Selecting and breeding cattle with desirable traits for better fertility, growth rate, feed efficiency, and carcass quality.
Crossbreeding is overlooked as a tool that has many benefits for beef producers to improve herd productivity. A well-planned crossbreeding program leads to improvements in both the calf crop and the lifetime of momma cows compared to straight bred cows.
While other articles discuss when and how to deliver calves, this one helps you assist the calf and cow in recovering from a difficult calving (dystocia). Providing post-calving care following dystocia makes a huge difference for the dam and her calf.
Setting herd goals is one of the first steps towards driving on-farm success.
Mantener un programa reproductivo exitoso en nuestra moderna operación lechera y de carne requiere dedicación. Si bien es gratificante escuchar un anuncio de preñez, no hay mucho que el encargado pueda hacer con esa información. Excepto esperar.
Para mantener su tamaño, la tasa de reemplazo anual de un hato para carne por lo general es igual a la cantidad de vacas que salen anualmente debido a la
muerte, a su comercialización o su sacrificio. Se ha sugerido una tasa de reemplazo típica del 15 % (Thomas). Entonces, para el hato promedio de vacas y becerros de Wisconsin con 25 vacas, se necesitan cuatro reemplazos por año. Los productores deben decidir entonces si adquirir reemplazos o criar sus propias vaquillas es lo mejor para sus operaciones.
Genomic testing can save beef producers time and money when deciding which heifers to retain within their herd. A comparison of two commercial heifers explains how to interpret genomic reports.
Calves born early in the calving season provide several advantages for beef cow-calf operations.
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.
It is important to determine pregnancy status so action toward the non- regnant cows can be taken.
As spring calving season wraps up for some cow-calf producers throughout the state, now is the time to take a few minutes to evaluate how the calving season shook out.
