Pregnancy checking cows is a good management practice. Most might agree that selling nonpregnant cows is a good management practice. Selling in the fall of the year may not be when cull cow prices are the highest because most nonpregnant cows are being sold at that time. Cull cow prices tend to increase in late February, March, April, and May. If cull cows are body condition score 6 or better in the fall, then retaining them to sell later is probably not a good option. If they are thin, adding weight with an economical feeding program is usually worth considering. There are situations where you might want to keep the nonpregnant cows and give them another chance to breed. The critical decision is to determine whether the cow is not pregnant because you mismanaged her or because of age, health problems, structure, or just is of the type that doesn't fit the feed resources on your operation. If she was open from mismanagement and she is a young cow, you might consider keeping her, especially in a time when replacement costs are high. If you have a good source to purchase bred replacements and they are of the type that fit your resources, that is a pretty good situation. Maybe you could work an agreement that both parties could live with in regard to purchase price on an annual basis.

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