Agricultural News
Research Proves Early-Calving Heifers Add Dollars to the Bottom Line
Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:35:52 CST
Females that calve earlier in the season net more profit for their owners. Research from across the country proves it. Animal scientist Eric Mousel from Northwest Missouri State University says over their lifetimes, early-calving heifers will earn around $1,100 above salvage value. Those who calve later in the season return half as much.
"Those later calvers tend to drag down the profitability of the entire herd. So, probably one of the real focal points of the research is that it's interesting to see more productivity and longevity out of those early-calving heifers, but it really does make a difference on the bottom line," Mousel says.
What a producer does with this information depends on his setup. Some set a strict calving season cutoff. If a heifer doesn't fit into that 45-day window, for example, they head down the road.
"Right now the market supports anything that breeds can just be turned around and marketed as a bred heifer and can be quite profitable."
Even more incentive to keep early-calving females is that they produce better-carcassed cattle.
"There has been a fair amount of research that has shown that carcass quality is really tied to longevity, it's tied to early-calving females. So, I think that's something we will see a lot more of in the future-a little more research and a little more implementation of selecting for these early females if for nothing else than the carcass quality," Mousel says.
He says that's something any producer can benefit from regardless of marketing.
"Right now, the big profitability in the feeding deal is grades. And if they don't meet grade, they're really not worth feeding right now. So, having that carcass quality bred in is really important whether you feed them out for yourself or it's simply by reputation.
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