By Mark Parker

news@joplinglobe.com

MIAMI, Okla. — Cutting too many corners may not get calf producers where they want to go, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t take a fresh look at the road map.

Oklahoma State University Extension livestock specialist Kent Barnes was in Miami recently to provide a little direction for beef producers facing input costs that seem to have jumped the fence and headed over the hill.

“‘What can I do to cheapen up cow costs?’ I’ve been getting that question a lot lately,” Barnes said. “‘How can I be more efficient?’ is probably a better question. I know people get tired of hearing about efficiency, but that’s probably where we can make the most significant changes.”

Barnes laid out the basics for managing the cow herd more efficiently.

n Controlled calving. “It’s impossible to be efficient if you don’t have a well-defined calving season, not in marketing, not in animal health, not in forage utilization,” Barnes insisted. “That’s the first step.”

n Sort cows for winter. “Cows don’t all have the same nutritional requirements, so if you have first- and second-calf heifers, for example, running with mature cows, you’re probably feeding too much to part of the herd and not enough to others.”

n Manage for a high percentage calf crop. “That sounds simple and obvious, but stop and consider that it’s hard enough for a cow to recover her own costs. But if she has to make up for cows that lose calves, it’s extra tough.”

n Watch cow condition. “Aim for having a cow fat when she calves. That’s the one thing that’s really critical to timely rebreeding. That’s fairly easy in the case of the fall calver but a little tougher for the spring calver. In her case, it may be a good idea to have that calf weaned off while you still have good forage in the fall. With a little supplement, you can get her into good shape going into winter when it’s going to be very difficult — not to mention expensive — to increase body condition.

“Once a cow calves, it’s essential to maintain her body condition through rebreeding. … Feed is definitely high, but it’s nothing compared to losing a big percentage of next year’s calf crop. At certain times in the production cycle of a cow, there just aren’t any shortcuts.”

n Cull heifers that don’t rebreed. “Forty-five days after you pull the bull, preg-test those heifers, and if they’re not bred, get rid of them. Heifer that don’t rebreed that first time are subfertile, and that trait tends to plague them the rest of their lives.

“If you have an open mature cow, the decision’s a little tougher, because a lot of cows will only come up open once in their productive lifetime. You might want to consider working her into the fall-calving herd, but if she’s old, has a bad disposition or doesn’t raise a very good calf, she definitely needs to go to town.”

n Don’t feed hay continuously. “Use supplements to take advantage of low quality forage. When you do feed hay, avoid waste any way you can and, by all means, test your hay. If it’s good enough, you may not need extra feed.”

n Evaluate mineral programs. “Beef cows need a long list of vitamins and minerals, but the good news is that almost all are available through the feed and forage they normally consume. There are times of the year on low-quality forage that phosphorus is deficient, but, properly stocked, healthy cows matched to their environment only need salt and phosphorus.”