Is Your Herd Performing as Well as you Think?

Profitability of the cow/calf enterprise within any particular year is impacted by several factors. A basic or quick analysis of the most basic cow herd records can quantify important issues affecting the overall herd success such as reproductive performance, calf growth and weaning weight, calf health performance, market price, and herd turnover. If the herd is to be managed as a serious business, perfor­mance and economic assessments must be compiled. A yearly analysis of various herd performance measures can serve as a yardstick against which to compare past and future years performance.

Let’s start with the most important issue right off the top.  Record keeping!  It can be the most important task on the farm.  It doesn’t have to be extremely difficult and can help you determine if the herd is actually making you money or just a expensive, time consuming hobby!  Records can be kept in a little red or black book as many cattleman do, or you can go modern and hook computerized systems right to the chute or in the barn.  It doesn’t really matter how you obtain the data, it only matters that you collect the data.

The four basic items that you need to have when analuzing the performance of your cow herd include:

·       Cow inventory Records

·       Calving Records

·       Calf Sales Receipts

·       Cow or Cull Sales Receipts

From these simple pieces of information you can perform several calculations which can tell you if the herd is headed in the right direction or if there are areas that you should strive to improve.

Main Herd Performance Measures

Herd calving percent - Herd calving percent is perhaps the single most important measure of the cow herd ís reproductive efficiency. A realistic goal for herd calv­ing percent should be in the 90-94% range. A lower than average  herd calving percentage may be symptomatic of several prob­lems including failure of cows to cycle, failure of cows to conceive at breeding, bull fertility, early embryonic death due to high temperatures or other environmental factors, abortions due to disease, and others.

Percent calf death loss – Get them through the first 48 hours! Once calves have been born you should expect less than 1% death loss until weaning. You should make certain that newborn calves and get adequate supply of colostrum. The maternal antibodies in colostrum are important in pro­viding disease resistance to the calf. Be aware of any diseases that may be endemic in your herd.

Percent calf crop weaned per cow exposed - This calculation is the best measure of a herd’s overall reproductive and health status. A goal of 89-93% calf crop weaned per cow exposed should be attainable for many herds. This measure truly helps you determine if your cows are cycling and conceiving regularly and if they are good mothers.

Length of calving season for mature cows in days - A restricted calving season of 60-70 days can offer many benefits to the cattleman. With a short calving season, the herdsman or operator can focus attention to the cow herd during the most critical time of the year for the cow/calf enterprise. A short calving season also enhances the marketing of a more uniform calf crop.

Percent mature cows calving Day 1-21 - The percent of mature cows that calve within the first 21 days is indicative of both the length of the calving season and the nutritional status of the cowherd before last year’s breeding season. The relevance of the focusing on the first 21-day period of calving is related to the length of the cow’s estrous cycle. Research has demonstrated that mature cows in body condition score 5 or better at calving return to a normal estrous cycle more rapidly after calving than thinner cows. A good goal for most herds with a restricted season would be for 65-70% of the mature cow herd to calve within the first 21 days of the calving season.

Average calf weaning weight - The average weight of calves at weaning can be impacted by several fac­tors including age of the calf at weaning, calving sea­son, forage conditions, milking ability of the cow herd, genetic merit, implants, deworming management, etc. A reasonable goal for most spring calving herds would be for the calves to have an average weight per day of age of at least 2.75 pounds.

Pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed - This is the single most important measure of the relative reproduc­tive and growth performance of a cow herd. The mea­sure is impacted by both reproductive efficiency and calf growth.

If you take the time to keep accurate records and see how important they can be to determining if the herd if functioning properly, this can help you identify areas in which to strive to improve or help you identify potential areas of concern.  For additional information please contact your local Virginia Cooperative Extension agent and ask about pub 400-791the Virginia Cow herd Performance Check Up.  For additional information please feel free to contact me at cchilds@vt.edu .