuable models. Their hearts have some similarities to humans, so they can be really informative for both human and animal medicine. I was working on a research study that involved a couple calves. I was technician at the time. I hadn't gone to veterinary school, and I was working with a veterinarian there, and we were going to try to place a jugular catheter in this calf because we needed a lot of blood samples, be taking pretty regularly, and the calf was very feisty.
I was trying to restrain it for him, and he accidentally stabbed me in the arm with a catheter he was trying to place in the calf. Luckily, it was a nice muscular area, no vessels, but it was just dangling out of my arm. He was the nicest, most genuinely lovely veterinarian, and he was aghast. I think it probably is still a more traumatic moment for him than it was for me. [laughs]
Dr. Joe: I don't think-
Alexandra: Have I not told you that?
Dr. Joe: -I had heard that story that-
Alexandra: If I had, it's been a long time.
Dr. Joe: Yes. If we had talked about it, it's been a while, but man, to get stabbed. Yes, I think I would be in the same boat. I'd rather be get stabbed than stab somebody else. I would be so embarrassed and horrified. It happens. I've stabbed myself plenty, but I have yet, knock on wood, not stabbed anybody else.
Alexandra: You've had people faint when they were working with you?
Dr. Joe: I have.
Alexandra: Not me, surprisingly. Did that come up in here?
Dr. Joe: -I have had people faint. We haven't talked-
Alexandra: During the interview?
Dr. Joe: -about Alexandra's fainting spells while in school. I have had someone faint while I was doing a nucleation. I was taking the eye out of a cow, which could be an experience if you'd never seen it before, so had one person faint there. I was doing an OB. I felt bad about that one because it was just hot. I was just really hot, and they were helping, and the kid got just too hot. He was probably 17 or 18, and I had just finished pulling this calf. I am covered in all sorts of fluid, and I saw him start to fall and I caught him in a bear hug, but he woke up really confused because he was just covered in all sorts of fluids from the calving and I had just figured out. He didn't have to get stitches or anything because I did catch him. He was really confused when he woke up, and he was covered in blood and everything else.
Alexandra had a pretty solid one. We were in pathology lab.
Alexandra: I don't remember this.
Dr. Joe: It was hot. There's lots of people in there, and we're all crowded around trying to see what's going on in the specimen that's on the table. I didn't know what had happened, to be honest, but all I heard was a pretty loud ding noise like someone hit the metal railing with something pretty hard, and turns out that something pretty hard was Alexandra's head. Just fainted, which I found ironic. Soon-to-be pathologist and pathologist student was the one fainting in the necropsy room, but not a good luck.
Alexandra: Truth that if you really want to do it, you will find a way.
Dr. Joe: Find a way. All right. We found a news story with cow related. We heard an embarrassing story about me, which is always good for everybody out there. We talked about how Alexandra will eat any cut of beef as long as someone cooks it for her. We don't really have a whole lot else to talk about right now. I think we've got plenty more stories. We might have Alexandra on at a different time point.
Alexandra: Don't use up all your good stuff.
Dr. Joe: We can't use up all the content today, and we don't have time for that, so I think we'll call it there. Oh, we asked about dairy cattle, but we didn't ask about beef cattle. Do we need to know Alexandra's favorite breed of beef cattle? Do you know enough of them to know which one is your favorite?
Alexandra: I would default to an Angus, so maybe you should give me a multiple-choice question.
Dr. Joe: Ah, see, I don't think we have enough information on the background for Alexandra to weigh in. I won't skew the vote that bad because Angus is the right answer, but if there's not going to be--
Alexandra: What about a Brangus?
Dr. Joe: No, that's it. We're going to call that a cross-bred, so it's not allowed.
Alexandra: What? That's awfully snooty of you.
Dr. Joe: I'm not a fan of the Brangus, so there's a little bit of bias here.
Alexandra: They're bred to be better in their environment. That's pretty cool, innovative.
Dr. Joe: If that's your answer, if you want to go with Brangus-
Alexandra: That would be the first Brangus. [laughs]
Dr. Joe: -I'll let you go with Brangus. You'll be -the first Brangus vote. There is a Brahmin on there, but there is no Brangus yet.
Alexandra: I'm going with the Brangus.
Dr. Joe: She's going with the Brangus. Brangus is the choice. It's disappointing. I already allowed Belgian Blue on the list, and now I have to allow Brangus.
Alexandra: [laughs] Belgian Blue? Those are an interesting choice.
Dr. Joe: Yes. It's the wrong choice. That was Samuel if you could guess.
Alexandra: Have you ever tried a Belgian Blue?
Dr. Joe: I've never eaten a Belgian Blue.
Alexandra: Might be delicious.
Dr. Joe: I'm also a veterinarian, so I'm obligated to not like Belgian Blues because of the dystocia and calving issues that come along with it.
Alexandra: That's legitimate.
Dr. Joe: Yes, exactly.
Alexandra: Just like my choice is legitimate.
Dr. Joe: Your choice is legitimate.
Alexandra: Most likely to die from heat stress.
Dr. Joe: I have added it to the list. Okay, let's run down the totals. Black Angus at 12, Hereford at 8, Black Baldy 4, Scottish Highlander 3, Belted Galloway 2, Red Angus 2, and all with 1, Stabilizer, Gelbvieh, Brahmin, Keyaninya, Charolais, Simmental, Nelore, Jersey, Normande, Shorthorn, Belgian Blue and now Brangus. Okay, we've had enough fun today. I know this has been a completely different episode than usual. We have talked to my family instead of doing anything else. Only stayed on topic most of the time, I think, maybe.
As you all know, if you have comments, questions, scathing rebuttals to this episode, you can contact us at themoosroom@umn.edu, T-H-E-M-O-O-S-R-O-O-M@umn.edu. Visit our website extension.umn.edu. Check us out on Twitter @umnmoosroom and @umnfarmsafety. If you want to see Bradley doing some crazy stuff on Instagram, you can check that out @umnwcrocdairy. Thank you for listening, everybody. We'll catch you next week. Hey Lachlan, what sound does a cow make?
Lachlan: Moo, moo, moo.
Dr. Joe: Check, check, check, mike check. [mouth noises]
[cow mooing]
[00:32:04] [END OF AUDIO]
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