When to calve is a decision that has many factors, and much has been written and discussed about this question. This article will focus more on advantages and challenges of fall calving than on an in-depth comparison of the best season of the year for calving.
The location you are in plays a huge role in this decision. Fall calving is almost always more appropriate in regions of the country where fall and winter weather conditions are conducive to calf growth and cow re-breeding.
Fall calving defined
Fall can be a broad time period, so let’s establish what months are considered as fall-calving months. Since this is dependent on region of the country being considered, this time period may vary.
However, in general, fall calving typically begins in early to mid-September and goes through the end of November. Some herds may begin in late August.
Advantages of fall calving
Fall-born calves enter the market when supply is low and demand is high – The majority of cows in the U.S. calve in the spring, and their calves are weaned and marketed in the fall.
The price of weaned calves is lower in the fall and rises in the spring since the availability of lightweight calves for summer grazing program is low and demand is high. For herds that market at or near weaning, fall calving has a distinct calf-price advantage.
Fall-calving cows are typically in higher body condition at calving – Since fall cows enter the calving season following summer grazing without a calf nursing them, they are in higher body condition.
Body condition at calving has a direct effect on the length of the anestrus period following calving. Therefore, cows in higher condition breed earlier and at higher rates than cows in low body condition.
This is an advantage for fall calving, especially when fall pasture quality is good enough to support a lactating cow entering the breeding season in December and January. However, if cows lose excessive condition following calving, they may not breed as well.
Weather for calving is generally less erratic in fall than spring – Calving in September and October, when temperatures are cooling off and before winter snow and colder temperatures set in, often provides a good environment for newborn calves.
The cooler temperatures also allow cool-season grasses in pastures to regrow, which helps meet the nutritional needs of both cow and calf.
Labor availability may be greater when fall calving – Many cattle producers find that fall is not as busy as springtime; therefore, they can devote more targeted time to monitoring cows and heifers during the calving period.
Calving assistance rates have been shown to be lower in fall-calving heifers than in spring-calving heifers.
This has been explained by lower calf birthweights from heifers in late gestation during warmer summer months than during colder winter months, since there is evidence that environmental temperature has an impact on uterine blood flow and affects birthweight.
Bull use – It is not uncommon for herds to have both a spring-calving and fall-calving herd, particularly in the Southeastern U.S. When this is done, bulls can be used twice each year rather than just for one breeding season.
This is a way to reduce bull costs and increase the number of calves produced from a bull in a single year. In this manner, the cost of carrying bulls is cut in half, and bull purchase costs are reduced as well.
Challenges of fall calving
Cost of winter feeding – This may be the primary challenge for fall calving. In most environments, wintering cows is the most costly part of the year, especially for herds that rely on harvested feeds during winter months.
The cost of harvesting, storage and re-feeding are high when compared to self-harvesting by grazing cows.
Nutrient requirements for lactating cows are about 25 to 30 percent higher than for dry cows; therefore, feed costs for fall-calving cows may offset any advantages of higher market value for fall-born calves.
Cattle producers should consider what feed resources, both quality and quantity, are available when considering a shift to fall calving.
On the other hand, in some regions of the U.S. forage and pasture for winter grazing are well-suited for fall-calving programs. This is particularly true in the fescue region of the southeastern U.S.
Cold and snow are hard on nursing calves – Young, lightweight calves are more susceptible to cold temperatures and snow than mature cows and require more protection in adverse conditions.
Mature cows can withstand such conditions due to their larger bodyweight-to-surface area ratio, and because the heat of fermentation from the rumen that is produced when digesting high-fiber feeds provides thermal stability.
Smaller calves do not have the same advantage and therefore require a higher level of their nutrient intake for maintenance as compared to the productive function of growth.
Again, this may be dependent on the environment where the herd is located, but this factor can be a challenge to achieving desired weaning weights in cold environments.
Evaluating fall-calving systems
There have been several published scientific papers that have evaluated the biological and economic efficiency of calving seasons. I will briefly highlight two such studies.
A comparison of spring-calving and fall-calving beef herds grazing tall fescue – This article was recently published in the Professional Animal Scientist journal by B.T. Campbell and associates.
The report covers 19 years of cow-herd records from a research and education center at the University of Tennessee where both a spring-calving and fall-calving herd was managed.
The conclusion of this study was that even though the spring-born calves gained faster and had higher weaning weights than fall-born calves, the fall-calving herd increased income to the farm because of a greater number of calves weaned and a reduced need for replacement heifers.
Their data showed that in the spring herd, more cows only produced one or two calves, whereas the fall herd had more cows that had seven, eight, nine or 10 calves, indicating greater longevity in fall-calving cows.
A case study for fall vs. spring calving for the Rocky Mountain West – A comparison of spring-calving and fall-calving systems in the Rocky Mountain region was done by researchers in the University of Wyoming’s Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics and published in 2010 in the Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
These authors evaluated differences in animal performance, specific costs, ranch revenue and business risk of two mountain valley ranch models constructed to represent one fall-calving operation and one spring-calving operation.
The results of their study suggest that fall calving on a Rocky Mountain ranch can generate more profit (on average) and less business risk than spring calving.
They caution, however, that there are numerous other considerations that must be considered before making the decision to shift from spring to fall calving.
Summary
As with most decisions in ranching, there are many factors to consider when selecting a calving season, and each operation must determine this based on their own resources.
Although it is not discussed in this article, there has been a lot of information generated in the last 10 years related to summer-calving systems. Summer calving has been adopted by many ranches and may provide a balance between the advantages and challenges of when to calve.
Let me conclude by saying that having a defined breeding and calving season is better than having a year-round calving season because of the ability to manage the system for optimum input and output. This principle is true for spring, summer or fall calving seasons. 
Jack Whittier
Extension Beef Specialist
Colorado State University
