Spring vs fall beef cow?

tomstractorsandtoys · Apr 23, 2015

What are the advantages or disadvantages of spring or fall calving beef cows. I grew up with a small herd of cows that calved in May but have found a small herd of cows for sale that will calve in Aug. I live in southern Wi and do have a barn for winter shelter. I am looking for about 15 cows and plan to buy 15 feeder calves when we wean the cows to give me 30 or so to fatten out each year. Thanks Tom

bison · Apr 23, 2015

It is cheaper to grow calves on grass than to grow them on hay and grain over the winter

rrlund · Apr 23, 2015

My problem with fall calving is that it takes more feed to keep a cow milking decent to feed the calf after the pasture is gone. I don't like to calve too early. I just started a week ago here in Michigan. Much earlier and the cold and mud take a heavy toll. It's just easier to get a dry cow through the winter than it is one that has a calf on her.

LAA · Apr 23, 2015

In general, at least from a cow/calf producers point of view, it is more cost efficient to have calves coming when both the cow and the calf will have plenty of grass, I would imagine that is spring in your area. On the other hand, with a fall calving herd you are not winter feeding a gestating cow who may or may not produce a live calf, you are winter feeding a lactating cow with a pay day by her side. Feeding the calves out presents another variable, you may want to look at the market trends in your area for fats at the time of year you will have them ready, though these days there is not near as much price fluctuation from month to month as in the past.

Crookedwrench · Apr 23, 2015

The most common mistake of spring calving is not having pregnancy tests done in Sept-October. An open cow that has just weaned a calf should be culled regardless of how nice you think she is! 60-70 day breeding season and strict preg checking will cull more than you like, but at least you will be wintering the ones that make you money. You will end up with a uniform calf crop that will market well at any stage.

BarryRanch · Apr 23, 2015

Depends on location. We do fall calfing here in Colorado. It gets so hot here in the spring that its too hard on the mothers, and calfs of corse. We try to get calf between Oct, and end of Nov. Works good for us, at 6 month that get taken off the mom and sold as grass calfs.

moresmoke · Apr 23, 2015

The down side to calving in August is that it can be hot and hard on the calf. Also it takes good feed to get the cow rebred heading into winter. The plus is that a cow thats been out on pasture in the summer calves easy. I much prefer going out and seeing if I can catch a calf, than being up all hours trying to keep them thawed and alive.

David from Kansas · Apr 23, 2015

We have both fall and spring calves and I honestly think that the benefits of one offset the benefits of the other. One thing that wasn't mentioned is that weaning calves generally sell a little better in the summer if you are selling them off the cow. I usually keep my calves for 3-4 months past weaning, depending on the feed situation. But, I am not a big operator with only about 60 cows and most (I would guess 90%) of the cow/calf operators around here calve in the spring.

tomNE · Apr 23, 2015

One thing i learned; it much easier to get a topnotch bull as most spring calvers will let you have the use of a bull for feeding it!

bison · Apr 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 12:46:22 04/23/15) [b:b7b380d7c2]The most common mistake of spring calving is not having pregnancy tests done in Sept-October. An open cow that has just weaned a calf should be culled regardless of how nice you think she is![/b:b7b380d7c2] 60-70 day breeding season and strict preg checking will cull more than you like, but at least you will be wintering the ones that make you money. You will end up with a uniform calf crop that will market well at any stage.

would not put to much trust in pregnancy testing.
You may well happen to sell cows that are perfectly in calf.
If yer vet is not sure he'll call a cow open.
Once the cow is gone there's no telling if she was pregnant or not.
I have kept many a cow that was supposed to be open yet dropped a calf right on time.I quit preg checking altogether
I was better of to sell what did not calve at a set cutoff date.

You would be surprised how many heiferettes that hit the feed lots in the fall and early winter are carrying a calf.

Pair-a-dice farm · Apr 23, 2015

A lot of the pro/cons depends on where you are located. I calve out roughly half in fall and half in spring. I personally like the fall season better because in my area they seem to grow out better. The spring calves have to deal with flies, ticks and snakes. In a hot dry year they don't seem to grow as well during the summer. Having 2 seasons also means 2 paydays, not a big deal but I like it.

rdandersom · Apr 24, 2015

I had good luck with mid September or slightly later calving.No flies, the cows were in good condition from walking around all summer, still dry enough to calve on pasture, no scours or pneumonia from barn calving and the new corn silage was there late October to make cheap milk.

Spring vs fall beef cow?

tomstractorsandtoys

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bison

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rrlund

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LAA

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Crookedwrench

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BarryRanch

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moresmoke

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David from Kansas

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tomNE

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bison

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Pair-a-dice farm

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rdandersom

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