Is Your Calving Season Too Long?

Question of the Week: What’s the reason behind the length of your calving season?

Jordan Thomas joins the podcast this week to discuss some economics around late-bred cows and calving season length. My question for you is why is your calving season as long or short as it is?

Take a few moments to think about this. Is it because of weather, labor challenges, when you can sell your calves, or because that’s what you’ve always done?

Whether you already have a short, highly-managed system or are wanting to improve this; it is important to take a step back and question why we do things to stay on track.

Is Your Calving Season Too Long

Jordan Thomas joins the show from Missouri to discuss the importance of reproductively sound females and why they influence the profitability of your cow herd and overall ranch. Jordan is a faculty member at the University of Missouri and is passionate about beef reproduction. He finds value in looking at beef systems as a whole and how each segment impacts the performance of another. Thomas dives into the topics of managed vs. unmanaged reproduction systems, the value of defined calving periods, and how late-calving or open cows impact profit in this podcast episode.

Managed vs. Unmanaged Reproduction Programs

There are a few ways to think about what a managed reproduction system looks like. Thomas offers the example of how creating a defined calving season is often the first tier of creating a managed reproduction program to eliminate calving year around. Thomas suggests that the second tier of creating a managed reproduction system looks like determining how short you can make your calving season as a cattle producer. Ultimately, managed reproduction systems are as simple as being intentional about why and when you turn bulls out and for how long. They can also be more complex depending on the operation.

The Value of Defined Calving Periods

As Thomas discusses the value of defined calving periods, he explains how this impacts calf weight and performance. A 60-day calving period is one of the common lengths of a defined calving period and 45 days is considered shorter but also an example. 45 and 60 days do not seem to be a long time in the grand scheme of a year. However, the modern beef calf gains around 2 pounds per day from birth to weaning. If you do the math and compare calves born on day one to calves born on day 60, that is a difference of about 120 pounds in weight. For a 45-day calving period, it’s a difference of around 90 pounds. Keeping calving periods shorter and defined allows for a more uniform calf crop when it comes time to sell calves. That 90-100 pound difference adds up for commercial cattle producers on sale day. 

The Cycle of Late-bred Cows

Thomas takes time to discuss how keeping and re-breeding late or open cows can impact your defined calving season as well as if you should only sell open cows or sell bred cows as well. Thomas provides an example of 2 cows calving on different dates. 1 cow calves on day 1 of the calving season and the other calves on day 45. The cow that calves early has 82 days to prepare for rebreeding and be cycling to calve during the same calving period next year. The cow that calved on day 45 only has 37 days to prepare for the start of the breeding season and be cycling. Cows typically are not cycling 37 days post-partum. So, the cow that calved on day 45 is most likely going to be a late calver again, depending on when she starts cycling again. 

Economically speaking, Thomas says cattle producers can look at opportunities to sell late-bred cows and heifers to keep their calving season the appropriate length and eliminate the cycle of females that calve later and later each year. 

At the end of the day it comes down to knowing what goals you have for your operation, what your restraints are for labor and inputs and what management decisions will work best for you. Take a few minutes to remove any barriers in your mind and think about what could change for the better on your operation and what step you can take this week to start that process.