Two Rivers Coop

Keep Your Cows in Condition
By Ashley Paddock, Beef Production Specialist

To make sure your cows will be ready for the upcoming calving season, now’s the time to establish realistic goals. One goal should include weaning a 90% calf crop within a 60-day window, to reach a 500-pound weaning weight at 205 days of age.

That’s why maintaining optimum body condition and a high health status for your cows—through proper nutrition—must be a priority. The Land O’Lakes Beef Cow Program is a complete system designed to help you reach these goals. It uses beef cow biological priorities, including:

Body maintenance
Growth in young cows (both first- and second-year heifers)
Lactation
Reproduction

Protect your investment
By focusing on meeting your herd’s nutritional needs, in order to optimize body condition scores, you will see:

Increased reproductive efficiency. Cows with an optimum body condition score breed back at a higher rate than those that have less than an optimum body condition.
Healthier animals. Cows that enter winter in better condition, withstand cold weather better because they have more “insulation” to protect them.
Lower feed bills. Cows with optimum body condition consume less forage, which leads to lower winter feed costs.
Increased profit potential. Cull cows in better body condition will weigh more, and therefore, sell for a higher price than thinner cull cows.

<--Back to February 2008 e-Newsletter