Folks, ranching is a business – a
tough business - to be a success it demands time, physical strength, and
intelligence with a good dose of common sense in the mix; it can at times definitely
increase stress in life, between operational decisions, the fluctuating prices
in the cattle market, and the vagaries of Mother Nature. Successful ranchers analyze
their operations and are willing to try different techniques or ideas to
improve operations and the ranch’s bottom line.
I often hear ranchers lamenting
they don’t have time for vacations, they are losing calves, they are losing
money, and on and on. Yet many ranchers ignore one of the best tools available
to them – a controlled breeding program. Basically, a controlled breeding program
is a plan for when the cattle breeding season will begin and when it will end. The
ability to control the “breeding season” is an important aspect of ranching and
one that I often see overlooked by ranchers – even ones that have been raising
cattle for decades!
A controlled breeding program is
a very cost effective practice; it enables the rancher’s dollars to be focused
on nutrition at specific times to ensure a successful breeding season for
mature animals and good weaning results for the calves. It also enables the
rancher to predict when and if additional labor will be needed to assist with
specific operations and plan accordingly.
A controlled breeding program helps
the rancher focus on one major operation at a time which greatly reduces
overall stress for the rancher. For example, the cows will all be giving birth
within a specific window of time, this enables the rancher to closely monitor
the cows for calving difficulty and respond accordingly to increase the
survival rate for both the cow and the calf.
The calves in turn will be
uniform in age allowing for veterinary tasks to be administered in total on
given dates which saves the rancher both money and time. And the calves will be
more uniform in weight when ready for sale; they can all be sold together when
a weight is reached that the rancher determines will bring the most income.
A controlled breeding program
helps the rancher identify cows that are not reproducing and thus not adding
value to the herd. These cows can be then be culled to make way for more productive
animals. Additionally, knowing exactly when the breeding season will begin the
rancher can determine whether or not to replace or maintain an existing herd
bull, schedule a “lease” a bull for the breeding season, or to utilize
artificial insemination (AI) to achieve specific breeding goals for the herd
and make plans for this.
One of the biggest and most
stressful mistakes we made when beginning ranching was to allow our bull to run
full-time with the cows for two reasons - 1) bulls can be very destructive and
2) you cannot control the “breeding season” if the bull is constantly present
in the herd.
We started off with 11 heifers
and a registered Angus bull with a 22 letter name that we shortened to “Buddy”.
Since we were new to raising cattle we emulated what local ranchers did – let
Buddy run with the heifers full time and unknowingly set ourselves up for a
tough year. Buddy, the Bulldozer, dug holes – some of them as much as 8 inches
deep and two feet in diameter all over the pastures when he wasn’t fighting
with the neighbor’s bull and tearing the fencing down. If you have never driven
a tractor through one of these holes that you couldn’t see coming for the high
grass around it – believe me this is an experience you can do without!
Now, when Buddy wasn’t going at
it across the fence line with the neighbor’s bull or digging holes, he was
doing the job we “hired” him to do. All the heifers were bred and the calves
were on the way – and on the way – and on the way! That first calving season
seemed to go on forever! Because the calves, in some instances, were born many
weeks apart for a protracted period of time I was up at all hours of the day
and night checking on those heifers, needless to say I was pretty tired and
stressed by the time the last calf was born.
A few months later as weaning
time came around, we had some calves and their Mommas bawling day and night for
three days in a row, then quiet (Blessed be!) and then it would start over as
the next group of calves reached weaning age! When it came time to sell the
calves as a group they were all different ages and weights and although we did
make money from the sale the time of year to get best prices had passed.
When the trailer hauling the
calves to the sale barn pulled away, I was both relieved and disappointed
overall in how the year had gone. I knew there had to be a better way and since
we had emulated the local ranchers’ operations that first year with one
exception, we needed to search elsewhere for ideas and solutions.
After some research, we found and
attended a pasture and livestock management school provided by Texas A & M
– it was 3 days long – and was well worth the time and money we spent on travel
and the class because we walked away on the last day with a lot of valuable
information we could utilize to improve our entire operation.
One of the our goals was to
develop a “controlled breeding program“ – we had to determine what was the most
advantageous date each year to open the gate and allow Buddy to join the cow herd.
Our approach to a “controlled
breeding season” - 1) one of things we discussed in the school was “Body
Condition Scores” (BSC) – BSC is the necessary weight of the cow to elevate the
chances of successful breeding within a specified time period. All the cows
needed to be a minimum of BCS 5 at the start of breeding season, 2) we set a
date when we wanted to the calves ready for sale and using this date backed up
the calendar to select a “breeding season” and a “weaning season”, 3) Buddy was
placed in a pasture of his own that connected to a big stall in the barn to
provide shade and shelter from inclement weather with plenty of hay and other
goodies a big guy must have to remain happy and healthy, and 4) Buddy would be
allowed to run with the herd for 45 days continuously in order to breed the
cows, and then he would go back to his pasture. Any cows that did not breed back would be culled.
The desired outcome - the cows
would all be in good condition at the time of breeding, and bred within the 45
day period of time, they would calve within a 45 day period, all the calves
would be of an age that they could be weaned together as one group, veterinary
tasks completed on the group at the same time, and sold together as a group
making life on the ranch much easier for all involved and more lucrative.
Additionally, we wanted all the calves “on the ground” at an
optimal time of the year based on our schedule and feeding requirements for the
cattle – maximizing when the pastures were at their most productive. Since
Buddy was not roaming free all the time, there would be less pasture and fence
damage!
A 45-day breeding season is
pretty aggressive, but we felt since we were dealing with mature cows that had
all calved before, and all the cattle, including Buddy were in good health, 45
days was doable. And it was; all the cows were bred back within that time
frame. Kudos to Buddy!
It took two “breeding seasons” to
get everything synchronized to the most desirable dates, but with the calves
all coming in close succession, we did not feel tied to the ranch for weeks on
end awaiting calving time to be over, and we had more control over the optimum
time to sell the calves.
A controlled breeding plan is a
valuable tool that every rancher should use to his or her advantage; it should
be designed specifically to meet his or her goals and time frames. For example,
a rancher may decide to have two “breeding seasons” a year – one in the spring
and one in the fall. The season may be of a different length of time – instead
of 45 days, it might be 60 or 90 days. The point is that a controlled plan is
not set in stone – it can be adapted as necessary – but having a plan can
improve the ranch’s financial outcome each year and make life much easier for
the rancher and his or her family!
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