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Tag Archives Cow-calf

When a heifer calves, she’s hopefully worth at least as much as when she was a bred heifer — and probably retains that value for at least a couple of years.
Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

Flipping cow depreciation on its head

Costs of Production: Open cows have a huge effect — especially when they are two-year-olds

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I am keenly interested in cow depreciation and in fact have written about it in past Grainews columns. It is one of the largest direct expenses on a cow-calf operation — usually only behind feed — and it is worth touching on again in the wake of current record-high prices. First as a reminder, Figure […] Read more
Gregory and his mare, Reba, go around the cows as we round them up to sort their calves off to take to market or take home for weaning.
Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

Good weather holds through harvest

Eppich News: Wandering cows and calves made rounding them up a challengee

By
On Sept. 30, Gregory drove John and Barb to Saskatoon because Barb was experiencing severe pain in her side. She’s had trouble with her gall bladder for quite a while, but this time it was too much. She was supposed to have emergency surgery that day but ended up being pushed off until the next […] Read more
Cattle
Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

The fall run: the rancher’s sprint

A Little Bit Western: Most of the revenue, data and calf movement come in the fall

By
I like to joke that ranching is a marathon, except when it is a sprint, and then it’s that too. There are certainly times when you are racing from one urgent task to another. While it feels like the rest of the working world has three to five business days to respond to a request, […] Read more
The number of cattle being grounded in Canada dropped in 2024.
Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Fed cattle market grinds lower

The Markets: Softer demand shows up as North American employment weakens

By
During the second week of September, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $406-$410/cwt, down from prices of $425-$428/cwt a month earlier. Beef demand appears to be softening as unemployment levels increase. In addition to weaker consumer spending, September and October are two months when beef demand typically […] Read more
cow and calf
Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf

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

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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
Photo: File
Livestock, News

New program focuses on data literacy for cow-calf producers 

Case studies and mentoring will help give farm data decision-making power 

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The Data Literacy for Cow-Calf Producers project aims to give farmers and ranchers the chance to discuss best practices and learn from experts and peers about how to use data to make better business decisions.  Data management has varied adoption in the cow-calf sector.
Beef cows’ TDN energy maintenance requirements generally increase about two per cent for every degree Celsius drop in temperature below freezing.
Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

Beef cows in good condition, feed accordingly

Optimize cows' condition with target diets based on the animals' BCS

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A warm start to winter has caused many beef cows after weaning to come off pasture in decent shape. Some of these cows are not truly obese, but they retained a lot of flesh. Those beef cows in optimum body condition should be put on a nutritious feeding program that maintains them until they calve […] Read more
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence want to know if bull neck collars that are supposed to alert producers when they detect cows in heat actually work.
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Automating heat detection

Researchers test whether monitoring technology will predict reproductive cycles

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Glacier FarmMedia — Labour challenges on cattle farms could be alleviated by sensors now being tested to help detect females in heat. Dr. Dinesh Dadarwal, a veterinarian and assistant professor in large animal science at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence tests technology so producers can make […] Read more
Creep feeding is a good way to bridge this nutritional gap.
Columns, Cow-Calf, Livestock

Creep feeding shows a profit in 2023

It may be well worth your while to get an extra 60 pounds of gain on this year’s calves

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Spring on the Prairies is a great time, because the snow has disappeared and pastures are turning green. Whenever I drive past the occasional drylot, I see a lot of beef cows waiting to be released on pasture. It reminds me that with record cattle prices on the board, it might be a time to […] Read more
The first profit driver for many operations is to increase yields of biodiverse forages.
Cattleman’s Corner

Looking at key ranch profit drivers

Beef production is a bit more involved than having cattle eat grass, but putting efforts into management produces the best return

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I often think that the ranching business is very simple until you get humans involved. At the most basic level, sun and rain grow forage, cows consume forage and reproduce and ranchers sell the offspring. Pretty simple, until it’s not. Fundamentally, this simple picture does provide some insight into what drives profit on most cow-calf […] Read more

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