Calving

Strategic Bull Selection

Strategic Bull Selection.  By Jaclyn Krymowski. Breeding season - and the work that leads to it - is a crucial time for a ranch. The decisions made here directly impact calving and sale season results.As you identify goals and ambitions and create a map to get there, it is imperative to have herd sires...

Beef Cow Nutrition Before and After Calving

Beef Cow Nutrition Before and After Calving. By John W. Comerford - Professor Emeritus of Animal Science - Pennsylvania State University. Supplying adequate nutrition to the cow is critical during the 60 days prior to calving and immediately after calving.Beef cattle are the scavengers of the livestock...

Common Calving Issues and how to Avoid Them

Common Calving Issues and how to Avoid ThemBy Jaclyn KrymowskiThere may be no more special time on the ranch than calving season. This next generation represents a culmination of time and energy invested in your breeding program and preparing for the future.And while this season is full of excitement and hopes, it is...

Should You Invest in Cattle Facilities for Your Operation?

Should You Invest in Cattle Facilities for Your Operation? By Jessica Graham.In the cattle industry we’re always trying to stay up-to-date and improve our profitability and operations. We take a portion of our profits and we reinvest it back into our herd, ranch, and farm. One of the ways some producers are...

Should You Invest in Cattle Facilities for Your Operation?

Should You Invest in Cattle Facilities for Your Operation? By Jessica Graham. In the cattle industry we’re always trying to stay up-to-date and improve our profitability and operations. We take a portion of our profits and we reinvest it back into our herd, ranch, and farm. One of the ways some...

Here’s How to Set Up Your Cows and Calves for Long-Term Success

Here’s How to Set Up Your Cows and Calves for Long-Term Success.  Shorting cows on quality mineral supplement during the third trimester could be a wreck waiting to happen.  Article by Riomax®The drought’s been bad, and not just this year. It’s been dry for several years and weaning...

Reproduction starts with Nutrition

 Reproduction starts with Nutrition By Jaclyn Krymowski Reproduction and parturition are perhaps the two most demanding life processes we, or nature, can demand of an animal. While these functions are certainly hardwired, built into the very nature of living things, they are also rather delicate, able...

To Cull or Not to Cull

 To Cull or Not to Cull. By Bruce Derksen. The main goal of most cow calf producers is to make a profit and the easiest way to reach this goal is to wean a productive and healthy calf each year from each female exposed to a bull.  To improve overall herd performance and profitability, those animals...

Calving Season Priorities

 Calving Season Priorities By Bruce Derksen for American Cattlemen MagazineThe priority at calving time is to first deliver a live calf from each pregnant female and then to kick-start that calf through the beginning stage of its life in a healthy fashion.  Numerous factors attack this goal including...

Consider The Option of Indoor Housing for your Cattle

 Consider The Option of Indoor Housing for your Cattle By Bruce Derksen for American Cattlemen Years ago, when you drove down the country roads in your area, you would likely see a hip roofed barn on each property housing the standard handful of dairy cows, dozen or more hogs and the obligatory chicken...

Planning for the Calving Season

Planning for the Calving SeasonHaving a plan and preparing ahead of time for the calving season can help to minimize calf loss.For some calving season is here, while for others, the start of the calving season is still a few months away. The following are practices to consider in preparing for the upcoming calving...

The Most Valuable Investment in the Beef Herd - The Bull

 The Most Valuable Investment in the Beef Herd - The Bull  Originally written by John Comerford Beef producers are responsible for numerous purchases for the cattle enterprise. They often purchase feed, minerals, equipment, and other supplies that many times are promised to be the “best investment...

Starting and Managing a Defined Calving Season

 Starting and Managing a Defined Calving Season By Justin Rhinehart, Assistant Professor and UT Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Science Why is a calving season important? Of all the management practices used to improve both the economic success and performance of cow-calf production, having a...

Calving Your Beef Cows

Calving Your Beef CowsBy Larry Tranel, Dairy/Beef and Forage specialist  Beef cow/calf producers in the Midwest are quite traditional in their fondness for latewinter calving and selling feeder calves off pasture come fall. That tradition can be questioned as to whether that is the best practice for a particular...

Weaning: Low Stress, Common Sense

By: Travis Meteer, University of Illinois  Weaning is arguably the most stressful event in a calf's life. Combining stressors at weaning can inhibit immune response triggering health problems and shut off gains. Fortunately, cattle producers can understand stressing events and manage against the freeway pile-...

What's Your Calf Crop Percentage?

By Rick Rasby, Beef Specialist, University of Nebraska     Calf Crop Percentage may be the most important production calculation that a cow/calf producer can record.The reason for this statement is that Calf Crop Percentage has both an input and output component. Inputs include genetic selection,...

Now is a great time to evaluate your beef cow feeding program

Dr. Alan S. Vaage Ph.D.Calving is an ideal time to evaluate whether your beef cow TMR feeding program has been meeting your requirements by making some key nutritional observations.Body condition:  Research has shown that beef cows do best when they calve in moderate body condition, neither thin nor fat. ...

Customer Care at it’s Core

Running a profitable business is anything but easy in today’s world, especially an agribusiness. If you do things right, you will succeed. If not, profitability—or lack thereof—can make you fail. You can try to control it or it can control you. And for many mid to large ranching operations,...

TMR Corner: Change Your TMR Formulation Before Calving Starts

Spring calving season is approaching for many producers in North America and, especially for those in the more northerly areas, it is approaching the time when it is recommended to switch from a lower energy, mid gestation (non-lactating) maintenance ration to a higher energy, late gestation/calving ration. In this...

Avoiding Calving Problems

Beef heifers experience calving difficulty, or dystocia, more frequently than do mature cows. Dystocia is characterized by prolonged or difficult labor due to heavy birthweight and/or small pelvic area of the dam. Death of these calves, and sometimes their dams, is a result of injuries received during difficult...