180 Assessment of Weaning and Backgrounding Management Practices Used by Alabama Cattle Producers

Abstract

Weaning is one of the most critical and stressful stages of a beef calf’s life. Management strategies practiced during the post-weaning period can have a large impact on calf performance, quality, and economic viability. With the number of different practices that producers can utilize during these stages of production, it is important for Extension educators to understand which management strategies are most commonly used and the potential successes of those practices. In spring 2022, an online survey was conducted to examine beef calf weaning and backgrounding management practices used by Alabama cattle producers. The survey was distributed through Qualtrics software and contained 24 total questions. There were 214 responses received by the end of the survey deadline. A total of 94% of respondents considered their operation to be a cow-calf operation with 52% of respondents identifying as a commercial cow-calf operation. Most participants (46%) indicated they had a smaller size herd of 50 head or less. Almost one-half of respondents (47%) had a calving season in the fall, 23% had a winter calving season, and 19% had a spring calving season. There was an 11% response of producers not having a defined calving season. Participants were asked to describe their method of calf weaning and of the methods listed, 55% said they abruptly wean and 38% reported that they utilize fenceline weaning. Over one-half (61%) of producers indicated that they background or precondition their calves and another 25% stated that they do in some years, but not always. For respondents that do not background, market unpredictability is the main concern when choosing to not precondition calves. Producers who responded that they do background calves indicated that they wean for at least 60 days before sale. These respondents also followed other important management strategies such as a vaccination program (83%), castration (81%) and use of implants (37%). Methods for marketing backgrounded calves differed across respondents with 49% of survey respondents using local livestock auctions as one method of selling their calves and 13% of producers retaining ownership of their calves through the feedyard finishing phase. With these data, potential educational gaps for cow-calf operations, such as marketing knowledge and opportunities have been identified. Extension educators in Alabama will be able to use these data to create resources and programs centered around backgrounding cattle to improve overall understanding related to calf management post-weaning.