Management
breed in the first breeding season
were followed throughout their
lifetimes, they averaged a 55%
yearly calf crop. Despite the fact
that reproduction is not a highly
heritable trait, it also makes sense to
remove this genetic material from
the herd so as to not proliferate
females that are difficult to get bred.
2. Culling open heifers early will
reduce summer forage and winter
costs. If the rancher waits until next
spring to find out which heifers
do not calve, the pasture use and
winter feed expense will still be
lost and there will be no calf to
eventually help pay the bills. This
is money that can better be spent
in properly feeding cows that are
pregnant and will be producing a
salable product the following fall.
3. Identifying the open heifers shortly
after (60 days) the breeding season
is over will allow for marketing the
heif ers while still young enough to
go to a feedlot and be fed for the
choice beef market. “B” maturity
carcasses (those estimated to be
30 months of age or older) are very
unlikely to be graded Choice and
cannot be graded Select. In addition,
they may not be eligible for some
international beef markets. As a
result, the heifers that are close to
two years of age will suffer a price
discount. If we wait until next spring
to identify which two-year-olds did
not get bred, then we will be culling
a female that will be marketed at
a noticeable discount compared
to the price/pound that she would
have brought this summer as a
much younger animal. Last week
non-pregnant 866-pound heifers
brought $1.28/lb. or $1108.48
per head in Oklahoma City. Using
a very optimistic guess for next
spring, a two-year old 1000-pound
open cow may bring $0.90/lb.
or $900 per head. This calculates
to a $208 per head loss plus the
expense of keeping her through the
winter. In reality, the loss in value
probably will be even greater.
Certainly, the percentage of open
heifers will vary from ranch to ranch.
Do not be overly concerned, if after a
good heifer development program and
adequate breeding season, that you
find that 10% of the heifers still are not
bred. Resist the temptation to keep
these open heifers and “roll them over”
to a fall-calving herd. These are the
very heifers that you want to identify
early and remove from the herd. It
just makes good economic business
sense to identify and cull non-pregnant
replacement heifers as soon as possible.
Remember to schedule the cattle
working for early in the morning hours,
to avoid unnecessary heat stress on both
the heifers and the people involved. I
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