04/20/05 Cull cows

Cull Cows Most of a rancher's thoughts this time of year concern calving, planning pasture rotations, and cattle breeding programs. But today I'm going to discuss something a little different. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back. While many rancher's spring thoughts involve calving, planning breeding programs, and calculating what's left of the haystack; maybe it would be a good time to think about your cull cow program. Most decisions concerning retired cows happen when the calves are weaned. But maybe, since up to 30% of the cattle income can be from cows that don't fit the breeding herd anymore, all of us should look at these cows a little different. Susan Casey, a master's student at University of Nevada-Reno has been researching adding income from retired cows. With a little extra cow conditioning, effort, and the help of Bob Butler, University meat plant manager, she has added substantial income to cull cows by creating new products such as beef bacon, beef ham, sausages, and salamis. The hamburger has also been changed to include new varieties such as blue cheese, mexi, cheddar cheese, and Hawaiian. The products from the whole meat cuts are possible because of the better conditioning of the cows. So maybe if you don't have a tried and tested cull cow program a little extra planning and effort to keep these cows carrying a little more weight and condition can help increase the income from them. Of course, it would really work if that extra weight can be kept on or put on without much expense. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Farmer-Stockman April 2005