“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” is a catchphrase going around livestock industries, and Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist Mark Johnson agreed in a newsletter to Extension agents titled Cow-Calf Corner.
“Regular and consistent performance analysis can help a cow-calf operation: 1) identify where the business has excelled as well as opportunities for improvement, 2) make informed management decisions and 3) formulate goals and monitor progress toward goals,” Johnson said.
Analyzing cow herd performance for only one year will not accomplish all those goals, he said. Regular analysis over time helps build a base of knowledge for better management decisions and improved profitability.
PRODUCTION, REPRODUCTION MEASURES
Accurate production records are essential for meaningful analysis, Johnson said. In addition to the cow herd information, inventories of all categories of cattle are necessary at times of breeding, pregnancy testing, calving and weaning.
Here are some basic calculations of beef herd performance measures that should be evaluated after weaning, he said.
—Pregnancy Percentage = (Number of females Pregnant/Number of females Exposed) x 100.
—Calving Percentage = (Number of calves Born/Number of Females Exposed) x 100.
Keep in Mind, low values in both of those calculations indicate a problem but not the cause of the problem, he said. Environmental stresses will cause year to year variation.
—Calf Death Loss per Exposed Female = (Number of calves that died/Number of Exposed females) x 100.
–Calf Death Loss per Calves Born = (Number of Calves that Died/Number of calves Born) x 100.
–Percent Calf Crop Weaned = (Number of Calves Weaned/Number of Females Exposed) x 100.
Percent Calf Crop Weaned is a good indicator of total herd productivity, nutritional adequacy and good husbandry practices because it takes into account the previous calculations, Johnson said. However, it does not account for excessive use of inputs like feed and labor.
—Calving Distribution: Monitoring calving distribution within the calving season can provide insight on the reproductive performance of the herd, he said. This typically is done by splitting the calving season into thirds. Ideally, a large proportion of the cowherd would calve in the first third of the calving season. This would indicate good management, nutritional adequacy and good reproductive performance.
—Actual Weaning Weights: Often used as a performance benchmark. Higher profit operations tend to have heavier weaning weights, but the methods used to accomplish this need to be evaluated relative to cost effectiveness.
–Pounds Weaned per Exposed Female = (Total Lbs. of Calves Weaned/Total Number of Exposed Females) x 100.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $123.98 to $126.80 per cwt, compared with last week’s range of $122.43 to $127.40. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $194.02 to $198.29 per cwt, versus $192.44 to $203.38.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was down $2.23 per cwt at $305.60, while select was off $0.51 at $274.99. The choice/select spread narrowed to $30.61 from $32.33 with 126 loads of fabricated product and 29 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported Thursday that basis bids for corn from livestock feeding operations in the Southern Plains were down $0.20 at $1.65 to $1.85 a bushel over the Dec futures and for southwest Kansas were unchanged at $0.40 over Dec, which settled at $5.29 1/4 a bushel, up $0.03 3/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $154.49 per cwt up $0.92. This compares with Thursday’s Sep contract settlement of $154.90 per cwt, up $0.10.