August 3, 2021 | Vol. 14 : No. 7
Spaying feedlot or stocker heifers may seem like just an extra step on the road to producing beef, but according to Travis Allen, a veterinarian specializing in beef animal health, the fairly simple process gives ranchers additional management options and saves work down the road.
When considering traits that influence cow efficiency and adaptability, it only makes sense to look at hair-shedding. University of Missouri geneticist Jared Decker said as much during a presentation to the 2021 Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium & Convention hosted June 22-25 in Des Moines, Iowa. He noted that hair-shedding is a concept that has been talked about since the 1960s. Still, this trait is sometimes confused with hair coat.
When Jim Pillen graduated from veterinary college, he went into practice and, with his father, started a 60-sow swine operation. The latter eventually grew into Pillen Family Farms (PFF), which now owns some 78,000 sows. Headquartered in Columbus, Neb., with multiple production locations in that state and South Dakota, PFF merchandizes nearly 2 million finished pigs annually. The Pillen family also owns DNA Genetics, North America’s second-largest pig genetics supplier.
Weaning calves early is a powerful management tool to reduce demands on range and pasture. By pulling the calves off the cows earlier than normal, we can cut the cows’ daily forage intake by 25% or more. While early weaning offers a lot of potential to improve performance and cut costs on the cow side, the disadvantage of weaning calves early is that we’re faced with the choice of either selling a lighter-than-normal calf that will bring in less total dollars or taking on the challenge of feeding 4- to 6-month-old calves.
Weaning can be stressful. On our ranch, we started fenceline weaning 35 years ago — separating cows from calves, but in adjacent pens or pastures so they could still get next to each other. It was a little easier on them than the “cold turkey” weaning we did earlier, weaning calves into a corral and taking their mothers to a far pasture. However, they still bawled a lot and were upset.
Be careful what you ask for. University of Kentucky researcher Ben Crites reminded beef cattle breeders to be careful about selection for increased milk. Making a presentation during the 2021 Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium & Convention hosted June 22-25 in Des Moines, Iowa, Crites said selection emphasis on milk expected progeny difference values typically delivers more than heavier-milking cows. More milk can mean heavier weaning weights, but it can also come at significant cost.
Seedstock breeders and commercial cattle producers often apply genetic selection for calving ease to reduce calving difficulty among first-calf heifers. Scrutiny may be applied to selection of replacement females and the sires to which they are mated. According to Gary Bennett, a recently retired U.S. Meat Animal Research Center scientist, direct or indirect selection of calving ease often results in decreased birth weight of calves. However, what might be the consequences when heifer calves are selected on the basis of their genetic potential for easier calving and lighter birth weight?
