July 2019
Feeding Open Cows
Producers up north, cannot imagine not pregnancy testing their cows. They have had one of the toughest Februarys on record, and the hay piles are getting smaller by the day. They sure don’t want to be feeding any open cows in their herds this winter. It is easy to become envious of southern ranchers who must supplement their herds much less in what they might call “winter”.
Our question to you southern ranchers is, does it pay to pregnancy test beef cows in places like Florida and southern Texas? It looks like a non-pregnant cow cost everyone money and the sooner they go to town and get off the ranch the better. Below is a summary of Chris Prevatt’s work from the University of Florida, Range Cattle Research & Education Center:
ReproScan Welcomes Derek Hermes to the Team
ReproScan is excited to welcome Derek Hermes to our sales team as a US Sales Representative. Derek started in December of 2016. He will be based in Texas and will travel throughout the United States. Derek will head up on-farm demonstrations for both beef and dairy operations.
Derek brings a well-tailored set of experiences with him to ReproScan. Derek grew up in Elbert, Colorado as one of ten kids in the family. From a young age he was involved with cattle both on his family’s cow-calf operation and through 4-H. Following high school, he pursued his interest in cattle and went to work for a large purebred Limousin cattle ranch in Colorado. After obtaining a degree in Ag Business, he went to work for ABS in Portales, New Mexico. Derek was a breeder for ABS in Idaho, New Mexico and Texas.
June 2019
Breeding Season: How Long is Too Long
How long should your breeding season be?
The cattle business is amazing in its diversity of geographical locations and management styles. Every ranch must adapt to their environment and resources and strive to be a competitive producer of calves and feeder cattle. One of the many decisions to make each year is, how long should your breeding season be?
One quick answer is, not much different than last year. Cows will need 30 to 90 days after calving to get themselves ready to conceive again. The length of time will depend on many factors that include nutrition, body condition, age, easy of calving and even photo period. I have seen some low pregnancy rates when the breeding season has been shortened by 10 days from one year to the next. If pasture conditions are tough and there were a high percentage of young cows and late calvers in a herd, be prepared for more open cows at pregnancy testing if the breeding season is shortened. If cow numbers must be reduced due to limited forage supply, this is one way to get this done.