Cow-Calf

With calving season nearly wrapped up and pairs being turned out to green grass, breeding season will begin before long.

As grass leases continue to get harder to find and more expensive to acquire, and drought continues, cow/calf producers are showing more and more interest in feeding pairs in a confinement system.

Creep feeding must be carefully appraised in view of economics of cost of gain, potential market, and the influence on sale price of the calves.

Maximizing the proportion of cows that conceive early in the breeding season cannot be overemphasized in a beef herd.

Cattle producers are invited to attend a field day at the Mingo Farm in St. James, Mo., to learn how to use natural shade to improve their beef operation.

The 38th sale of Show-Me-Select bred heifers averaged $1752 for 191 head on May 18. The sale was held at Joplin Regional Stockyards, Carthage.

In 2017, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine initiated a state-wide Kansas cow-calf anaplasmosis prevalence study.

“Heritability” is that portion of the difference in the performance of cattle that is due to genetics.

Research has shown that calves from cows that shed their winter hair coat earlier tend to weigh more at weaning.

Severe frostbite or other injuries that occurred in March may be affecting bulls now.

For more than half of the last decade, the U.S. beef cow herd continued a nearly uninterrupted liquidation that began in 1996 and continued until 2014. 

As branding season approaches, consider using calfhood implants as a management strategy to maximize returns.

A defined breeding/calving season results in a more uniformed calf crop and more management options for both large and small herds

Now we have another good excuse to cull cows due to bad temperament.

As the breeding season for spring calving herds is now underway, understanding heat stress in cattle takes on increased importance.

Especially in times of drought or emergency feeding, producers have to consider which is more efficient to feed the herd: drylot feeding or hauling purchased forage.

During periods of herd expansion, the heifer percentage of yearling slaughter drops to roughly 31 percent and during periods of herd liquidation, heifers will contribute about 40 percent to total yearling slaughter.

Cattle grazing is not simply opening a gate and herding a group of cows into the pasture.

Drought conditions and wildfires in the southern Plains have erased any ideas of expansion in the region, further pressuring female prices.

If done properly, one or two people can gather even large herds of cattle in pastures in one day and miss none.