Texan
Well-known member
I stole this from another thread. I think it is some of the best general advice I have ever seen here for cow-calf producers. Doesn't matter if you're a newcomer or brokemouth. That's why I'm making a new thread with it. (And I'll probably repeat it at the end of this one.) There's plenty of bad-boy, cutthroat cow cullers that give the same old 'calf every 12 months or send her to town' advice. A lot of them don't even practice what they preach. Easier for me to cull yours than to cull mine, you know? Unfortunately, there's never enough mention of the exceptions.Farmhand":14l13irj said:A cow should give you a calf every 12 months or you need to cull her. There are exceptions to every rule but you need to make sure you don't let too many exceptions ruin your operation.
Sure, a cow should give us a calf every year. That's a no-brainer. But, with the cost of replacements like they are, a person has to be open-minded about culling. I'm afraid many of you will come to regret your $1,400 replacements. I won't, because I won't have any! Sometimes a cow has a good excuse for skipping. Many times, it's more our fault than hers. Sometimes she doesn't have any excuse, but the cost of replacing her is much higher than the cost of keeping her and giving her another shot. Why buy a high-priced replacement that you know nothing about, when you can give a cow from your own herd another chance? Don't automatically fall for the 'send her to town' preaching. Figure the cost both ways. Sometimes it's cheaper to keep her. Just do like Farmhand says and "don't let too many exceptions ruin your operation." Let them be the exception, not the rule.
Thanks, Farmhand! Really, really great advice:
"A cow should give you a calf every 12 months or you need to cull her. There are exceptions to every rule but you need to make sure you don't let too many exceptions ruin your operation."