Herd

One of the best ways to boost beef cattle profits is to use genetics to improve the efficiency of your herd. Prioritize traits to meet the goals of your operation. This will provide as many pounds of beef as possible off every available acre at a minimal cost. Herd efficiency does not always equate with a maximum rate of gain. For example, you might be able to get more pounds per acre by putting 20 medium-sized cows on a pasture that only would support 15 big cows. Additionally, the smaller cows might improve your profitability under drought conditions because they would require fewer resources to remain reproductively fertile than the larger animals.

Pregnancy detection is a technology that is vastly under utilized in the beef industry. I have found through visiting with producers and veterinarians that only 10-20% of our cattle are checked. Most of the time when I ask why the answers are either "it doesn't pay", "I don't want to pay the vet for anything I don't have to," "it takes too long" or "the bull's out all year - it won't work". If all you're going to do to those cows when they are in the chute is preg check them, then it may not be worth it. If it takes you 5 hours to work 40 cows because you have a 40 year-old wooden headgate and an 8-foot chute, it won't be easy and the vet won't want to come back.

Consider a controlled calving season Beef producers are always on the lookout for ways to improve the profitability of their operations. Sometimes simple solutions are the best ones. For example, controlling the length of the calving season is a simple, fundamental practice that producers often overlook. Having uniform calves is a primary advantage of a controlled calving system. Research shows that producers with a greater number of uniform calves can receive significantly higher prices at auction time because they can sell more calves together.

Calves are looking good around Kentucky, and the grass held up very well during August. With high calf prices, beef producers should be able to make a nice profit this year. In cow/calf operations, profitability is directly linked to percentage of calves weaned per cow exposed. Management emphasis should focus on practices that increased the number of pregnant cows and calves born alive. In the average cow/calf outfit, most improvement can be made in the percentage of cows that become pregnant especially young (2- and 3-year old)

Spring is on its way and for spring calving herds breeding season is just around the corner. Often bulls are the forgotten animals in the cow/calf herd. With the activity of calving season, many of the "old boys" are just biding their time in the bull pen or back pasture. Getting bulls ready for the breeding season is like spring training for ball players, the better the training period the more likely they are to complete the season with good numbers. Many of you have recently purchased bulls at one of the many bull sales in the state.

Cow vaccination programs are often overlooked by producers. However, these vaccinations are important to reproductive success. Diseases that are part of the bovine respiratory disease complex can also cause abortions in cattle. Two viruses from the BRD complex implicated in abortions are Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis and Bovine Viral Diarrhea. In addition, leptospirosis (Lepto) is common in Kentucky and causes abortion in cattle. Vaccinating lactating or open cows before breeding with a high quality vaccine will reduce chances that these disease will cause a decrease in reproductive efficiency.

Biting and sucking lice can cause slow weight gain or even a gradual loss, louse-induced anemia, or lowered resistance to stresses, such as cold, wet weather. A carefully planned and timely louse control program will cut losses greatly. Both types can occur in a herd. Typically, only a small number of animals are heavily infested. A few lice survive the hot summer months on these "carrier" animals, usually bulls or older cows. The bull's longer, denser coat and heavier neck and shoulders prevent him from grooming efficiently.

For those of you who enjoy fall's showcase of color, you were probably wondering why the annual production was cut short this year. Yes, the weather had something to do with it. But it wasn't the moderate to severe drought the state experienced, as you might think. Rather, a combination of warm temperatures this summer and above-average temperatures this fall caused the leaves to change colors later than usual. Then, about the time the leaves turned from their familiar summer green to fall's reds, yellows, purples and browns, the rain finally appeared and began knocking them to the ground.

management is an important but sometimes overlooked aspect of beef cow-calf operations. A high reproductive rate in the herd increases the number of calves and can also increase weights at market. A tight breeding season can lower labor costs and the overall cost of production by increasing feed and other efficiencies. The most limiting factor of reproductive rates in Kentucky is heat stress. Some 95 percent of beef operations in the state calve in the spring and still have endophyte-infected fescue in their pastures.