Released Aug. 3, 2007
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - The conversation took place around the old-timers' corral at fall weaning about 25 years ago. The "she" was a 900-pound, crossbred cow, by far the smallest in the old-timer's 30-cow herd. The "it" described the fact that she had once again weaned the heaviest calf in the bunch.
The old-timer's final thought echoes, even today, an opinion shared by most cow/calf producers: "If a fellow had 100 cows just like her, he might make it in this business."
Any casual observer would tell you this producer sold a number of heavy calves that fall, so why did the one small cow impress him so much? She was obviously a good milk producer that bred back on schedule, and between her and the sire, the calf had sufficient genetics to produce top-weaning weights. But he had a number of larger cows in the herd that raised calves of nearly equal weights.
Efficiency. It probably doesn't matter if a person is raising cattle or making widgets, efficiency lies at the heart of improving any system and allows us to stay ahead of the game.
To cow/calf producers, their pasture, hay, purchased feed, mineral, medical supplies and even the investment in corrals, fencing and other materials are tied to the annual cost of doing business. A 900-pound cow is in the neighborhood of being 40 percent more economical to keep than a 1,300-pound cow.
Perhaps surprising to an outside businessman, this or most any other producer didn't go out and buy a bunch of light-weight cows. The old-timer in this story knew very well the odds of finding more cows with a genetic package that would provide similar performance were virtually impossible. Besides, in our part of the country where grass was abundant, it wasn't any big deal to provide the extra hay or pasture necessary to keep the larger cows around.
Circumstances change our perspective and as production costs escalate, the cost of running cattle is discussed as often as the cost of fertilizer or diesel.
To add another complexity to this business, the beef-genetic folks tell us that selecting cattle based on feedlot performance runs contrary to selecting them based on pasture performance. In other words, a cow that performs the most efficient on grass may not produce a calf that performs well in the feedlot.
Talk about hurdles to finding a happy medium. ‘Til next week!
For more information about cattle production, contact your county extension agent or visit http://www.uaex.edu and select Agriculture, then Beef. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/august2007/0803seay.htm
Contact: Lamar James, (501) 671-2187, ljames@uaex.edu
