Poor fertility is one of the biggest drains on a suckler herd in terms of both profit and farm labour. At the start of the calving season, every farmer is more attentive to observing cows during the day and night and attention to detail is always higher. But the longer the calving season goes on, this level of management and attention is hard to maintain.

Some farmers are reluctant to cull later-calving cows because they are visually good cows or there is a lack of replacement heifers available. But in a spring-calving herd, later-calving cows produce lighter calves off grass and lighter calves for weanling sales, which reduces income.

Should you decide to leave your breeding policy and management unchanged, then you should expect the same scenario year after year. If no changes are made, then no change will be realised. However, you can make simple changes to the herd system that will help to tighten the calving spread and reduce the number of late-calving cows.

Even in a compact-calving herd, there will always be one or two cows that calve late every year. The following options apply even in a 10- to 12-week calving period. When making a change, especially with calving and breeding, the first year is always the hardest. It is the change in mindset and the fear of the unknown that can put people off.

Don’t expect to achieve massive change in one year. Be realistic and set achievable goals. For instance, if your spring herd calves over 20 weeks, you will not move to 12 weeks the next year without losing cows. Instead, move to a 16-week breeding season this year, a 14-week season the next year and then down to 12 weeks or less.

Once you start to see the benefits in terms of cost saving and time, you will be glad you made the changes and you will stick with them. Farmers who have moved to compact calving do not go back to calving cows over five or six months again.

Options for late-calving cows:

1. Identify late-calving cows: Select a date that you would like to have calving completed, eg 1 May. Count how many cows you calved after this date last year and how many cows there are likely to calve after this date this year. If there are cows calving after 1 May in both years, you may be better off culling them from the start.

2. Pre-breeding scan: Are all cows OK after calving? Sometimes an infection may have been picked up through poor hygiene in the calving pen or not wearing plastic gloves when calving the cow. Cows can also have ovarian cysts which prevent them going in-calf. A pre-breeding scan of later-calving cows will pick problems up early and allow for action to be taken before they go to the bull.

3. Sell after calving: The easiest option is to sell the cow that is repeatedly calving late. It removes the temptation to keep the animal for another year. Selling a springing cow in late May or June may not be the best option as potential buyers will be limited. Selling the cow or a group of cows shortly after calving may be a better option as the cow and calf pair would appeal more to buyers.

4. Scan early: If the breeding season starts on 1 June, you could scan cows around 50 days later. This would identify animals that have held in the first three weeks of breeding. In a compact calving herd, a good bull should have around 60% to 70% of cows served in three weeks. Early scanning will add a cost, but it will give you a handle on how many cows are left to breed before the bull is to be removed. If possible, grouping the empty cows separately at this point will reduce the pressure on the stock bull who will still follow pregnant cows.

5. Smaller breeding groups: Again, this will depend on the number of stock bulls available. But smaller breeding groups will be a big benefit to a stock bull, especially in a compact calving herd. With compact calving, there will be times when multiple cows are in heat on the same day. This puts pressure on a bull to mate them all. Reducing the group will help to maintain the tighter calving spread.

6. Sell after weaning: Put the bull out on the normal date, eg 1 June, and leave him with the cows until a suitable date that should have all cows served based on calving dates. Scan the cows and identify the later-calving cows. These animals can then be sold in-calf at weaning along with any empty cows. If you do not have enough heifers for the following year, you have time to then source in-calf heifers from a herd with a good breeding and health record.

7. Restrict suckling: This option will require good fencing and persistence. Restricting the calves from suckling the cow to just night and day will help the cow to come back into heat earlier. Separating the cow and calf is not easy and it will take four to five days to get animals used to it. Forward-grazing calves ahead of the cow will work. It may require two strands of electric wire with a strong charge (ideally mains electric) to keep the cow and calf separated during the day. But after a few days, cows and calves will settle. At the start, it helps keep the cow settled if she can see and smell her calf.

8. Priority group: Keeping these later-calving cows together in one group is a good idea. It may not be practical on every farm due to smaller land blocks, fragmented ground and limited stock bulls. But it will keep you focused on them. Ideally, these cows should be well grazed on top-quality grass. If cows are thin, they may benefit from a small amount of meal to improve body condition pre-breeding. Cows that had a caesarean might benefit from being included in this group if they are getting extra feed supplemented. Blood sampling the group will highlight if they are low in minerals such as copper, selenium and iodine which will impact on fertility.

9. Using a short-gestation bull: Is it an option to use a different stock bull on these cows? Ideally a breed with a short gestation period will help these cows to calve earlier next year. AI may be an option as it increases the choice of bulls available with shorter gestations. If these cows are grouped together and kept by the yard, then AI may be a possible option if there is no available stock bull.

10. Synchronistaion: Synchronising later-calving cows can help to facilitate better use of AI. However, it means regular handling and good facilities to hold cows. Also, cows will need to have been in heat at least once after calving which means it is best used on cows around 40 to 50 days post-calving to increase the likelihood of a cow having been in heat again. Using a vasectomised bull will help with heat detection. This option adds expense if you go down the PRID route, but compare the time cost and hassle with late-calving cows as well as the lost liveweight at housing or weaning.

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