|
|
Preg Check & Call Replacement Heifers Early 02/03/10 4:10:19 PM
Some important things to rembember include:
* Sell those open heifers early
* Preg-check early
* Can palpate 40-day pregnancies
* Can blood test 30-day+ pregnancies with very reliable results
* Call for more information
Many Oklahoma ranchers choose to breed their replacement heifers
about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd. In addition, they
like to use a shortened 45 to 60 day breeding season for the
replacement heifers. The next logical step is to determine which of
these heifers failed to conceive in their first breeding season. This is
more important today than ever before.
As the bulls are being removed from the replacement heifers, this
would be an ideal time to call and make arrangements with your local
veterinarian to have those heifers evaluated for pregnancy in about
60 days. In two months, experienced palpaters should have no difficulty
identifying which heifers are pregnant and which heifers are not
pregnant (open). Those heifers that are determined to be "open" after
this breeding season should be strong candidates for culling. Culling
these heifers immediately after pregnancy checking serves three very
economically valuable purposes.
1) Identifying and culling open heifers early will remove sub-fertile
females from the herd. Lifetime cow studies from Montana indicated
that properly-developed heifers that were exposed to fertile bulls, but
DID NOT become pregnant were often sub-fertile compared to the
heifers that did not conceive. In fact, when the heifers that failed to
breed in the first breeding season were followed throughout their
lifetimes, they averaged a 55% yearly calf crop. Despite the fact that
reproduction is not a highly heritable trait, it also makes sense to
remove this genetic material from the herd so as to not proliferate
females that are difficult to get bred.
2) Culling open heifers early will reduce summer forage and winter
costs. If the rancher waits until next spring to find out which heifers
do not calve, the pasture use and winter feed expense will still be
lost and there will be no calf to help eventually pay the bills. This is
money that can be better spent in properly feeding cows that are
pregnant and will be producing a salable product the following fall.
3) Identifying the open heifers shortly after (60 days) the breeding
season is over will allow for marketing the heifers while still young
enough to go to a feedlot and be fed for the choice beef market.
Currently yearling 850-900 pound heifers are selling for $85-90/cwt.
Therefore, an 850 pound non-pregnant, culled replacement heifer is
worth about $765. The grading change of several years ago has a
great impact on the merchandising of culled replacement heifers. "B"
maturity carcasses (those estimated to be 30 months of age or older)
require considerably more marbling to be allowed to be graded
choice. In addition because of the BSE scare, meat products from
cattle approaching 30 months of age cannot enter many international
markets. Non-pregnant two-year old cows are selling for about
$65-68/cwt. Open two-year old cows (those that could have been
identified shortly after the breeding season) that weigh 1000 pounds
would be expected to sell for about $680 next spring. The average
expense for owning the cow is at least $1/day. So the total loss of
keeping the open heifer until next spring would be about $200 in feed,
forage, and other expenses, plus another $85 in lost value.
The grand total expense for not culling open replacement heifers in
today's market is about $285/head. Therefore, it is imperative to send
heifers to the market or the feedlot while they are young enough to be
fed for 4 to 5 months and not be near the "B" maturity group. Feedlot
order buyers will be especially leery of heifers that may be near 20
months of age, because of the risk of "B" maturity beef that receives
a considerable discount when harvested at the packing plant OR
because of the potential loss of the Japanese market. Certainly the
percentage of open heifers will vary from ranch to ranch. Do not be
concerned if after a good heifer development program and adequate
breeding season you find that 10% of the heifers still are not bred.
These are the very heifers that you want to identify early and remove
from the herd. It just makes good economic business sense to identify
and cull non-pregnant replacement heifers as soon as possible.
|
Some important things to rembember include:
* Sell those open heifers early
* Preg-check early
* Can palpate 40-day pregnancies
* Can blood test 30-day+ pregnancies with very reliable results
* Call for more information
Many Oklahoma ranchers choose to breed their replacement heifers
about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd. In addition, they
like to use a shortened 45 to 60 day breeding season for the
replacement heifers. The next logical step is to determine which of
these heifers failed to conceive in their first breeding season. This is
more important today than ever before.
As the bulls are being removed from the replacement heifers, this
would be an ideal time to call and make arrangements with your local
veterinarian to have those heifers evaluated for pregnancy in about
60 days. In two months, experienced palpaters should have no difficulty
identifying which heifers are pregnant and which heifers are not
pregnant (open). Those heifers that are determined to be "open" after
this breeding season should be strong candidates for culling. Culling
these heifers immediately after pregnancy checking serves three very
economically valuable purposes.
1) Identifying and culling open heifers early will remove sub-fertile
females from the herd. Lifetime cow studies from Montana indicated
that properly-developed heifers that were exposed to fertile bulls, but
DID NOT become pregnant were often sub-fertile compared to the
heifers that did not conceive. In fact, when the heifers that failed to
breed in the first breeding season were followed throughout their
lifetimes, they averaged a 55% yearly calf crop. Despite the fact that
reproduction is not a highly heritable trait, it also makes sense to
remove this genetic material from the herd so as to not proliferate
females that are difficult to get bred.
2) Culling open heifers early will reduce summer forage and winter
costs. If the rancher waits until next spring to find out which heifers
do not calve, the pasture use and winter feed expense will still be
lost and there will be no calf to help eventually pay the bills. This is
money that can be better spent in properly feeding cows that are
pregnant and will be producing a salable product the following fall.
3) Identifying the open heifers shortly after (60 days) the breeding
season is over will allow for marketing the heifers while still young
enough to go to a feedlot and be fed for the choice beef market.
Currently yearling 850-900 pound heifers are selling for $85-90/cwt.
Therefore, an 850 pound non-pregnant, culled replacement heifer is
worth about $765. The grading change of several years ago has a
great impact on the merchandising of culled replacement heifers. "B"
maturity carcasses (those estimated to be 30 months of age or older)
require considerably more marbling to be allowed to be graded
choice. In addition because of the BSE scare, meat products from
cattle approaching 30 months of age cannot enter many international
markets. Non-pregnant two-year old cows are selling for about
$65-68/cwt. Open two-year old cows (those that could have been
identified shortly after the breeding season) that weigh 1000 pounds
would be expected to sell for about $680 next spring. The average
expense for owning the cow is at least $1/day. So the total loss of
keeping the open heifer until next spring would be about $200 in feed,
forage, and other expenses, plus another $85 in lost value.
The grand total expense for not culling open replacement heifers in
today's market is about $285/head. Therefore, it is imperative to send
heifers to the market or the feedlot while they are young enough to be
fed for 4 to 5 months and not be near the "B" maturity group. Feedlot
order buyers will be especially leery of heifers that may be near 20
months of age, because of the risk of "B" maturity beef that receives
a considerable discount when harvested at the packing plant OR
because of the potential loss of the Japanese market. Certainly the
percentage of open heifers will vary from ranch to ranch. Do not be
concerned if after a good heifer development program and adequate
breeding season you find that 10% of the heifers still are not bred.
These are the very heifers that you want to identify early and remove
from the herd. It just makes good economic business sense to identify
and cull non-pregnant replacement heifers as soon as possible.
|
Some important things to rembember include:
* Sell those open heifers early
* Preg-check early
* Can palpate 40-day pregnancies
* Can blood test 30-day+ pregnancies with very reliable results
* Call for more information
Many Oklahoma ranchers choose to breed their replacement heifers
about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd. In addition, they
like to use a shortened 45 to 60 day breeding season for the
replacement heifers. The next logical step is to determine which of
these heifers failed to conceive in their first breeding season. This is
more important today than ever before.
As the bulls are being removed from the replacement heifers, this
would be an ideal time to call and make arrangements with your local
veterinarian to have those heifers evaluated for pregnancy in about
60 days. In two months, experienced palpaters should have no difficulty
identifying which heifers are pregnant and which heifers are not
pregnant (open). Those heifers that are determined to be "open" after
this breeding season should be strong candidates for culling. Culling
these heifers immediately after pregnancy checking serves three very
economically valuable purposes.
1) Identifying and culling open heifers early will remove sub-fertile
females from the herd. Lifetime cow studies from Montana indicated
that properly-developed heifers that were exposed to fertile bulls, but
DID NOT become pregnant were often sub-fertile compared to the
heifers that did not conceive. In fact, when the heifers that failed to
breed in the first breeding season were followed throughout their
lifetimes, they averaged a 55% yearly calf crop. Despite the fact that
reproduction is not a highly heritable trait, it also makes sense to
remove this genetic material from the herd so as to not proliferate
females that are difficult to get bred.
2) Culling open heifers early will reduce summer forage and winter
costs. If the rancher waits until next spring to find out which heifers
do not calve, the pasture use and winter feed expense will still be
lost and there will be no calf to help eventually pay the bills. This is
money that can be better spent in properly feeding cows that are
pregnant and will be producing a salable product the following fall.
3) Identifying the open heifers shortly after (60 days) the breeding
season is over will allow for marketing the heifers while still young
enough to go to a feedlot and be fed for the choice beef market.
Currently yearling 850-900 pound heifers are selling for $85-90/cwt.
Therefore, an 850 pound non-pregnant, culled replacement heifer is
worth about $765. The grading change of several years ago has a
great impact on the merchandising of culled replacement heifers. "B"
maturity carcasses (those estimated to be 30 months of age or older)
require considerably more marbling to be allowed to be graded
choice. In addition because of the BSE scare, meat products from
cattle approaching 30 months of age cannot enter many international
markets. Non-pregnant two-year old cows are selling for about
$65-68/cwt. Open two-year old cows (those that could have been
identified shortly after the breeding season) that weigh 1000 pounds
would be expected to sell for about $680 next spring. The average
expense for owning the cow is at least $1/day. So the total loss of
keeping the open heifer until next spring would be about $200 in feed,
forage, and other expenses, plus another $85 in lost value.
The grand total expense for not culling open replacement heifers in
today's market is about $285/head. Therefore, it is imperative to send
heifers to the market or the feedlot while they are young enough to be
fed for 4 to 5 months and not be near the "B" maturity group. Feedlot
order buyers will be especially leery of heifers that may be near 20
months of age, because of the risk of "B" maturity beef that receives
a considerable discount when harvested at the packing plant OR
because of the potential loss of the Japanese market. Certainly the
percentage of open heifers will vary from ranch to ranch. Do not be
concerned if after a good heifer development program and adequate
breeding season you find that 10% of the heifers still are not bred.
These are the very heifers that you want to identify early and remove
from the herd. It just makes good economic business sense to identify
and cull non-pregnant replacement heifers as soon as possible.
|
Some important things to rembember include:
* Sell those open heifers early
* Preg-check early
* Can palpate 40-day pregnancies
* Can blood test 30-day+ pregnancies with very reliable results
* Call for more information
Many Oklahoma ranchers choose to breed their replacement heifers
about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd. In addition, they
like to use a shortened 45 to 60 day breeding season for the
replacement heifers. The next logical step is to determine which of
these heifers failed to conceive in their first breeding season. This is
more important today than ever before.
As the bulls are being removed from the replacement heifers, this
would be an ideal time to call and make arrangements with your local
veterinarian to have those heifers evaluated for pregnancy in about
60 days. In two months, experienced palpaters should have no difficulty
identifying which heifers are pregnant and which heifers are not
pregnant (open). Those heifers that are determined to be "open" after
this breeding season should be strong candidates for culling. Culling
these heifers immediately after pregnancy checking serves three very
economically valuable purposes.
1) Identifying and culling open heifers early will remove sub-fertile
females from the herd. Lifetime cow studies from Montana indicated
that properly-developed heifers that were exposed to fertile bulls, but
DID NOT become pregnant were often sub-fertile compared to the
heifers that did not conceive. In fact, when the heifers that failed to
breed in the first breeding season were followed throughout their
lifetimes, they averaged a 55% yearly calf crop. Despite the fact that
reproduction is not a highly heritable trait, it also makes sense to
remove this genetic material from the herd so as to not proliferate
females that are difficult to get bred.
2) Culling open heifers early will reduce summer forage and winter
costs. If the rancher waits until next spring to find out which heifers
do not calve, the pasture use and winter feed expense will still be
lost and there will be no calf to help eventually pay the bills. This is
money that can be better spent in properly feeding cows that are
pregnant and will be producing a salable product the following fall.
3) Identifying the open heifers shortly after (60 days) the breeding
season is over will allow for marketing the heifers while still young
enough to go to a feedlot and be fed for the choice beef market.
Currently yearling 850-900 pound heifers are selling for $85-90/cwt.
Therefore, an 850 pound non-pregnant, culled replacement heifer is
worth about $765. The grading change of several years ago has a
great impact on the merchandising of culled replacement heifers. "B"
maturity carcasses (those estimated to be 30 months of age or older)
require considerably more marbling to be allowed to be graded
choice. In addition because of the BSE scare, meat products from
cattle approaching 30 months of age cannot enter many international
markets. Non-pregnant two-year old cows are selling for about
$65-68/cwt. Open two-year old cows (those that could have been
identified shortly after the breeding season) that weigh 1000 pounds
would be expected to sell for about $680 next spring. The average
expense for owning the cow is at least $1/day. So the total loss of
keeping the open heifer until next spring would be about $200 in feed,
forage, and other expenses, plus another $85 in lost value.
The grand total expense for not culling open replacement heifers in
today's market is about $285/head. Therefore, it is imperative to send
heifers to the market or the feedlot while they are young enough to be
fed for 4 to 5 months and not be near the "B" maturity group. Feedlot
order buyers will be especially leery of heifers that may be near 20
months of age, because of the risk of "B" maturity beef that receives
a considerable discount when harvested at the packing plant OR
because of the potential loss of the Japanese market. Certainly the
percentage of open heifers will vary from ranch to ranch. Do not be
concerned if after a good heifer development program and adequate
breeding season you find that 10% of the heifers still are not bred.
These are the very heifers that you want to identify early and remove
from the herd. It just makes good economic business sense to identify
and cull non-pregnant replacement heifers as soon as possible.
|
|
|
|
