In the News -
November 2007
Cow culling strategies offered to cattle producers
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Cow performance should be evaluated at least once a
year, and fall is a great time to take a hard look at the cowherd and make
culling decisions if necessary, says Dr. Jeremy Powell, veterinarian with the
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Culled cows make up about 20 percent of the cowherd income on an annual
basis, Powell estimates.
"Many factors can play a role in determining which cows should be culled,"
Powell says. "The most important factor is likely pregnancy status, but other
factors can help determine culling, including body condition score, calf
performance, age, temperament, lameness, teeth, udder and eye condition."
Open cows, or cows that aren't pregnant, are the greatest contributors to
poor economic efficiency in a cowherd, says Powell, and it's costly to maintain
open cows in the herd until next breeding season.
"It takes the net returns from two to three productive cows to offset the
cost of maintaining one open cow for a year," Powell says. "A common goal among
most operations is for a cow to calve every 365 days."
During your fall herd work, have your veterinarian present to palpate cows
for pregnancy or take blood samples to determine pregnancy status on your herd.
You should investigate if there are a high number of open cows in your herd.
Causes could include reproductive disease, poor bull fertility or poor cow body
condition.
Body Condition Scoring (or BCS) is another tool to help in culling decisions.
"It's important for a producer to try to maintain a uniform body condition
across the herd," Powell says. "You should determine if cows will need costly
extra supplementation going into the winter to help put on body condition before
spring.
He says there's a direct relationship in BCS at calving and follow-up
pregnancy rates among cows.
"Take a close look at factors that may be affecting poor BCS such as poor
soundness, possible disease or a bad mouth," Powell advises.
While herd genetic improvement is largely dependent on sire selection, the
dam contributes half of the genetics to the calf, he says.
Poor calf performance can be a result of poor milk production, inferior
genetics, calf illness or a combination of those factors. If poor calf
performance is mainly related to calf sickness, then the cow may still have a
productive future in the herd.
According to the data collected by the University of Arkansas Cow Herd
Performance Testing Program, poor performing cows over several calving seasons
are not likely to show greatly improved performance in future calving seasons.
Therefore, identification and culling of poor performing herd females can be
effective for improving herd performance averages.
Another important culling gauge is structural soundness of the cow. Here are
questions to ask in deciding structural soundness:
- Are her feet and legs structurally sound for ease of
movement under pasture and breeding conditions?
- Are her eyes healthy?
- Is her udder healthy with a level floor and good
suspension?
- Does she have four evenly-spaced, acceptably-sized teats?
- Does she still have teeth that will be effective for
grazing?
- Is her disposition manageable with available labor and
facilities?
The productive lifetime of a beef cow varies. As long as teeth, udders, feet
and legs are sound, many older cows are often still able to perform well.
For more information about cattle production and culling practices, contact
your county extension agent or visit www.uaex.edu and
select Agriculture, then Beef. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the
U of A Division of Agriculture.
November 30, 2007Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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