  BeefTalk:
Managing Within the Circle of Life
By Kris Ringwall, Extension Beef Specialist,
NDSU Extension Service
Today is a nice calving day but ranchers know the weather on any given day
does not have to conform with last year, the year before or any other year. A
March Monday ago, I was sitting by my computer, soaking wet. The ground was
still partially frozen; it was raining cats and dogs; water was seeping into the
basement. I was to be traveling, but instead stayed home to try to dry off and
prevent a potential slide into the ditch via ice as the moisture arrived at 32
F.
We have seen many extremes this March. On the 8th, the temperature was 21
below, with dew points even lower. Just over a week later, the sun was shinning,
the air 60 degrees above with a full afternoon of outside work. And then,
nature’s thunder let us know spring is on the way.
The last time it rained this much in March was 1902, when we received more
than 3 inches. In 1897, 1904, 1929, 1945 and 1987, the average March
precipitation was more than 2 inches but less than 3. Yes, heavy rains in March
are rare.
Last year, many of our fellow cattle producers dried out, and now this year a
March rain only seen by our forefathers. Mother Nature has a plan but doesn’t
share all the details. Among all this unpredictability, someone calls and wants
to change their calving date. So when should we calf? There are more questions
than answers.
For the North Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center,
the cows are calving. Data shows with each lower degree in temperature, and
additional drops of moisture, the ability to survive becomes more questionable.
This year, unprotected calves froze to death in early March. A week later,
calves born could very well chill to death, a much slower process but with the
same end result.
Every season life and death interchange places at a fairly fast pace. How
many birds set up home, lay eggs and hatch a family, only to have one miserable
cold night take everything away. Spring rains bring life to everything,
including us, by regenerating the soils and replenishing the springs. The price:
today’s death is tomorrow’s life.
As custodians of nature’s plan, the exchange can be numbing. Every living
thing has only one goal: survive and reproduce. Regardless of the effort needed
or the impact to the individual, cows and ranchers struggle forward.
Sacrifice is not a question for the spring robin preparing to produce and
feed a nest of fledglings. Just like the robin, those questions are not even a
thought for the cow; there is only the action. And so the need to establish a
proper time to calf, balanced between enough time to grow and meet top market
dollars against life-giving and life-taking spring weather, remains. Ranchers
may turn inward, questioning their capacity to interchange with Mother Nature:
one for her, one for me, but the one for her can literally be a life-changing
moment.
The frustrations of nature challenge my inner core, but I probably don’t
understand. The robin builds a new nest, raises a new brood. The cows calve,
most of the calves grow and the ranchers of this world value again the circle of
life.
So when should we calve? The Dickinson Research Extension Center had been
holding steady at March 1. With increasing concerns for waste management, labor
and overhead expenses, the Center is focusing more on calving with less human
intervention. This year calving was backed off to start on March 11, just a week
before the 100 year rain. Next year, March 22? When should I calf? A complex
question, no simple answer.
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 BT0136.
###
Source: Kris Ringwall, (701) 483-2427, kringwal@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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Graphic --
March Precipitation 1892-2002
NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center
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Long term average
0.7 inches
Years average precipitation was greater then 2 inches
1897, 1904, 1929, 1945, and 1987
Years average precipitation was greater then 2 inches
1902
Current March precipitation
2.4 inches
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