Noble Foundation livestock specialist Clay Wright recently had a conversation with a commercial cow-calf producer who'd had a "glimpse of the future" at a cattle sale. At the sale, the auctioneer made brief comments about several of the other drafts as they were offered – things like their health program, age range and expected progeny differences (EPDs) on their sires.

"Although this producer's calves brought almost as much as the 'advertised' drafts, he believed he'd seen what was in store in the future, and I agreed," Wright says. "As a result, he wants to 'ramp up' the management of his herd – to be able to make better decisions internally and produce a more consistent, desirable product."

Other producers have likely had similar experiences, and Wright's advice for ramping up management can apply to them, too. "First, you have to pare the calving season down to 90 days. If you don't have a 90-day calving season, develop a plan to get there," Wright says. "If you are close to having one, be deliberate about it from now on by putting the bulls out and removing them at specific times."

Here are Wright's other tips for improving management of cow herds:
1. Individually identify the cows. It is essential to know one from the other to deal with them one-on-one. Wright recommends a uniquely numbered ear tag at the first opportunity. At the same time, write that number on an individual record card for each cow, along with her brucellosis tag number, physical description and anything else that identifies her specifically (source, age, etc.).

2. For the rest of this calving period and every year from now on, record when each cow calves. It doesn't have to be the exact day; birth week is fine. This piece of information will show how the herd is distributed during the calving season, and will also show which cows don't calve. With two years' data, it's possible to verify whether each cow is calving every 365 days. This basic information allows producers to begin assessing the most important factor affecting profitability: reproductive efficiency.

3. When processing the calves for the first time, put a unique number tag in each of them as well. Match them up with their dams before weaning. At the very least, this shows which cows bring a calf to the weaning pen. Here's a caution, though: Don't be tempted to look at the pairs at weaning and infer individual cow productivity based on calf size. One more piece of information is needed to do that – a weaning weight.

4. Figure out a way to get an individual weaning weight. Find a scale somewhere – at a neighbor's, the county fair barn, FFA chapter, veterinarian, auction barn, county agent's, etc. Make the effort, because with a weaning weight and the other information collected to this point, a whole new realm of decision-making is just a couple of calculations away.

5. Put the entire herd on a "level playing field" by adjusting their calves' weaning weights to a constant 205 days of age and indexing each against the average of the group. This way, it's possible to hold each cow accountable for her production relative to the other cows in the herd and make accurate culling decisions.

6. Calculate the "percent calf crop" every year – the number of calves weaned divided by the number of cows exposed to produce that calf crop. This is the single most descriptive measure of reproductive efficiency.

7. Develop a comprehensive herd health program with a veterinarian. When implementing the program, record the date, detailed information about the products used, the class of livestock being worked, route of administration, site of injections and other practices being performed.

8. Define EPD criteria for all bulls in the future. Purchase only those bulls with EPDs as good as or better than these minimum standards.

9. Get a "snapshot" of the kind of product being produced by participating in a feedout program like the OK Steer Feedout in Oklahoma or the Texas Ranch to Rail Program. This will help identify selection criteria for the future. "This is what I consider a basic program for a commercial cow-calf producer," Wright says. "These recommendations address many internal deficiencies producers may have been operating under, as well as some of the external market forces that are increasingly coming to bear on the cattle business."

Clay Wright is a livestock specialist in the Agricultural Division of the Noble Foundation.

###

News Release Issued: June 9, 2006

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.