Your heifers are the future of your herd, and getting them to an ideal weight at the proper age is important to the future success of your business. Following simple protocols to get them bred at the ideal time will pay significant future dividends.

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.

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.

“Male sexed semen is an opportunity to capture value,” said Kansas State University's Ken Odde, who also helps manage a family cow-calf ranch in South Dakota. “The opportunity’s greater when the price spread between steers and heifers is significant.”

It’s easy to become impatient and want to breed heifers early to get them into the lactating herd and have them start paying off their debts as soon as possible.