A replacement heifer represents the future profitability and genetic improvement of the cow herd and is affected by nutrition, ultimately impacting the bottom line of a beef producer's income.
Replacement heifer selection and development is typically broken down into five areas: sire selection, pre-weaning, weaning to breeding, breeding to calving, and calving to rebreeding, according to a 1991 article published by L.R. Corah in The Bovine Proceedings, a publication by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP). There are many factors that go hand-in-hand when raising and breeding replacement heifers.
“What’s the right answer for setting goals for a replacement heifer program? There’s lots of them,” said Dr. Brad Skaar, associate professor in the animal science department at Iowa State University. “I do think ‘functional ability’ brings it all to a center point because that cow has to function in the environment and produce for the market that the producer’s mission defines.”
Skaar went on to explain that the ideal target weight for heifers at breeding across the industry sat between 60-65% of mature weight.
However, Shayne Wiese, fifth generation Hereford producer from Manning, Iowa, disagrees somewhat with Skaar’s philosophy.
“We have to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint,” Wiese said. “We aren’t shooting for a targeted weight; we are looking for a desired phenotype that is created by the genetics and the environment. We are setting up heifers for success long term.”
There are many ideal management situations across the industry, each of them varied by the environment the cattle are in. On the East Coast, beef producers face colder temperatures, while in the western 11 states, the climate is semi-arid, yet parts of the region see high amounts of rain and snow. Cattle herds can be found grazing the range and up in the high country (mountains). The Midwest varies from all those factors in the fact that it is a humid temperature climate that experiences all four seasons, significant differences between high and low average temperatures as well as variations across the region itself.
Dr. Tim DelCurto, professor of animal science at Montana State University, specializes in range beef cattle nutrition and management. He has spent a fair amount of time researching and working with producers to find the right resources to cattle while optimizing nutrition based on the environment.
“To me, the ideal heifer situation is to make sure your breeding is producing ideal replacement heifers and in line with what cows can fit your environment,” DelCurto said. “We need to provide optimal nutrition that doesn’t exceed the needs of the animal.”
He went on to explain that it varies from ranch to ranch with the majority of the decisions, expectations and management being based on the environment the heifers are in. He also suggested keeping heifers “in their working clothes,” allowing them the opportunity to graze 10 out of the 12 months of the year and not allowing them to get over conditioned.
In the Midwest, over conditioned heifers cause several stipulations for beef producers.
“The real big problem with over nutrition is that you’re just increasing costs and putting unnecessary groceries into the heifer,” said Dr. Dan Loy, director of the Iowa Beef Center. “Additionally, research has proved that overfed heifers will have decreased longevity in the herd as well as difficulty breeding, subsequent milk production, and calving issues.”
Nutrition directly correlates with reproduction. Setting heifers on a constant and high plane of nutrition during the first 18 months is critical in proper development. However, concern towards over feeding or under feeding must be present to maintain proper body condition in order to reduce problems at the first breeding, and more importantly, breeding back after the first calf.
“The most difficult part of a heifer’s life is to get her bred for the second calf,” DelCurto said. Special diet considerations need to be made in order to mitigate laying down fat on the reproduction tract, in the mammary glands and tissues, and reducing impact on fertility.
Management of replacement heifers all boils down to profitability within a cow herd. Decisions of buying heifers or retaining heifers typically depends on the current cattle cycle.
“Decisions don’t pay back immediately, they pay back over the next seven years of her productive life,” Skaar said. “One instead needs to look at the economic trends in the cattle industry and cycle.”
Decisions can be made, but that doesn’t always mean they will be profitable as there are many factors that producers can’t control such as the weather and cattle markets.
“We really need to hone in on the things we can control to affect revenue, costs and profit,” Wiese said. “The easiest way besides picking high quality genetics is nutrition to affect profitability. Nutrition is the single easiest thing to control environmentally to reduce costs.”
Body condition scoring is a tool that is frequently used by producers to determine changes in nutrition and condition of the cow. They describe the relative fatness or body condition of a cow herd through the use of a nine-point scale. A body condition score five (BCS 5) cow is in average flesh and represents a logical target for most cow herds. According to the tool at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, beef cows at the time of calving has the greatest impact on subsequent rebreeding performance.
“With condition of the cows comes so many economic returns,” DelCurto said. “Healthier calves, the calf gets up quicker, it nurses quicker with a lesser likely to get scours, you can go on and on with different ways it helps. The number one economic concern is reproductive efficiency. That’s affected by nutrition.”
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO EAT BEEF.
Lauren