1 October 2013

4 minute read

“Also, by pregnancy checking now, producers can optimize resource utilization by stocking pastures with pregnant cows,” he adds.

Although winter feed costs represent 60 to 70 percent of the expense of maintaining a beef cow, less than 20 percent of U.S. beef producers perform a pregnancy check in their herds, according to Dahlen.

Historical cull-cow markets reach a low point in November, which coincides with the time most producers would wean calves and pregnancy check cows.

Based on the average cull-cow market price for 2005 to 2012, the price difference between selling in August or November is roughly $8 per hundredweight. That equates to a difference of $108 when selling a 1,350-pound cow.

“Producers who are able to perform pregnancy exams and subsequently cull open cows during the next several months may realize substantial financial benefits, compared with marketing cull cows in November,” Mr Dahlen says.

However, not all producers have breeding seasons, facilities and the labor force to do pregnancy exams during the late summer. Herds with defined breeding seasons are best suited to take advantage of early pregnancy exams, Mr Dahlen says.

If bulls are run continuously with a cow herd or are being pulled from the pasture the same day as the pregnancy exam, producers have no way to determine the cows’ true pregnancy status.

Cows that become pregnant early in the breeding season will be identified easily in these instances, whereas cows that appear to be “open” actually may have been bred recently. These recently bred cows may be carrying an early pregnancy that is too young to feel via rectal palpation or visualize with ultrasound.

To conduct pregnancy exams on large groups of cows accurately and efficiently, the exams should be performed from 26 to 30 days after the last possible breeding if using ultrasound for pregnancy diagnosis. If using rectal palpation, pregnancy exams should be conducted 35 to 40 days after the cows are bred.

For example, herds calving in mid to late January would have a bull turnout or artificial insemination date around April 15. If the producer is using a 45-day breeding season, this herd would be ready to pregnancy check with ultrasound around June 29 and with palpation per rectum on July 9.

However, a herd that calves toward the end of April (July turnout) and has an 85-day breeding season will not be ready to pregnancy check until the first or second week in November.

Thus, producers with herds that calve in January through March or even late April and have a short breeding season can take advantage of early pregnancy checking to market cull cows prior to the historic market downturn in November.

“Following these guidelines, with proficient expertise, pregnancy detection should be very close to 100 percent accurate,” Mr Dahlen says. “All cows that are nonpregnant should be identified at the time of the exam.”

However, a small portion of cows determined to be pregnant during an early pregnancy exam will have fetal loss naturally prior to calving (the majority of this loss occurs by 60 days post-breeding). This fetal loss occurs regardless of whether producers choose to perform early pregnancy checking.

Carl's Advice

• In herds with thin cows, limited pasture or limited forage, removing open cows early may allow the remaining pregnant cows to have more access to feed resources.
• Sufficient labor to gather and work cattle and good handling facilities make pregnancy determination less stressful on the cattle and the people working them.
• Have a plan in place for nonpregnant cows prior to pregnancy checking. This might be to market ahead of seasonal lows or place nonpregnant cows on feed to target a market giving incentives to fed cows.
• Be prepared to manage early weaned calves if nonpregnant cows will be removed from pastures at the time of early pregnancy examinations.

“Some producers can take advantage of market conditions to capitalize on the benefits of early pregnancy detection,” he says. “Others, however, will have to decide whether to pregnancy check later in the year or wait until spring to market open cows.”