For autumn-calving suckler herds that calve cows from August and to late September, the breeding season will be due to start in the second half of October.

How well cows are managed during the breeding period will have a major bearing on conception rates and, ultimately, the number of live calves born next autumn.

Therefore, these cows should the top priority on-farm at present. Outlined are 10 tips that will help deliver a successful breeding season this autumn.

1. House cows before the start of the breeding period

Cows should be housed before the start of the breeding period so that they are settled on their winter diet and in a similar environment.

Housing cows halfway through the breeding season is not ideal. The sudden change in diet and environment can cause stress, which then has a knock-on effect on conception rates both in cows that have been recently served, as well as delaying other animals from coming into heat.

2. Ensure cows are on a high-energy diet

Make sure cows are on a settled diet that is meeting their energy requirements to maintain body condition, support lactation and go back in heat.

Where cows are on high-quality silage of 74 DMD or better, there is no real benefit in supplement animals if they are in good body condition (BCS 3.0+).

If silage reserves are limited, then feeding meal will help to stretch fodder, with every 1kg of meal replacing 5kg of silage.

On good-quality silage (70 DMD), offering 2kg/day to cows in ideal body condition until the end of the breeding season should suffice.

Offer 3kg/day on average silage (66DMD) and 4kg on poor silage (62 DMD). Continue to feed at the outlined levels for a period of 30 days after the end of the breeding season. Feed rates can then be reduced depending on silage quality, body condition and fodder reserves.

3. Stock bulls at the ready

If cows are bred to natural service, stock bulls should have been rested if they were used to serve spring cows. They should be moving freely on all feet and in good body condition.

Also, check the bull’s testicles for lumps or defects. When the bull joins the cows, monitor closely to make sure he is mounting cows properly.

4. Limit size of breeding group

For a young bull in his first season, limit the size of the cow group so that he is not overworked, otherwise the bull may become sub-fertile, or worse still, infertile.

As a rule of thumb, give the bull one cow per month of age in his first year, ie a 16-month-old bull should serve no more than 16 cows in his first breeding season.

For a mature bull, group size can be increased. However, if you after a compact calving pattern, then a group of 30 cows will be plenty even for a mature bull.

5. Mix early- and late-calving cows

Grouping all of the early-calving cows together, or late-calving cows together runs the risk of multiples coming into heat at the same time, putting the stock bull under pressure to serve them.

Therefore, in herds with two or more breeding groups, it may be easier to mix some early- and late-calving cows together.

This will even out the spread of cows coming into heat, taking the pressure off the stock bull.

6. Heat detection

Heat detection aids are a good investment when using AI, as some cows housed on slats can show little sign of breeding activity.

Using tail paint, scratch cards fixed to the tail heat, or more sophisticated measures will help to pick up these animals for breeding.

Observe cows three to four times per day, with each period lasting a minimum of 20 minutes. Morning and late evening are often the best time to observe cows.

7. Record breeding dates

Regardless of whether you use AI or natural service, you should be watching cows for standing heats.

Record the cows as they come into heat and when they were served by the bull. This allows you to watch for repeats three weeks later.

That way if there is a fertility issue with the stock bull, you will pick it up early. Early action will allow you to replace the bull so that there is no major slip in the calving pattern.

8. Rotate stock bulls

For larger herds with more than one stock bull, a good way to reduce the risk of a sub-fertile stock bull impacting on calving dates is to rotate bulls after a period of four to six weeks.

This hopefully means cows served during the first half of the breeding season, but repeat due to a sub-fertile animal, will be successfully covered by the second bull, preventing any slip in calving spread.

9. Separate cows and calves

During the breeding season, restricting calves to suckling their dam for one to two hours in the morning, and again in the evening, will help to bring cows into heat.

Heats also tend to be much stronger, with greater activity displayed by the cow.

Start by locking calves away from the cow in a separate creep area during the day, and overnight, from around 20 days post-calving until the cow is settled in-calf.

Restricting suckling during this period has no negative effect on the calf’s performance.

10. Pick an end date

How long do you want to spend calving cows next year? Having a handful of late-calving cows is a serious drain on any herd in terms of labour, time management as well as reducing output from having lighter animals to sell.

Therefore, make the decision to stop breeding cows on a set date and stick to it. This may be after a 10-, 12-, or 15-week period.

The easiest way to do this is to remove the stock bull, scan cows around 30 to 40 days later, wean empty cows early and cull them.

With the value of good-quality cull cows, they will pay to bring an in-calf heifer into the herd to maintain breeding numbers, if necessary.