Early weaning - Articles

The effects of stress in cattle during weaning and transportation

When cattle experience stress, the immune system leaps into action to defend the animal, sometimes at a cost to productivity. Understanding these physiological relationships could be the key to unlocking cattle’s profit potential.

September 17, 2024

Abe Scheaffer

Stress on cattle is inevitable, but producers know the goal is to manage and mitigate the stresses animals experience, including transportation, weaning, parturition, dietary and nutritional changes, predation, commingling, vaccination, diseases and infections.

South Central: When should calves be weaned?

July 22, 2024

Jason Banta

Weaning is part of cow-calf production, and it can occur at different times for numerous reasons. There is varying terminology associated with weaning depending on age of the calf, the weaning location (ranch of origin or trailer) and dictionary versus industry definitions.

4 tips for early weaning beef calves

May 23, 2024

Travis Meteer

Early weaning must be well planned. Utilize your team to critique your nutrition, health and facilities prior to early weaning.

Are we getting enough from range calves?

Range-raised calves typically turn out lighter than their irrigated pasture-raised counterparts. Backgrounding and finishing practices are critical to catching them up carcass-wise.

October 18, 2023

John B. Hall

Calves raised on the range are often lighter at weaning compared to calves raised on irrigated pastures. With the right management through backgrounding and finishing, range calves can catch up with their counterparts.

Timing of weaning: How should we think about it?

If producers are weaning calves based on a date on the calendar, they might be overlooking just how much leverage they have to control costs simply with the timing of weaning.

April 26, 2023

Jordan Thomas

Our decision on when to wean calves is an incredibly powerful lever we have as managers. How should we make the decision on when to wean?

What are my options when I’m out of grass?

June 6, 2022

Karla H. Wilke and Mary Drewnoski

As the drought that has plagued the western Great Plains for over a year spreads across the Midwest, producers are making hard decisions about cow herd management.

8 practices for grazing during drought

May 31, 2022

Billy Whitehurst

As I write this, we have just received some much-needed moisture, whereas others in our county just 40 miles away are plowing in the dust.

Set your sights early for weaning calves

Pre-planning for weaning includes getting cattle into an area where you can ride or walk through them and get calves used to people before you wean.

April 25, 2022

Heather Smith Thomas

Sometimes weaning early can be beneficial, but for success you need to plan ahead and be set up to do it properly.

Navigate drought conditions with strategic management

Drought is part of cattle production and is present in some major cattle regions each year. While not all the management considerations discussed here apply to every operation, every operation needs to have a drought mitigation plan.

April 25, 2022

Jason M. Warner

Spring is a beautiful time of year that brings renewed hope and optimism for production agriculture. The list of to-dos is endless with many folks either finishing up or in the midst of spring calving and preparing for the next breeding season, as well as field work and attempting innumerable other projects.