Considerations for Calving Season Management
Do you have cows calving year round or do you have calves coming during a set time interval during the year? Common practice is to allow the bull to run with the cow herd year round and to not limit breeding (i.e., Year-Round Breeding and Calving). Ultimately, this results in year round calving and has several management implications that can ultimately impact profit margins. The alternative would be to control the breeding period for 60-90 days and have a time-limited calving season (i.e., Controlled Breeding and Calving). Dr. Jason Cleere, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Beef Cattle Specialist gave the following considerations at the 2009 Ranch Tour for calving season management.
In terms of Management (Parasite Control, Vaccination, Castration, Dehorning, Implanting, Weaning, etc) in a Controlled program you would process cattle 2-3 times per year versus a Year-Round program where you would process cattle 3+ times annually and ultimately face increased operating expenses. In terms of Animal Nutrition, in a Controlled program you can manage cattle similarly and can match rebreeding and calving periods to periods of optimum forage production. Conversely, in a Year-Round program you would be managing dry cows and wet cows separately due to different nutritional requirements and calving and rebreeding of some cows would occur when forage production was not optimum and increased supplementation is necessary. In terms of Marketing Opportunities, a Controlled program provides a uniform calf crop in terms of age and provides more marketing power. A Year-Round program would have cattle being marketed at different times due to lighter weights among your later calves. In terms of Reproductive Efficiency, a Controlled program allows a producer to identify cows that do not drop a calf every 365 days versus a Year-Round program which provide limited ability to identify cows with low reproductive performance that aren’t earning their keep.
Ultimately, a controlled calving season allows a producer to maximize the utilization of energy and resources on the ranch. It provides increased marketing advantages and power and can enhance profit margins. Controlled calving season also increases the efficiency of the managers time and labor by managing similar situations during set time periods during the year (examples include: supplemental feeding, trips to the sale barn, calving cows, etc). Controlled calving presents challenges in terms of deciding what to do with the herd bulls when not with the cow herd. Options might include: using electric fencing, sharing/borrowing/leasing bulls, running multiple cow herds with different calving seasons and rotating bulls, etc.
