Replacing heifers based on visual phenotype and genetic merit, rather than early screening, leaves potential long-term herd retention on the table, University of Missouri animal scientist Jordan Thomas says.
Cow-Calf
Reframing the view on heifer retention
Expanded screening tools can take the guesswork out of choosing replacement heifers
How to manage Salmonella dublin on a cow-calf operation
Animal Health: The salmonella strain has become more common in Canada
Salmonella dublin is adapted to live in cattle, which remain the most important reservoir of this strain of the bacteria. It is also a strain of salmonella that’s very difficult to treat because it tends to be multi-drug resistant and will not respond to antibiotic therapy.
Feed an all-star diet to your beef cows after calving
Better Bunks & Pastures: It pays to invest in cows to get them from calving to their next pregnancy
For a cow to feed a calf and retain its own body condition requires a good solid intake of essential nutrients. First-calf heifers also need more of the same nutrients to gain a couple of hundred pounds of weight as they grow into maturity.
Castration via banding makes gains in popularity, safety
Animal Health: Pain relief in the bands can make the experience less irritating for young calves
The first castration banders were likely developed to replace knife or scalpel castration. They were easy to use and eliminated the complications of infections and blood loss. Castration with a knife or scalpel is harder to master and animal welfare issues must be considered. Banders have been around for a while; I recently saw an […] Read more
Calving season: Timing and transition
Beef producers talk about their motivations for changing calving timing
For many cow-calf producers, calving season is a favourite time of year. After waiting 283 days, farmers are finally able to see the result of their breeding decisions as well as welcome a new crop of animals that will likely become a large portion of their annual revenue. Looking at survey data over the past […] Read more
Feed Grain Weekly: Barley, corn in southern Alberta on par with each other
Feed barley and corn imported from the United States are currently trading at the same price into southern Alberta, said Lethbridge-based Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers.
It’s not too late to creep-feed spring calves
Better Bunks and Pastures: Analysis says this could be a highly profitable year to creep-feed calves
A friend of mine operates a 300-cow-calf operation. This year, he put out his creep feeders during the end of July and his March-born calves really haven’t eaten much creep-feed in the last month. That’s because his pastures are still lush and his cows are milking well. He joked that he is ready to lock […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle market stabilizes
For the week ending August 31, Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were relatively unchanged compared to seven days earlier. Finishing feedlots are exuding a cautious sentiment. While order buyers had a full deck, there were upside limits. Pen-sized strings of quality yearlings traded at a premium to average values. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle […] Read more
Creating calf creep water tubs
Calves get their own water source while their trough is out of order
This spring we had to find a way to supply water to our baby calves. The pastures where we have our cow-calf pairs in the spring and early summer are fenced away from the creek, to avoid the risk of having a young calf swept away by high water. When we first moved onto this […] Read more
A rainy May slows down seeding
Eppich News: The rhythm of the ranch rises with cattle to move, foals born and visitors
On April 29 was Joseph’s seventh birthday party. The day before, we had a surprise for him: we loaded up the family, picked up Gregory’s sister, Theresa, and went to the rodeo in North Battleford. It was Joseph’s first rodeo and while his brothers weren’t as interested, he had a lot of fun. The beginning […] Read more
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