It is weaning time again out on the range. This is the time of year that you as a rancher get to see the fruits of your labor. Labors such as with your breeding programs. But that does beg the question about success.
What does success or failure mean when it comes to weaning? That is a tough question to answer because different people have different answers to this. Really it is up to the individual and what their production goals are to determine what is a successful weaning.
There may be different ideas on how to wean your calves but the goal is still the same. You want to wean every calf that you have with the most minimum loss to your calf crop. In order to accomplish this, you will need to get your calves started off on the right foot.
Starting your calves off right is probably one of the most important things that you can do. Doing so will ensure that calf’s lifelong production success. The first 30-45 days after weaning are the most stressful in that calf’s life. In order to make it as smooth as possible with their transition, you will need to avoid 3 common problems.
Having to feed supplements is necessary sometimes in cattle operations. That being said it is not something that most ranchers like to do. Feed costs remain the single largest expense for any cattle producer. The amount really depends on different things but it can easily be half of the total annual expenses.
Hay is a very common sight in every cattle producer’s operation throughout the country. It is used during the winter to provide supplemental nutrition when forages are lacking. However, with the extremely dry conditions, we have been having lately getting hay bales is becoming harder and harder. With this difficulty producers are looking for ways to make their current supplies last longer.
Maintaining your pasture during the summer can be very tricky. In no time at all, it can go from adequate moisture to extremely dry. A manager has to be on their game to keep their pasture from suffering too much.
Breeding season preparations are a very important task for any cow/calf producer’s bottom line. The steps that they take now will determine if they will have a good calf crop or not. Having good quality calves to sell is the defining factor between a successful and a not successful rancher.
Using a hay bale to supplement your cattle is a tried and true method that many producers use. It is reasonably priced compared to other feedstuffs. Though just like other feedstuffs the quality can vary depending on many different factors.
Having the right replacement heifers is important for the long-term profitability of any ranch. It is necessary to be able to rotate the breeding stock out to improve the overall genetic pool. Also, cows will get to a point where they will get to be too old to breed any more. When this happens you will need to have new stock to take their place.
There is one constant in the livestock industry, if you have animals then you will have to build fencing. Fencing is a barrier to both keeping your animals where you want them and keeping predators out.
The value of a bull is something we have always tried to figure out. It is a question that we have been asking for as long as we have been trying to make the next generation better. It is a question that is asked a lot during this time when many bulls are being marketed and we are getting ready for spring breeding season.
Feed costs remain the single largest expense for any cattle producer. This expense can easily be half of the total annual expenses for a rancher.
