we like spring calving as opposed to fall for several reasons.
1. take advantage of the good grass to increase BSC, resulting in good quality calves, good results on breed back
2. the nutriton levels for our animals and the amount of hay they eat in a year, and the amout of hay they would eat if the calves were on in the winter...just would not pay for us. Cows here alread consume 10 950 pound baled (include straw for bedding) a year. That is with no calves on them. Add in calves on the ground, and in the gut, that would increase the hay cost and that cost will not be recovered with the market we are in.
3. We intensive manage our calving season. Basically, the last two weeks of March and the first three of April we eat, drink, loose sleep with our calving. We want that live calf. In march we still have snow on the ground, it's still freezing so land work, and fencing do not start until May. Once that starts, life gets busy with other farm tasks. Spring calving works for us.
4. Before we started a specific calving season, we had some stragglers that calved late into September. These calves were never great preformers. They were smaller and a little poddied. The momma's had a hard time to keep the BSC on with a calf on her during our coldest months of the year.