Had heifer calve the other day out of the wind in the straw and just pulled up with the tractor as she was finished. She was a good momma, so I left her over night to tend to her calf. The next day it was obvious that the calf had not sucked so we brought her in to get her started. The calf was strong and all she needed was a little help. While the cow was in the chute, I clicked on the weigh scale. She was awfully empty but weighed a whopping 760 pounds. I scale the calves with one of those foot tapes so I might be a bit off from time to time but what do you think this heifer calf weighed. 86 pounds. That's a little over 11% of her body weight. Let's do the math on a typical 1100 pound heifer and predict the calving ease. Do you think an 1100 pound heifer would kick out a 121 pound calf and get up and mother the darn thing.
Here is a little article on cow size for you all.
Maximizing Value of Forage
A ranch manager once said, “I am a grass producer, not a cattle producer. Cattle are the means
of deriving value from my grass.” In the land-based cattle world, grass is the basic unit of
production. Measuring grazing forage in terms of animal-unit-months (AUM’s) provides a way
to determine total capacity and manage production levels for your land resource. For simplicity,
let’s call a 1,100 # cow with a calf at her side par at 1.4 AUM’s. Two key factors of AUM
usage are mature weight and milk production of the cows. It may be possible to increase the
number of cows, and therefore calves, by moderating the mature weight and milk production of
the cows. (Consider all unintended consequences when fine-tuning genetics!) The best source
of AUM’s per acre is your local extension office.
This example shows a sample calculation of two cows with different mature weights grazing on
the same land. Keep in mind that this is an example and the variables will vary widely by breed,
operation and region. A couple things to consider: There are many variations of mature weights
and milk production levels within breeds. Reducing mature weight does not necessarily require
changing breeds. Also, other factors, such as forage density and distance to water may impact
cows of various frame sizes differently, i.e.: desert grazing in the west may not be suitable for
higher nutrient-requirement cattle. While this example shows increased value in smaller-weight
cattle, we realize this is not always the case. This example is designed to stimulate thought –
run your individual numbers!
Taken from the April 21, 2008 issue of Cattle-Fax TRENDS
which is a Cattle-Fax publication for cow-calf producers
Call 800-825525 to subscribe to this publication
Here is a little article on cow size for you all.
Maximizing Value of Forage
A ranch manager once said, “I am a grass producer, not a cattle producer. Cattle are the means
of deriving value from my grass.” In the land-based cattle world, grass is the basic unit of
production. Measuring grazing forage in terms of animal-unit-months (AUM’s) provides a way
to determine total capacity and manage production levels for your land resource. For simplicity,
let’s call a 1,100 # cow with a calf at her side par at 1.4 AUM’s. Two key factors of AUM
usage are mature weight and milk production of the cows. It may be possible to increase the
number of cows, and therefore calves, by moderating the mature weight and milk production of
the cows. (Consider all unintended consequences when fine-tuning genetics!) The best source
of AUM’s per acre is your local extension office.
This example shows a sample calculation of two cows with different mature weights grazing on
the same land. Keep in mind that this is an example and the variables will vary widely by breed,
operation and region. A couple things to consider: There are many variations of mature weights
and milk production levels within breeds. Reducing mature weight does not necessarily require
changing breeds. Also, other factors, such as forage density and distance to water may impact
cows of various frame sizes differently, i.e.: desert grazing in the west may not be suitable for
higher nutrient-requirement cattle. While this example shows increased value in smaller-weight
cattle, we realize this is not always the case. This example is designed to stimulate thought –
run your individual numbers!
Taken from the April 21, 2008 issue of Cattle-Fax TRENDS
which is a Cattle-Fax publication for cow-calf producers
Call 800-825525 to subscribe to this publication
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