Feedlot Health 2020 - Producer Selection Letter USDA Template

Animal and Plant
Health Inspection
Service
Veterinary Services
Strategy & Policy
Center for
Epidemiology and
Animal Health
Natural Resources
Research Center
2150 Centre
Avenue
Building B
Mail Stop 2E3
Fort Collins, CO
80526-8117
970- 494-7200

Dear Sir or Madam:

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I’m writing to let you know that you have been selected to represent your fellow producers and
participate in an important new study being conducted by the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA). In September 2020, the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System
(NAHMS) in conjunction with USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), will launch the
Health Management on U.S. Feedlots 2020 study. The need and objectives for this study were
developed in collaboration with the feedlot industry.
NAHMS periodically conducts national studies on the health and management practices of U.S.
livestock, including goats, swine, dairy cattle, beef cattle, horses, bison, and sheep. NAHMS has
conducted 2 studies of U.S. feedlots in the last 10 years: a comprehensive study of feedlot health
and health management in 2011 and a study concentrating on antimicrobial use and stewardship
practices in 2017. The current study will also be a focused study intended to capture a snapshot of
cattle health and management practices on U.S. feedlots in 2020 and allowing for an evaluation of
trends over time in these topics.
You are one of a select number of feedlot producers in your State chosen to participate in this study.
Your participation in this study is voluntary, and involves the completion of 2 questionnaires. No
biological samples will be collected. This study is being conducted under strong confidentiality laws
that allow us to guarantee the protection of your individual responses. Your responses will be used
only in combination with other responses from producers like you to report regional and national
statistical estimates. Data collectors and analysts are required by law to complete training on
confidentiality and are subject to substantial penalties for disclosing individual data, including fines
and/or jail time.
Enclosed is information that describes this study in more detail. If you decide to participate in the
study and return the enclosed consent form, a mail-out questionnaire will be sent to you for
completion at a time that is convenient for you and return by mail. If you do not return the consent
form and/or questionnaire by mail, a NASS representative will telephone you to see if you would like
to participate and arrange for a convenient time and place to complete the Phase I questionnaire
with you between September x and December x, 2020. Producers that choose to continue in the
study will be visited by representatives from USDA’s Veterinary Services (VS) or the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (for producers in California) to complete the Phase II
questionnaire.
Your voluntary participation is essential to the success of this important study. By participating, you
will help provide valuable information on feedlot health and management practices in our country.
Thank you in advance for your participation and for all of your contributions to the success of the
U.S. feedlot industry.
Sincerely,

Amy Delgado, MS DVM PhD
Director, Monitoring and Modeling
USDA:APHIS:VS: Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health
Phone Number (970) 494-7000
Enclosure (1)