Better Female Management Can Lead To Long-term Success

What’s your criteria for selecting the right females for your herd? And what steps do you take to ensure that female is set up for a prosperous future?  The decisions you make today will affect your operation for years to come, so it’s important to make the most informed decision possible.  Texas A&M University professor Cliff Lamb says producers who can select the animal that becomes pregnant, early in their very first breeding season, those animals will remain in the herd longer and they will produce greater weaning weights.

“I think we often lose sight of is the fact that we really don’t put enough pressure on our herd for pregnancy.  And so, I was fortunate enough to use a herd as a case study and what we did is we incorporated multiple rules in the herd so that every cow had pressure on her to perform.”

Lamb said cows that meet those pregnancy requirements stay in the herd; those that don’t, don’t.  From a profitability standpoint, selecting reproductively efficient females is paramount.

“If the cow doesn’t become pregnant, it doesn’t matter how great of genetics she has.  That’s why pregnancy is so important and a lot of people lose sight of that.”

Lamb led an Angus University breakout session at the 2017 Angus Convention.

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