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Shortened Breeding Season Has Many Advantages

published: June 16th 2009
by: Justin Sexton
source: Illinois Beef Extension

As the transition from calving to breeding season begins, beef producers should consider both the start and ending dates of the breeding season since utilizing a controlled breeding season offers several management advantages.

Restricting the breeding season to 60 to 70 days will produce a more uniform calf crop, giving producers the option to market larger, more uniform lot sizes. A controlled breeding season offers producers who have limited labor resources a concentrated calving season and limits the time needed to monitor for calving difficulty. Nutritional, health, and reproductive management are simplified when all cows are in a similar stage of production. Controlled breeding seasons also apply indirect selection pressure to the herd; cattle conceiving during a controlled breeding season match the current production environment.

One common reason for “continuous calving” is the lack of facilities or resources to separate the herd sire from the cows. This problem can be overcome without constructing a bull pen. Forty-five to 50 days after the last day of the desired breeding season have the cows palpated or ultrasounded for pregnancy. Cull any cow less than 45 to 50 days pregnant at that time and avoid the temptation to start a fall-calving herd of reproductive failures. If the cows were that “good,” they should be bred. Culling open cows early also allows producers to conserve feed resources for productive cows and sell culls prior to the late fall and winter price lows.