Nutritional management plays a central role in promoting the health, productivity and reproductive success of beef cattle.

What is the first word that comes to mind when you see a bull sale catalog in your mailbox? Usually, I hear responses like “profitable,” “cost-effective,” “traditional” or "necessary."

Grounded in faith and family while investing in the future, Aletta Holsteins followed an articulate succession plan. The family now operates two dairies and has expanded to poultry and hogs as well.

Developing replacement heifers is one of the most expensive and complex management decisions for a cow-calf producer and also has long-term implications for profitability.

Cattle producers select their breeding stock variably, using an assessment of parentage production, price, expected progeny differences (EPDs), genetic testing or a simple eyeball test. A few swear by the oft-forgotten linear measurements, which gauge numerous body parts with uniquely designed calipers.

Many livestock economists have demonstrated over the years that there is a premium in the marketplace for uniform lots of calves. For further proof, just watch what happens at the local auction market when it comes to selling feeder cattle and then tune in to one of the online video auctions and compare prices.

Early gestation is a critical period in the cattle reproductive cycle, laying the foundation for the health, productivity and profitability of both the cow and the developing fetus. 

As managers of cow-calf production systems, we have available to us many different tools that may be used to accomplish tasks within our operations. Every tool, no matter what type, is designed for a specific purpose.

Cows that arrive on the farm with a high price tag have a tendency to be crowned as queens before they prove themselves in the system. Hopefully, they are worth that special treatment and they pay for themselves quickly, but it takes time to find out.

In the past 20 years, genetic potential of the cow herd and production costs have steadily increased; however, production outputs (pregnancy rates and weaning weights) have been stagnant or declined.