March 07, 2003

LINCOLN, Neb. — Despite drought in most areas of Nebraska, calving season is going well across much of the state, University of Nebraska beef specialists say.

Cows and first-calf heifers are in good body condition because of the mild winter, said Rick Rasby, NU beef specialist.

"Due to the dry conditions this summer, there was a lot of corn silage made to feed to cows and heifers," Rasby said. "This corn silage is keeping them in good body condition."

Also, in many cases calves were weaned earlier last summer and fall, said Ivan Rush, beef specialist at NU's Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff.

"The calves were taken from their mothers earlier so producers wouldn't have to feed the mothers expensive hay for such a long time," Rush said. "This helped because it's cheaper to feed the calf directly than through the mother."

Dry conditions have prevented major calf scour problems, and even with the short pastures, calves are being born healthy at birth, he said.

However, some cows, especially young females that had their calves weaned late and were short on available forages, may be in relatively poor body condition at time of calving, Rush said. If this is the case, several practices should be considered to avoid poor breeding performance.

"If cows are thin, it is essential to offer more total nutrients, especially protein and energy," he said. "This should be done as soon as possible – not after hoping and waiting for a large supply of lush green pasture to solve the problem. If the cows do breed back, it may be late in the breeding season."

Weaning the calf early also will help with breed back. When the suckling stimulus is reproved and the energy demand is decreased, the cows will tend to cycle much earlier, he said.

3/7/03-AF

Ivan Rush - Ph.D.
Animal Science
Professor
(308) 632-1245

Rick Rasby - Ph.D.
Animal Science
Associate Professor
(402) 472-6477

Sandi Alswager Karstens
IANR News and Photography
(402) 472-3030

Department: Animal Science