Creating a herd best suited for its environment
Cattle producers have a say-so in most every aspect of their operation. However, the hand dealt by Mother Nature is not one of them. Fortunately, there are management decisions producers can make to build a cow herd suited for its environment.
Many times, when producers consider environment their first thoughts may center around weather conditions, land topography and forage availability. But an animal’s environment also includes the management decisions producers make for their operation.
Identify Stress
When determining if an animal is thriving in its current environment, producers will want to take note of two distinct measures. “The biggest thing is monitoring Body Condition score (BCS) and monitoring pregnancy rates. Those are the types of things that can tell a producer how well the cows are matching the management decisions and the environment they are in,” Jamie Courter, Ph.D., University of Missouri State Beef Genetics Extension Specialist, said.
Animals that are stressed may have poorer body condition and struggle with fertility. “To me the sign that an animal is not matching its environment, or they aren’t thriving and happy in their environment is stress. Be that in the form of losing weight or she is not getting pregnant because her body is telling her this is not the right time or the right environment which to conceive,” Courter explained.
Hair Shedding
When selecting animals to keep or buy, new research indicates producers can learn a lot about the animal’s ability to adapt to its environment by how quickly the animal sheds its winter coat. Hair shedding has been known to be an economically relevant trait for years because of its connection to heat stress. Cows that shed their winter coat sooner in the late spring and early summer typically wean heavier calves.
New research, however, reveals hair shedding has an even greater significance. The findings indicate some cows’ eyes sense a change in daylight hours thus triggering a hormonal response that affects hair shedding. “So, we are also starting to lean towards hair shedding as an indicator trait for an animal’s ability to sense and respond to changes in their environment. Which means hair shedding could be an indication of animals that are more able to adapt to changes in environment,” Courter stated.
Producers may want to take note of the animals in their herd that hold on to their winter coats longer than they should because it could be a signal that animals don’t fit well with their environment. Hair shedding is a highly heritable trait that can be observed and recorded. Additionally, the American Angus Association offers a hair shedding EPD for animals registered through its association.
Conformation and Crossbreeding
Putting together a herd designed for its current environment includes producing and buying animals with sound conformation. Solid feet and legs are crucial especially on operations with challenging terrain.
Crossbreeding is another way to lock in solid genetics. Through heterosis and hybrid vigor producers can gain a positive result in lowly heritable traits such as fertility, longevity and health.
Mature Cow Size
Another facet of building a hardy herd includes determining the ideal mature cow size for the operation. “The number one thing that I want people to always think about is, Does the mature size of my animals match the environment that they are in? Or are they large and feed inefficient? Are they costing me more to feed than the additional revenue of the pounds they are weaning?” Courter said.
One statistic Courter encourages producers to consider is that an additional 100 pounds of mature weight on a cow only results in 10 extra added pounds of weaning weight in the calf. “As cows get larger the stocking rate of cows in the same pasture area decreases. Bigger cows eat more grass which means you can have less cows on the property. So yes, she weans a heavier calf but that is at the expense of having less calves overall.”
For some producers, a herd with more moderate size cows could be more economically advantageous because they can wean more calves per acre. Therefore, producers may want to take a look at their herd and evaluate what size of a mature cow would be the most beneficial to their operation.
