1. Condition Scores
“Probably one of the important things to be thinking about,” Cunningham said, “would be body condition score of the cows going into calving season, and making sure those cows are in good condition and receiving good levels of nutrients to support their body condition, keeping them in ample flesh. That really helps for not only allowing that cow to milk and go through the calving aspects, but also allows that cow to have plenty of condition, and allows her to rebreed on a timely basis.”
2. Check the Quality of Feed
If it appears a cow is too thin heading into calving, Cunningham advised producers to check the quality of the feed. Stockpiling tall fescue has become increasingly popular in this region; he said the standing, undisturbed fescue works really well for supporting spring-calving cows in terms of protein and energy. But for stored hay, “it might be wise to take and test your hay to make sure that that hay is meeting those cows’ requirements, and if it is not, try to develop some sort of least-cost supplement plan to keep those cows in good condition.”
3. Pregnancy Checks
It’s also a good time to pregnancy check cows that have just finished weaning; if they’re open, said Cunningham, “it’s a good time to think about doing something different with them – perhaps going ahead and selling them. But at least getting rid of those cows that are not going to be producing a calf here in the next calving season and having to feed them through the entire winter, which is a really costly time period for beef cow/calf producers.”
4. Dual Calving Season
A number of ranchers have also turned to a dual calving season. Cunningham said fall calving continues to gain in popularity as producers improve their forage management skills and are able to better manage their forages through the growing season, set aside ground for stockpiled tall fescue, and graze cows through the winter rather than have to feed them hay. But it’s very important to manage spring- and fall-calving cows separately. “Those two groups of cows basically require very different amounts of nutrients, energy and protein at different times of the year,” he said.
One of the advantages to having two calving seasons is making better utilization of bulls. “With typical single-calving seasons, your bulls are in use there for 2-3 months whereas when we have the dual calving season, those bulls can be run for 4-6 months, cover effectively twice as many cows and require half as many bulls,” Cunningham said.
5. Breeding Soundness
He advised producers to conduct a breeding soundness exam on bulls prior to turning them in, to make sure their semen is good and that they’re capable breeders. “One year with having a bull go bad,” he warned, “will sure teach a lot of folks the breeding soundness exam is a cheap insurance policy.”
