The onslaught of a wet, cold winter, several blizzards, and unbelievable flooding has caused some Midwest cattle producers to re-examine the timing of future calving seasons.
Alleyways are used not only for livestock movement, but for cattle "storage." But cattle don’t like to be crowded, and remaining in alleyways until processing makes the corral experience bad, and makes cattle harder to work next time.
NASS reports in the 2017 Census of Agriculture that 36% of U.S. farms have beef cows, with the average herd size 43.5 head. Smaller operations, however, are declining.
Stephanie Hatzenbuhler said calving has been better than expected this year, but it's no picnic. "You have to kind of play along with Mother Nature, what's she's giving you," she told The Bismarck Tribune.
Cull cow prices are sharing in the Spring cattle price rally. Normally, cull cow prices increase from the Fall into late Spring, and that increase is well underway.
Every year at "preg" checking time, ranchers evaluate cows and make decisions as which to remove from the herd. One criteria that should be examined to cull cows is udder quality.
