Help producers evaluate technology options to speed up returns on herd genetics.

Heifers are the best genetic potential in a cow/calf herd. A missed breeding opportunity can delay the entire herd’s advancement – and slow down profitability. In fact, heifer reproductive success is highly linked with lifetime reproductive efficiency.

Research from the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) demonstrated heifers that calved early in their first calving season had increased longevity and weaned more calves, compared with heifers that calved later in the calving season.

“Increased longevity means the animal stays in the herds longer, which leads to greater payback on those investments,” said Vitor Mercadante, DVM, MS, Ph.D., associate professor and extension specialist at Virginia Tech. “These earlier calving heifers also wean heavier calves. It can take five to six calving seasons for the late-calving heifers to catch up to their earlier-calving peers.”

Faster time to breeding results in earlier calving and, in turn, speeds up the ability of heifers to contribute to the herd.

Manage heifer nutrition

Nutrition is extremely important, Mercadante said. It is the foundation for ensuring heifers have adequate body weight and have achieved puberty.

The Noble Research Institute cites two main causes of breeding failure among yearling heifers:

The heifer is not old enough at breeding time.
The heifer is not big enough at breeding time.

A traditional rule of thumb is that heifers should be 12 months old before breeding. The average age is closer to 13 or 14 months. In addition to age and weight, a female assessment of fertility before breeding helps producers select the best candidates for the herd.

Reproductive tract scoring can eliminate heifers that have not developed early and skew the program toward success, Mercadante said.

“Make sure you are taking care of heifers,” he said. “They have to have the right body weight, reproductive tract health score and pelvic measurements. I would put more pressure on the repro tact score than the pelvic measurements. We can fix the paternal side of the equation more easily with low birth weight and calving ease bulls.”

In addition, Mercadante advised producers to pregnancy check early and keep only heifers that conceived within the first 30 days of the breeding season.

Consider AI

The top-tier technology to consider is artificial insemination (AI) combined with estrus synchronization, which can better control breeding and calving dates.

“If we synchronize those heifers and AI them, we increase the chances of heifers becoming pregnant early,” Mercadante said. “That’s one of the best, most powerful tools.”

Producers should choose an AI protocol that has been tested and proven in a variety of geographic locations and in different types of animals. The Beef Reproduction Task Force (beefrepro.org) is an organization that helps promote wider adoption of technology among cow/calf producers. The task force has updated protocols for both conventional and sexed semen; estrus synchronization planners; AI calculators; and advice for improving synchronization and AI. These resources can help producers understand the technology and avoid mistakes.

“There are protocols in the task force site that are more intensive, and there are protocols for producers using AI for the first time,” Mercadante said. “Which protocols you choose will depend on a number of factors. For instance, do you have facilities that allow you to handle animals more frequently?”

Opt for estrus synchronization

AI is not the only technology available to producers. Estrus synchronization alone can have a quick impact on calving distribution – improving ROI and increasing pounds of calf weaned.

“Synchronization protocols work for natural service,” Mercadante said. “It helps producers get cows and heifers bred by the bulls earlier in the breeding season, but producers should consider taking full advantage of the technology and implement AI, since they are already making the financial investment.”

For example, there are operational costs associated with AI including semen, facility improvements and additional labor for handling. On the other hand, bull costs can vary widely with conventional breeding, and producers will still have some capital investment in handling for pregnancy checks and vaccinations.

“We often see that producers who adopt technology will make a profit,” he says. “If you synchronize and AI 100 heifers, with a 50% success rate, that leaves 50 to be serviced by bulls, and you don’t need as many bulls. Bulls don’t come cheap. That counterbalances some of the investments early. The more expensive the bull you’re buying, the better chance you have of making more money with AI.”

Genomic tools

Genomic tools are some of the most exciting technologies. Producers need only to submit a blood, hair, or tissue sample from an animal to analyze thousands of DNA markers and identify traits like calving ease, dry matter intake, feed efficiency, marbling score and tenderness.

“We get a ton of data when we genotype the cattle,” Mercadante said. “It’s getting cheaper and there are platforms that help you understand and use the data. It’s something we’ve been doing on the dairy side for a while. It makes it easier to select females based on phenotype and genotype when we have that genomic information.”

Paper tracking still works

The final technology Mercadante recommended is the tried-and-true tracking system: keeping a paper or electronic record of birth dates, parentage, date of calving and weaning weight of the resulting calf.

“Any producers can collect data just by writing it down and looking at the records,” he said. “It’s amazing how efficient the beef industry is even when the number of producers that use advanced technology is low. If everyone could take advantage of the technology, it would be unbelievable.”

Key points

In a study, heifers that calved during the first 21-day period of their first calving season weaned approximately one more calf compared with heifers that calved later in the calving season.1

In another study, heifers that calved early in the calving season with their first calf had increased longevity and weaned heavier calves.2

Damiran D, Larson KA, Pearce LT, Erickson NE, Lardner BHA. Effect of calving period on beef cow longevity and lifetime productivity in western Canada. Transl Anim Sci. 2018;2(Suppl 1):S61-S65.
Cushman RA, Kill LK, Funston RN, Mousel EM, Perry GA. Heifer calving date positively influences calf weaning weights through six parturitions. J Anim Sci. 2013;91(9):4486-4491.

Photo credit: istockphoto.com/Clara Bastian