For a spring-calving suckler herd, where the majority of cows calved from March to May, having a handful of cows running into June or early July is highly questionable in terms of herd management and output.
These later-born calves are out of step with the main herd as they are too young to fit in with the summer worming programme and will be too young to wean at housing.
They do not benefit from high-quality spring or early summer grass, so growth rates will be behind target, and will require housing with access to both the cow and a separate creep area.
Sale options will also be limited when compared with the March- to May-born calf. Late calves born in June to July will be too light to sell as weanlings in autumn sales as they will not generate enough money to cover the cost of keeping the cow.
They are also less suited to intensive finishing as young bulls as they will require higher levels of concentrate feeding from housing until slaughter.
In steer or heifer systems, to finish around 21 to 24 months will require a long housing and feeding period in 2019/20, whereas a 300kg weanling this autumn could probably be finished by Christmas 2019, at much less cost.
Review
Therefore, it is worthwhile to take the time to review the most recent calving period and ask the following questions:
How many weeks did it take to calve your cows this spring? Is spring-calving finished before the breeding season starts?When do you want cows to start and finish calving?Have you enough replacements coming into your herd?If you decide to leave your breeding management unchanged, then you should expect the same results year after year.
Options
With breeding now under way, now is a good time to consider your options for late-calving cows.
Every herd will have a small number of cows that persistently calve late every year. These are the animals to be identified now and a decision made on their future in the herd.
The later-calving cows can be replaced by breeding additional heifers, or buying in-calf heifers this winter.
Outlined are some options to consider when dealing with late-calving cows.
1
Sell now
For suckler herds that are not under any movement restriction, the most straightforward option is to sell the cow and calf unit as early as possible, and therefore removing the temptation to hold the cow for another year.
Good-quality suckler cows, with well-bred beef calves, are still holding their value in the mart, even if store cattle prices are slowing.
Considering that the recent dry weather has had a negative effect on grass growth, you should give careful thought to offloading late-calving cows now, rather than grazing them and creating a shortage of grass for more productive cows in the herd.
Selling early will also save on winter feed and housing requirements, which again is a cost saving.
2
Keep as a separate group
Once you have identified the cows that are consistently calving late each year, you should record their numbers or mark them.
If possible, run these cows separate from the main cow group and stock bull. Again, this is to remove the temptation of breeding these animals and having them calving down late next year.
As these cows will not be bred, you are more likely to follow through on culling these cows later in the year.
3
Wean early in autumn
An alternative to selling the cow and calf unit now is to hold both animals until autumn time.
At this point, grass growth and grass quality will be in decline.
Rather than feeding the cow concentrates to sustain milk production, late-calving cows would be better off weaned early before starting to lose body condition.
It will be more cost effective to feed an extra 1kg to 2kg of concentrate directly to the calf rather than the cow, just to maintain milk production to support calf performance.
Where cows are weaned in good condition in the autumn, there are a couple of sale options available. Autumn is a period of good buying demand for beef cattle.
The cow can be sold through the mart to specialist finishers, with prices of 150p/kg to 180p/kg typically paid depending on body condition and cow quality.
Alternatively, the cow could be dried off and then intensively finished on a simple finishing ration over a period of 30 to 50 days.
4
Sell in-calf
Where farmers have limited grazing ground available, or want to hold late-calving cows until weaning, one option would be to run all cows as one group as normal.
This means giving all cows the chance to run with the stock bull again. However, it is important to remain disciplined and sell the late-calving cows as planned.
Use scanning results to identify the cows that fall outside your planned calving period. These cows should be separated out and sold.
Selling all of these cows in special breeding sales can improve the overall sale value, rather than selling animals individually.
5
Synchronise and use short gestation bulls
For a suckler farmer who does not want to sell off late-calving cows, it is important that you try to shorten the calving interval and bring the later-calving cows forward each year.
Using bulls that have shorter gestation period will help to bring cows forward.
Rather than running a separate stock bull for late-calving cows, you could use artificial insemination (AI) to have access to bulls with shorter gestation periods to reduce the calving interval.
However, herd management needs to be at a high level to increase conception rates. Late-calving cows should also have a pre-breeding scan to ensure there is no internal problems affecting fertility.
To aid with heat detection, and to get cows cycling, synchronising the later calving cows may be an option. Keep these late calvers separate from a bull and close to the yard if handling for AI.
Cows that are to be synchronised should be at least 35 days calved and on a good plane of nutrition.
A synchronisation programme that involves the insertion of PRIDs or CIDRs, along with the administration of GnRH (Receptal) at PRID insertion, and Prostaglandin (Estrumate) when PRIDs are removed, is likely to cost in the region of £20 per head, and not including vet call-out.
Cows that are synchronised could then be artificially inseminated or run with the bull. If the average calving date is pulled forward a month, the cost would be worth it.
Read more
BEEF 2018: the take-home messages
2017– a tough year for finances on Newford Farm
For a spring-calving suckler herd, where the majority of cows calved from March to May, having a handful of cows running into June or early July is highly questionable in terms of herd management and output.
These later-born calves are out of step with the main herd as they are too young to fit in with the summer worming programme and will be too young to wean at housing.
They do not benefit from high-quality spring or early summer grass, so growth rates will be behind target, and will require housing with access to both the cow and a separate creep area.
Sale options will also be limited when compared with the March- to May-born calf. Late calves born in June to July will be too light to sell as weanlings in autumn sales as they will not generate enough money to cover the cost of keeping the cow.
They are also less suited to intensive finishing as young bulls as they will require higher levels of concentrate feeding from housing until slaughter.
In steer or heifer systems, to finish around 21 to 24 months will require a long housing and feeding period in 2019/20, whereas a 300kg weanling this autumn could probably be finished by Christmas 2019, at much less cost.
Review
Therefore, it is worthwhile to take the time to review the most recent calving period and ask the following questions:
How many weeks did it take to calve your cows this spring? Is spring-calving finished before the breeding season starts?When do you want cows to start and finish calving?Have you enough replacements coming into your herd?If you decide to leave your breeding management unchanged, then you should expect the same results year after year.
Options
With breeding now under way, now is a good time to consider your options for late-calving cows.
Every herd will have a small number of cows that persistently calve late every year. These are the animals to be identified now and a decision made on their future in the herd.
The later-calving cows can be replaced by breeding additional heifers, or buying in-calf heifers this winter.
Outlined are some options to consider when dealing with late-calving cows.
1
Sell now
For suckler herds that are not under any movement restriction, the most straightforward option is to sell the cow and calf unit as early as possible, and therefore removing the temptation to hold the cow for another year.
Good-quality suckler cows, with well-bred beef calves, are still holding their value in the mart, even if store cattle prices are slowing.
Considering that the recent dry weather has had a negative effect on grass growth, you should give careful thought to offloading late-calving cows now, rather than grazing them and creating a shortage of grass for more productive cows in the herd.
Selling early will also save on winter feed and housing requirements, which again is a cost saving.
2
Keep as a separate group
Once you have identified the cows that are consistently calving late each year, you should record their numbers or mark them.
If possible, run these cows separate from the main cow group and stock bull. Again, this is to remove the temptation of breeding these animals and having them calving down late next year.
As these cows will not be bred, you are more likely to follow through on culling these cows later in the year.
3
Wean early in autumn
An alternative to selling the cow and calf unit now is to hold both animals until autumn time.
At this point, grass growth and grass quality will be in decline.
Rather than feeding the cow concentrates to sustain milk production, late-calving cows would be better off weaned early before starting to lose body condition.
It will be more cost effective to feed an extra 1kg to 2kg of concentrate directly to the calf rather than the cow, just to maintain milk production to support calf performance.
Where cows are weaned in good condition in the autumn, there are a couple of sale options available. Autumn is a period of good buying demand for beef cattle.
The cow can be sold through the mart to specialist finishers, with prices of 150p/kg to 180p/kg typically paid depending on body condition and cow quality.
Alternatively, the cow could be dried off and then intensively finished on a simple finishing ration over a period of 30 to 50 days.
4
Sell in-calf
Where farmers have limited grazing ground available, or want to hold late-calving cows until weaning, one option would be to run all cows as one group as normal.
This means giving all cows the chance to run with the stock bull again. However, it is important to remain disciplined and sell the late-calving cows as planned.
Use scanning results to identify the cows that fall outside your planned calving period. These cows should be separated out and sold.
Selling all of these cows in special breeding sales can improve the overall sale value, rather than selling animals individually.
5
Synchronise and use short gestation bulls
For a suckler farmer who does not want to sell off late-calving cows, it is important that you try to shorten the calving interval and bring the later-calving cows forward each year.
Using bulls that have shorter gestation period will help to bring cows forward.
Rather than running a separate stock bull for late-calving cows, you could use artificial insemination (AI) to have access to bulls with shorter gestation periods to reduce the calving interval.
However, herd management needs to be at a high level to increase conception rates. Late-calving cows should also have a pre-breeding scan to ensure there is no internal problems affecting fertility.
To aid with heat detection, and to get cows cycling, synchronising the later calving cows may be an option. Keep these late calvers separate from a bull and close to the yard if handling for AI.
Cows that are to be synchronised should be at least 35 days calved and on a good plane of nutrition.
A synchronisation programme that involves the insertion of PRIDs or CIDRs, along with the administration of GnRH (Receptal) at PRID insertion, and Prostaglandin (Estrumate) when PRIDs are removed, is likely to cost in the region of £20 per head, and not including vet call-out.
Cows that are synchronised could then be artificially inseminated or run with the bull. If the average calving date is pulled forward a month, the cost would be worth it.
Read more
BEEF 2018: the take-home messages
2017– a tough year for finances on Newford Farm
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