  BeefTalk:
Decisions Based on Data Improve Odds, Can Help with Time Crunch
By Kris Ringwall, Extension Beef Specialist,
NDSU Extension Service
The fall schedule is already
filling up. Lining up weaning pen space, trucking space and ultimately a feedlot
for the calves is a must this time of year. Working cows and calves, pulling off
those to be culled early and getting the pre-weaning vaccinations delivered also
takes time.
Time is the bottleneck that
alters plans as producers make maximum use of the hours available. Expansion of
the beef business is always a great topic, but for those involved in the guts of
the business, time often cuts those dreams short.
At the North Dakota State
University Dickinson Research Extension Center, the Aug. 7 inventory lists 431
cows, 393 calves, 141 yearling heifers, 33 bulls and one steer. These numbers
will change because of limited resources (feed) and the annual marketing of cull
cows and bulls, steer calves and excess heifer calves.
The primary August production
events have been pulling bulls the first week of August and starting the annual
pregnancy check for each group of cows on Aug. 12, 15, 20, 22, 27 and 29. We’ll
finish pregnancy checking everything except the May and June calvers on Sept. 3.
Obviously, the center staff is in the middle of checking which cows are pregnant
and assigning each cow to a calving period: the first 21 days of next year’s
calving season, or the second or third 21-day period.
All the old cows are not checked
to date, but of the 141 replacement heifers, 19 (or just over 13 percent) were
open. In addition, three heifers have bad legs (two foundered and one injured),
and two heifers have temperament problems (they just don’t like us). That means
24 heifers make the trip to the stockyard and 117 remain as potential
replacements. Seventy of these heifers are bred to Angus bulls (selected for
calving ease) through artificial insemination, and 47 are naturally bred by
Loala clean-up bulls.
As we ultrasound each heifer, a
cranial width or body length is measured on each fetus and the conception date
or age of the fetus calculated, allowing confirmation of the insemination date
or the estimation of the natural service date. The sex of the calves also could
be determined; however, the center currently does not sex the calves. The fetal
age measurement is not a difficult measurement to obtain and certainly helps
subsequent cow management.
Historically, the center has
developed all of its heifer calves, not culling until this time of year. Given
no previous culling, around 13 percent open is average. Predicting open heifers
is a waste of time. As a heifer enters the chute, a quick glance generally
prompts speculation on whether to keep or cull the heifer. However, of the 19
open, some are thin, some are fat, some are tall, some are short, some are heavy
and some are light. In the end, don’t second guess, just get the heifers
ultrasounded and sell the opens.
There are times when those open
heifers bring more dollars than the pregnant heifers do in the fall. That is
the top reason: you do not see a lot of heifer development programs starting
up.
The center is closing out the
May-June calving herd, leaving a base herd of 350 cows. The average replacement
rate for the center for the last three years has been just under 22 percent. At
22 percent, 77 yearling bred replacement heifers need to be held back and 40
heifers would move into the bred heifer market. In a strict commercial sense,
replacement rate has been running around 19 percent.
Management takes time, but
decisions based on data improve the odds in your favor--for today and the
future. May you find all your ear tags.
Your comments are always welcome at www.BeefTalk.com.
For more information, contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement
Association, 1133 State Avenue, Dickinson, ND 58601 or go to www.CHAPS2000.COM
on the Internet. In correspondence about this column, refer to BT0106.
###
Source: Kris Ringwall, (701) 483-2427, kringwal@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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