Because the yr ends, College of Missouri Extension livestock specialist Patrick Davis urges cattle producers to guage their record-keeping system to find out if it was profitable.
“Report-keeping begins with correct cattle identification,” Davis mentioned. Two nationally identified identification methods are the four-digit system and the letter and three-digit system.
The primary variety of the four-digit system represents the final digit of the calf’s start yr. The opposite numbers signify the calf’s start order that yr. For instance, the 56th calf born in 2023 can be 3056. One drawback with this technique is the potential for duplication when there are cows within the herd which are 10 or extra years previous.
“The letter and three-digit system reduces potential cow identification duplication within the herd as a result of it makes use of a letter to signify the yr,” mentioned Davis. The letter represents the yr the calf was born and the three digits signify the calf start order throughout that yr. For instance, if L is the letter assigned to 2023, then L056 is the identification quantity for the 56th calf born in 2023. The letter adjustments yearly in sequential order, besides I, O, Q and V should not used.
“For the identification system for use correctly in record-keeping, the identification markings have to be everlasting and straightforward to learn,” mentioned Davis. Advised calf identification markings embrace ear tagging, ear tattooing and branding. Since tattooing and branding are everlasting, Davis suggests these along with ear tagging. Ear tattooing is slightly easier to do and requires much less preparation, so it’s most popular over branding. For correct record-keeping, Davis means that ear tattooing and tagging be performed as quickly as potential after the calf is born.
“The record-keeping system ought to consider the complete cattle herd’s productiveness so it may be helpful in figuring out successes and issues inside the cattle operation,” mentioned Davis.
Take note of the breeding, calving and weaning seasons.
“Taking a look at cattle information as they relate to the breeding season is useful in figuring out reproductive effectivity,” mentioned Davis. Cattle producers ought to document the variety of bred cows and heifers and evaluate that to the full variety of cows and heifers that had been uncovered through the breeding season. This determines being pregnant share, which signifies the reproductive effectivity of the cattle operation. Davis additionally suggests cattle producers establish and cull the open cows and heifers so assets could be devoted to the best cows and heifers.
After calving, decide calving share by evaluating the variety of cows with stay calves to the variety of cows and heifers that had been uncovered through the earlier breeding season. This measurement evaluates calf dying loss as a result of dystocia (calving issue), spontaneous abortion or different reproductive well being issues. Davis urges producers to cull any cows that misplaced their calves throughout this time so assets could be devoted to productive cows.
“A number of information and evaluation can be utilized to evaluated cow herd productiveness at weaning time,” mentioned Davis. First, have a look at weaning share by evaluating the variety of weaned calves by the variety of animals uncovered through the earlier breeding season. This evaluates calf dying loss from calving to weaning.
There are a number of methods to investigate calf weaning weight because it pertains to cattle herd productiveness. These embrace:
• Evaluating kilos of weaned calves per cows uncovered through the earlier breeding season. This measurement in the end tells cattle producers the productiveness of their herds.
• Evaluating calf weaning weight to cow physique dimension at weaning. That is an indicator of how productive every cow is, which could be very helpful for figuring out productive females that must be retained and poor-producing females that must be eliminated to enhance herd productiveness.
Contact your native MU Extension livestock specialist for extra data on the way to use a cow record-keeping system to make your cattle operation profitable.
