Recap on Calving Season
Calving season in the Pacific Northwest is mostly in the home stretch. So what are a lot of ranchers thinking about now? I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute with my answer.
Calving season is pretty much over in the northwest. If things didn't go too well, some ranchers are probably thinking about sunny Hawaiian beaches and maybe raising hamsters that could be "calved" out in the confines of a nice warm building and fed tiny amount of hamster "grow-big." Chances are no matter what the calving season was like, most producers are thinking about next year's calf crop. That means the cows need to get bred back on time. An article in Drovers magazine by John Maday cites Rick Funston, University of Nebraska, Ph.D. saying reproduction is the most important factor in profitable beef production. A ten percent increase in the weaned calf crop, decreases breakeven price by ten dollars and increases returns by $52 per cow. Nutrition of the cow herd is the key to high conception rates and ultimately a higher number of weaned calves. One of the interesting points brought out by Dr. Funston was that cows receiving inadequate dietary energy during late pregnancy will have lower calving rates the following season even if energy intake is sufficient between calving and breeding. Basically the informative article stresses keeping cows in good shape all year long by using timely weaning, matching calving and breeding with range forage production and utilizing protein or energy supplementation if needed. Estrus synchronization might also be an option to shorten the calving season. I'm Jeff Keane.
