Influence of Calving Season and Stocking Rate on Beef Cow-Calf Productivity

Bagley, C. P.; Carpenter, John C.; Feazel, J. I.; Hembry, F. G.; Huffman, D. C.; Koonce, K. L.

doi:10.2527/jas1987.643687x

Cited by 37 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Cows bred for 30 or 45 d had less longevity in the herd than cows bred for 70 d, which is a further disadvantage. Bagley et al (1987) compared spring and fall calving in Louisiana and found that the fallcalving herd had a higher weaning rate and heavier calf weaning weights, resulting in higher cow productivity and higher monetary returns.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of breeding season length and calving season on range beef cow productivity

Deutscher¹,

Stotts

Nielsen

1991

Journal of Animal Science

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A 5-yr study was conducted beginning in 1983 with 460 cows to evaluate the effects of three breeding seasons (30,45, and 70 d in length) and two times of spring calving, March (early) and April (late), on cattle production under Nebraska Sandhills range conditions. Criteria evaluated included pregnancy and weaning percentages, calving date and distribution, cow weights and body condition at four intervals, calf birth and weaning weights, and cow productivity. The 30-d breeding season included a 10-d estrus synchronization and AI period; in the other breeding seasons only natural breeding was used. The same sires were used over the entire study period. Percentage of cows pregnant and percentage of calves weaned were lower (P < .01) for cows bred for 30 d than for cows bred for 45 or 70 d. Average calving dates were similar among the breeding groups within the early and late calving herds. Pregnancy rates from AI were higher (P < .01) for the cows calving in April (64%) than for the cows calving in March (41%). Cows calving in April lost less weight between precalving and prebreeding and were heavier (P < .05) at prebreeding time than the cows calving in March. Calf weaning weights were not different (P > .lo) among any of the breeding season groups or between the two calving herds when calves were weaned at a similar age. Cow productivity (calf weaning weight per breeding female) was highest (P < .05) for the cows bred for 70 d (186 kg), intermediate for the cows bred for 45 d (172 kg), and lowest for cows bred for 30 d (162 kg). No difference in cow productivity was found between the two calving herds (early, 172 kg and late, 175 kg). We concluded that cows bred for 70 d had the highest productivity and that an April calving season was as productive as a March calving season in the Nebraska Sandhills.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of breeding season length and calving season on range beef cow productivity

Deutscher¹,

Stotts

Nielsen

1991

Journal of Animal Science

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“…There was a non-significant trend towards higher pregnancy, calving and weaning rates in the late over early-calving DS cows. Bagley et al (1987) using Angus and Hereford x Angus cows in Louisiana, found similar conception rates in two calving season groups when data were averaged over a 5-yr period. Similar observations were reported by Lesmeister et al (1973) who found no significant difference in percent calf survival from birth to weaning between early (87%) and late-calving (100%) treatments at one location, but percent calf survival was significantly higher for early calves at a second location.…”

Section: Reproductive Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is limited information on the effects of the month of calving on cow productivity (Bellido et al 1981;Bagley et al 1987). Therefore, a 3-yr study was undertaken to compare effects of early (April) and late (May/June) calving under range conditions in east-central Alberta.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of early versus late spring calving on beef cow-calf productivity

Pang¹,

Makarechian²,

Goonewardene³

et al. 1998

Can. J. Anim. Sci.

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Pang, H., Makarechian, M., Goonewardene, L. A. and Berg, R. T. 1998. Effects of early versus late calving on beef cow-calf productivity. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 78: 249-255. Early (April) vs. late (May/June) calving was compared over 3 yr at the University of Alberta Ranch at Kinsella, Alberta, Canada. Three synthetic lines, two of which were predominantly beef breeds (BS1 and BS2) and one with approximately 60% dairy breeding (DS), were used and 995 records were analyzed. Cows from each line were randomly allotted to the early or late breeding schedules at the time of breeding. The same bulls bred cows in their own line, beginning in June and in August for two 6-wk periods. Calving season had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on pregnancy rate (%), calving assistance, calving and weaning rate (%), adjusted off-test weight or post-weaning ADG, suggesting that late calving can be a viable management option. Birth weights of all calves were significantly lower in the early group than in the late group (38.9 vs. 41.2 kg, P < 0.01). In the BS1 and BS2 lines, early calves had higher adjusted pre-weaning ADG: BS1 (1.18 vs. 1.11 kg d -1 , P < 0.01), BS2 (1.12 vs. 1.05 kg d -1 , P < 0.01) but the differences in the DS line were not significant (P > 0.05). The early calves were older at weaning and therefore were expected to have higher pre-weaning ADG. The fact that the late-born calves in the DS line equalled the early calves in pre-weaning ADG indicates that they were growing relatively faster. Late calving DS heifers had significantly higher weights (P < 0.01) at breeding in June, higher ADG to breeding, and cows had higher body condition scores at calving and weaning (P < 0.01), suggesting that DS cattle benefited more by late calving. The late-calving management system appears to be a viable option for cow-calf production in Alberta.Key words: Calving season, reproductive traits, weight and growth, beef cattle Pang, H., Makerechian, M., Goonewardene, L. A. et Berg, R. T. 1998. Effets comparatifs de la précocité du vêlage de printemps sur la productivité des élevages de veau d'embouche. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 78: 249-255. Nous avons comparé pendant trois ans les effets du vêlage précoce (avril) et du vêlage tardif (mai-juin) au ranch de l'Université de l'Alberta à Kinsella en Alberta (Canada). Nous utilisions pour cette analyse 995 relevés de production concernant trois souches synthétiques, dont deux à dominance bouchère (BS1 et BS2) et une à 60 % d'ascendance laitière (AL). Les vaches de chaque souche étaient assignées au hasard à un protocole de mise à la reproduction, précoce ou tardif. Les mêmes taureaux étaient utilisés sur les vaches de même souche, à partir de juin ou d'août, chaque fois pour une durée de six semaines. La saison de vêlage n'avait pas d'effets significatifs (P < 0,05) sur le taux de gravidité (%), sur l'assistance requise au vêlage, sur le taux de vêlage et de sevrage (%), ni sur le poids corrigé en fin de test ou sur le GMQ en post-sevrage, ce qui porte à considérer le vêlage tardif comme une option d...

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“…Pregnancy rates as well as the lactating and weaning rates across three different grazing strategies are assumed the same as the average corresponding rates described previously in this section. This assumption is based on previous literature findings, which reported no differences in pregnancy rate for cows associated with different stocking-rate treatments [17][18][19][20], cows maintained on continuous grazing and variable rotational grazing treatments [21,22], and cows under continuous and rotational stocking at identical stocking rates [23,24].…”

Section: The Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

GHG Mitigation Potential of Different Grazing Strategies in the United States Southern Great Plains

Wang

Teague²,

Park³

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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Abstract:The possibility of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by ruminants using improved grazing is investigated by estimating GHG emissions for cow-calf farms under light continuous (LC), heavy continuous (HC) and rotational grazing, also known as multi-paddock (MP), management strategies in Southern Great Plain (SGP) using life cycle assessment (LCA). Our results indicated a GHG emission with these grazing treatments of 8034.90 kg·CO2e·calffor cow-calf farms in SGP region, which is high, compared to that for other regions, due to the high percentage (79.6%) of enteric CH4 emissions caused by relatively lower feed quality on the unfertilized rangeland. Sensitivity analyses on MP grazing strategy showed that an increase in grass quality and digestibility could potentially reduce GHG emission by 30%. Despite higher GHG emissions on a per calf basis, net GHG emissions in SGP region are potentially negative when carbon (C) sequestration is taken into account. With net C emission rates of −2002.8, −1731.6 and −89.5 kg C ha −1 ·year −1 after converting from HC to MP, HC to LC and from LC to MP, our analysis indicated cow-calf farms converting from continuous to MP grazing in SGP region are likely net carbon sinks for decades.

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Influence of Calving Season and Stocking Rate on Beef Cow-Calf Productivity

Cited by 37 publications

References 8 publications

Effects of breeding season length and calving season on range beef cow productivity

Effects of breeding season length and calving season on range beef cow productivity

Effects of early versus late spring calving on beef cow-calf productivity

GHG Mitigation Potential of Different Grazing Strategies in the United States Southern Great Plains

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