Question

[Anonymous]

I know alot of big ranchers and farmers AI, but are there some ranches and farms out there that have alot of cattle and use alot of herd bulls?

 

[Ellie May]

We do, we've only AI'ed a couple of times. It's better I think to use a bull!
Ellie May

 

[Jake]

A hundred head isn't a large operation somewhere around 200+ is just getting to be enough where you don't have much time for the crops and cattle are the main focus.

 

[Beefy]

We fluctuate between 200 and 400 brood cows and i would personally rather use bulls. but if we had a smaller operation, say less than 100, i would be more likely to use AI and if i had less than 20 i would probably definitely only AI. as a general rule though, i prefer to let nature do its thing and only intervene when its absolutely necessary. Where i'm from, most cows have 1/2-3/8 brahman influence; you dont hear much about brahman cross cattle being AIed. They tend to have a larger cervix but they dont "take" as well. One of the larger registered operations in the area has Ankony Angus and a few years ago they bought a bunch of simmental cows to ET with angus. They dont seem to be doing too well anymore, financially. I think there have gotten to be twice as many angus bulls as there is demand down here.

 

[Frankie]

I know alot of big ranchers and farmers AI, but are there some ranches and farms out there that have alot of cattle and use alot of herd bulls?

Commercial cattlemen are the big operations and most of them use natural service. When you're running cows on thousands of acres it's hard to heat detect. Many of them, though, are going to the trouble to AI their best cows or first calf heifers and keeping the resulting heifers as a way to improve the genetics in their herd.

 

[CopeMan]

OK, what about ranchers that have thousands of cows running on these thousand acre ranches and they use natural service . They must have more than just a couple of bulls working for them.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Obviously.

 

[Craig-TX]

In my area the breeders are the AI crowd. Cow calf producers run bulls, one bull per 20-25 cows. It is very rare to see a producer AI. Also, for whatever it’s worth, most medium to large operations run bulls year round. Bear in mind, that’s around here where we have mild winters.

Craig-TX

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Craig do you mean they have multiple calving seasons, and also that all the cattle are grouped?

 

[TXBobcat]

I've seen some ranches that have 200+ cows run 10-20 bulls year around. Sometimes they'll have an older bull and a younger bull together. Calving season is from Jan 1 to Dec 31, in other words they are having calves throughout the year. Every so often, they pen the cattle in each pasture and pull off the calves that are ready to sell. After they have gathered enough for a load or 2, off to the sale barn they go. In this type operation, they've got money coming in throughout the year.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Must be difficult to make decisions though? You don't have a lot of uniform product, aren't vaccinating and castrating animals of the same age. Food and nutrition programs can never be based on the condition and status of the herd. I guess the plus is the need for less bulls, and revenues are spread out.

 

[Craig-TX]

A year round calving season is very common here. I’m not saying it’s the only way that’s right, but it’s served us well for many years. Like a lot of other management decisions there is often more than one right way, each having its upsides and downsides. I might change things down the road, but for us, for now, it’s the way to go.

It does smooth out cash flow over the year and it does spread your market exposure. Selling your whole calf crop at one point in the year can be a double edged sword. You might hit a home run, but you might miss. Working calves through the year isn’t that big of a deal. You just catch them now and then and work the ones that you haven’t gotten to yet.

There’s a whole lot of other factors to consider. Again, I’m not dogmatic about it but don’t let anybody tell you one way is right and one is wrong. It all depends on your climate, logistics, size, goals, marketing opportunities, schedule, etc.

Craig-TX

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I have a buddy that does the year round thing. His reason is he's just too dang lazy to manage the bulls. His only intervention is when it's time to pen up the crop and get paid. Turns out his calving seasons aren't too spread out though. I guess when the cows are left alone for long enough they have a tendency to line up anyway?

 

[BLACKPOWER]

Only between 5 and 8 % of all beef cows are AI'ed in this country. Dairy is something like 90%.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

BP that comes to me as a surprise. I thought it was much higher for beef and I was just not getting with the program. Frankly I'm a little intimidated by it because there aren't any techs or vets close by me that can or will do it, and I'd have to do it myself.

 

[la4angus]

BP that comes to me as a surprise. I thought it was much higher for beef and I was just not getting with the program. Frankly I'm a little intimidated by it because there aren't any techs or vets close by me that can or will do it, and I'd have to do it myself.

I would think that in Fla. there would be dairies all over the state which would enable you to find an AI Tech real easy.
I haven't been to Fla. for several years although I used to buy a lot of cattle out of there. Mostly around Alachua.

 

[Anonymous]

Only between 5 and 8 % of all beef cows are AI'ed in this country. Dairy is something like 90%.

SORRY WATH DOES AI'ed MEANS.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Yeah I didn't think about those huge dairies in Okeechobee. McCarthur/TG Lee. They're about an hour from me. Okeechobee County is the biggest cattle statistic in Florida, probably because of those dairies. Driving by those places is one of the reasons I prefer a beef operation. Gazillions of huge Holsteins with no tails and 5 gallon buckets for udders all huddled up in a mud puddle. Thanks for the tip. Can't believe I never thought about them.

 

[la4angus]

Only between 5 and 8 % of all beef cows are AI'ed in this country. Dairy is something like 90%.

SORRY WATH DOES AI'ed MEANS.

A.I means Artificial Insemination.

 

[Anonymous]

[why is angus regarded as a beef cattle quote="Anonymous"]I know alot of big ranchers and farmers AI, but are there some ranches and farms out there that have alot of cattle and use alot of herd bulls?[/quote]