Reproduction

Scours are an issue across nearly every operation in the U.S. Though the cause of scours is known – stress, leading to an immune problem – what drives it is different from one region to the next.

Most progressive producers have their cows examined for the diagnosis of pregnant versus not pregnant (or “open”) at some time point prior to calving, most commonly around the time of weaning. There are some potential advantages to performing this examination earlier – approximately 90 to 100 days following the start of the breeding season.

Yearling heifers can often be a conundrum when it comes to getting bred. No matter how big they are or how pretty they look, there’s always the chance they just won’t settle. There are a variety of reasons, but the fact remains: They are open when preg-checked in the fall.

At a time when prices for inputs are uncertain and markets waiver significantly, there is one incredibly important way to increase the profitability of any cattle enterprise – by using genetic improvement.

It’s that time of year again when cattle are itching to graze fresh new pastures and young calves have a newfound freedom running through green grass.

Selection used to be entirely phenotypic. Everybody was an expert in structural evaluation and based decisions off what was seen by the naked eye. Then came the performance movement of the 1960s and ’70s, and the industry shifted to modern evaluation systems and selection tools such as expected progeny differences (EPDs) as a large part of their selection.