Water’s Role in Beef Cattle Production
Water is often overlooked as the most important nutrient for beef cattle.
Beef
Information about raising all types of beef in Wisconsin: production and business management, beef quality assurance, housing, well-being, nutrition, and reproduction.
Articles
Establishing alfalfa following wheat
A late summer seeding of alfalfa following a spring wheat crop is a great option to maximize seasonal productivity and fits very well as a part of a diverse crop rotation. Aside from the usual considerations when performing a late summer seeding of alfalfa, there are a few considerations to keep in mind when planting alfalfa following a wheat crop: the potential for residual herbicide damage to alfalfa and the impact of volunteer wheat.
Keep Cattle Cool and Comfortable in Summer
Introduction The latest long-range forecasts from the National Weather Service show that Wisconsin has a 40% to 50% chance of a hotter-than-normal summer. Long periods of heat stress are more likely to have lasting effects on cattle, including early embryonic loss in heifers and cows, poor semen quality in bulls, and reduced gains in feeder […]
Preliminary forage recommendations for grazing solar sites
The explosive growth of solar sites, especially large, utility-scale (>100 MW) sites that require state approval, has put solar in competition with agriculture for land use.
Composting Mortalities
Composting can be used for occasional mortality, emergency livestock mass casualties, and disease outbreaks.
Calves born early in the calving season have more value
Calves born early in the calving season provide several advantages for beef cow-calf operations.
Target Age and Weight When Breeding Beef Heifers
To maintain its size, a beef herd’s annual replacement rate typically equals the number of cows that exit annually due to death, marketing, or culling. A typical replacement rate of 15% has been suggested.
Postpartum management of beef cows
Throughout this calving season it is important to remember that continuing proper cow management is necessary for your cows to have a successful, tight calving window next year. One of the most effective ways to manage the post-partum interval is to maintain the body condition scores (BCS) of your herd.
National Beef Quality Audit – Results That Impact You
In this video Michaela Clowser, Tammy Vaassen and Bill Halfman discuss the 2022 NCBA Quality audit results with dairy and beef producers.
Herd Additions Are Risky: How to Mitigate Biosecurity Risk
As the gavel falls on your cattle purchase, do you really know what you bought? Herd additions have inherent risk. Every movement of cattle onto your cow-calf operation—be they cows, heifers, calves, or bulls—brings biosecurity risks to your farm. It is critical to isolate new additions so that any sickness they break with is not shared with your home herd.
