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Post by Sudsy on Aug 30, 2014 3:08:27 GMT -6
Have just commenced spring calving season, roughly 20% on the ground, was driving through the cows this afternoon when ellettherefords thread came to mind, birthweight and culling. Got me thinking a little along the lines of culling and its eventual/end impact on our herds.
Came to the conclusion, possibly the most powerful/effective tool in the cattle breeders toolbox. JMO.
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Post by George on Aug 30, 2014 7:39:06 GMT -6
Have just commenced spring calving season, roughly 20% on the ground, was driving through the cows this afternoon when ellettherefords thread came to mind, birthweight and culling. Got me thinking a little along the lines of culling and its eventual/end impact on our herds. Came to the conclusion, possibly the most powerful/effective tool in the cattle breeders toolbox. JMO. The drought forced culling that I've been going through has definitely made a difference with my herd. It is likely that the herd that I have in 2015 will be about 1/3rd the size that I had just 3 years ago. I sure like my herd as a group much better than I did at that time. But each round of culling gets harder. The cattle that I'm going to sell this fall will mean the end of a couple of cow families in my herd. Those are the hardest decisions for me, as I know that the genetic base narrows when that happens. |
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Post by Glenn on Aug 30, 2014 11:42:41 GMT -6
Interested to hear thought on culling females. The consensus you hear is that when you linebreed you have to cull ruthlessly. But Lasaters linebreeds and keeps 90% of heifer crop each year.
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Post by George on Aug 30, 2014 12:45:41 GMT -6
Interested to hear thought on culling females. The consensus you hear is that when you linebreed you have to cull ruthlessly. But Lasaters linebreeds and keeps 90% of heifer crop each year. One common thought that I have heard from virtually 100% of the long time breeders whom has discussed this subject with me, regarding their own herds, is that they always try to keep a lot of heifers, because it is really hard for them to predict which ones are going to be the best ones. In my own experience, several of the very top heifers from each crop end up disappointing me, probably because I have such high expectations from them, yet there is always some from "back in the pack" that end up being very pleasant surprises. That is why I would like to keep every heifer worth keeping until she has had at least one calf. |
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Post by larso on Aug 30, 2014 14:27:40 GMT -6
That has been my experience exactly George. I try to keep as many as 80/90% then cull very hard on Ist calf performance.
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Post by strojanherefords on Sept 4, 2014 23:36:14 GMT -6
I believe that the most important measure of a cowherds potential profitability is its cull rate. For cow that will not raise a calf next year it is a loss of one thousand dollars one way or the other. Personally, I feel that it is better to cull a known problem breeder and replace her with a heifer that has more years of productive life left in her. Gross Income Table | Year | Bred Cow | Open Cow | Culled Cow | | 1 | Sell Calf $1,000 | Sell Calf $1,000 | Sell Cow $1,000 | | 2 | Sell Calf $1,000 | No Calf to Sell | No calf to sell | | Total | Cow in breeding
condition + $2,000 | Cow in subpar
condition + $1,000 | Heifer ready to
breed + $1,000 |
As a result, I do not cull a cow that I do not have to because I want to put as much selection pressure towards fertility. It has been my experience that heifers out of the cows that make it to old age do better than average. My goal is to have a long term non discretionary cull rate of 15% and have a discretionary cull rate of 5% to the commercial herd. |
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