How ASTLQ Has Influenced Our Practice...

Abstract

The evolution of veterinary services that we offer to our food animal clients in the various aspects of herd . health is not only influenced by our acquired knowledge and competence but is also driven by the socio-economic aspects of each region. Radostits (1989) has clearly described this pattern of evolution of veterinary services in food animal practice. Industrialization and expansion of the cities, for example, has been delayed for Quebec in comparison with some other areas of the continent meaning that the growth of the demand for dairy products was also retarded.

Quebec's dairy industry may be characterized, from the point of view of veterinary services, in different ways. The average dairy herd in our province was still in the range of 43 cows in 1996 (Agriculture Canada) and many of our dairy operations rely on income from crop or other animal productions. Nevertheless, Quebec accounts for nearly 40% of the country's dairy cow population. Quebec's dairy producers have had restricted access over the years, especially through published information in English, to the common trends that have influenced the dairy industry elsewhere in North America.

Furthermore, veterinary farm services have been subsidized by the Quebec government since 1971 by means of the ASAQ program. At its inception, the program had two main objectives. The first was to make veterinary services available to the food animal industry at a uniform cost irrespective of the geographic location within the province. It was also intended to provide producers with veterinary drugs at a standardized markup and to promote their "rational and adequate usage". One of the most significant consequences of this program has been the emergence of many multi-veterinary practices across the province.

The combined effect of these different aspects is that Quebec still has smaller dairy operations that are serviced by some of the largest veterinary practices in Canada. Group practices allow diversification of the professional services available to the clientele and it has been the clear trend in Quebec over the last twenty years. I believe the ASTLQ project has been one of the crowning accomplishments of the evolution of veterinary practice to date in the province. The group is a culmination of the efforts of more than 120 practitioners from 39 different practices that funded the original research project. The objective was to develop specific tools adapted to the needs of Quebec's dairy practitioners. This was achieved through the adaptation of a software program (DSA) with, at its core an individual animal health file compiled in a herd file, a structured continuing education program as well as the development and testing of new performance indicators for dairy herds.

Since 1994, ASTLQ has become a service, supported by its users, designed to make the practitioner a valuable and competent member of the management team of a dairy herd by being proactive both at the level of the routine on-farm clinical activities as well as by playing a role in management decisions.