Research conducted at sale barns in South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana indicated that lot size was a factor influencing calf prices.

However, it is less commonly used with natural service, but it is an effective way to group cows and heifers, creating a more-uniform calf crop. The question is how can we help retain the cowherd without a lot of additional expense and labor?Įstrous synchronization is a common tool to use with artificial insemination. The number of calves a cow must produce before she starts making money for an operation is a moving target depending on input costs however, what we do know is that it is more than four calves regardless of the operation. This data should raise red flags to the producer. If the heifer was born in the first 21 days, she stayed in the herd 5.1 years. Mousel found that the average age of a commercial cow herd in South Dakota was 3.9 years of age. Regardless of the cattle markets, the ability to retain cows in the herd is critical while creating a uniform calf crop. Written with contributions by Olivia Amundson, former former SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist.

Raising bulls for breeding