Early summer generally provides the highest-quality forage of the production cycle. Producers frequently assume most nutrient requirements are met, yet many nutritional and metabolic details are overlooked.

For almost 100 years, cattle producers in the West experienced an awful phenomenon: large numbers of strange, late-term abortions in otherwise healthy cattle. What caused these abortions, and what can producers do to avoid this loss?

Early embryonic loss is defined as a loss within the first 42 days of pregnancy and has been reported to impact between 20% and 40% of pregnancies in beef cattle.

Undesirable genetic traits causing fetal abnormalities have occurred throughout the evolution of livestock selection. There are more than 20 genetic traits cattle breeders monitor in the A.I. industry.

Bodyweight alone may be the defining reason mature cows are not affected by toxins that can cause abortion in younger animals. Or perhaps it’s just, well, cow sense.

Utilizing omega-6 fatty acids as a management strategy to mitigate early embryonic loss, a major cause of reproductive and economic losses to the U.S. beef industry, is the focus of a new project led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research researchers.

As cow-calf producers and veterinarians evaluate options for pre-breeding vaccinations on heifers and cows, it is critical to think about the long-term effects of the disease pathogens that you are protecting against.