Strategic Planning
Yes, we keep rerunning this every sale. It’s always worth re-reading and thinking about!
Why do I recommend … ? two toughest years of their lives in front of them, plus translocation to your place. Many bred heifers offered for sale have been overde- veloped. Thus, some of them are pregnant and in good condition be- cause of feed and not because they are highly fertile and fit a tougher environment. breed. Research is showing that heifers can breed reasonably well when they reach 55% of expected mature cow weight. If you are calv- ing in sync with nature, you will get good conception rates; the open heif- ers will be profitable as feeders be- cause of lower cost.
As a result of these articles, I get a lot of email. I try to respond to them all. Sometimes the answer is simple. Sometimes it takes a little more thought. All that I recommend comes from many years of experi- ence, including over 40 years in the management of several large opera- tions where we were expected to make a profit. Early on, I decided it was important to really know what works and what doesn’t. It is very easy to get caught up in old wives’ tales, paradigm lockdown, good but out-of-context research or just wrong thinking. After you fight your way “out of the box,” be careful to avoid building a new box. And, al- ways try to be a systems thinker. In the next couple of articles , I want to provide some brief an- swers to questions that are asked. Understand they are far from com- plete, but have weathered the test of time. Not every idea fits every place, so use them appropriately — but don’t be afraid to try.
Selecting bulls from cows that always calve in the first cycle for maternal herds? I personally think the heritability for first-cycle conception in heifers and for calving interval between the first and sec- ond calf is higher than most of the estimates we see for fertility. Selecting the right seedstock provider? Commercial cattle pro- ducers have paid so much money for the wrong kind — high-growth, high-carcass — for so long that seed- stock providers are incentivized to do the wrong thing for commercial maternal herds. You need to find someone who will help you find bulls to produce functional and efficient females — moderate size and milk, physical soundness, high fertility on low inputs, calving ease, survivabil- ity and good longevity. The seedstock provider should help you include heterosis for better fertility and sur- vivability in your cows. ❚❚ Teichert, a consultant on strategic planning for ranches, retired in 2010 as vice president and general man- ager of AgReserves Inc. He resides in Orem, Utah. Contact him at burke tei@comcast.net.
Maternal matings only IF you can sell bred cows? If you can sell a good number of bred cows for a premium price each year, you can be as profitable as those who terminal- cross. Moderate size and milk? You can simply run more cows on the same land if they are smaller and give less milk. You will wean more pounds of calf per acre and sell those pounds for more money. Smaller cows giving less milk are more fertile in most environments. Exposing most of the heifer calf crop to bulls for a short pe- riod of time? Even with EPDs and genomic testing, no one can select heifers for your ranch as accurately as the bull and nature. Regardless of any other genetic differences, heifers that calve later as 2-year- olds cannot live long enough to catch up with those that calve early. Remember, this is your cow herd. It is supposed to be profitable every year. Minimal development of re- placement heifers? It costs less. The heifers that are truly, innately fertile are the ones most likely to
So, why do I recommend: Terminal matings? Do it for
greater profitability, simplicity of operations and to facilitate better grazing. Greater profitability comes because every cow can produce a calf to sell. Operational simplicity reduc- es cost and adds to profit. Improved grazing will ultimately add to carry- ing capacity and profitability. Not buying bred heifers? You must recognize that they have the
22 beefmagazine.com July 2018
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