Reading Time: 2 minutes (Note: This article has been edited and condensed.) A surprising proportion of producers believe they run a closed herd. The 2017 Western Canadian Cow-Calf Survey found that of approximately 25 per cent of respondents who did not vaccinate their cows and heifers against reproductive diseases such as IBR and BVD, over half said their reason was because […] Read more
Why closed cattle herds are like unicorns
It takes extraordinary measures to truly have a closed herd, and that’s why vaccinations are needed
Which is better: big cows or little cows? It depends
Heavier-milking, bigger cows are more efficient in some situations, while moderate, lighter-milking cows are more efficient in others
Reading Time: 3 minutes Marketing cows because they are open, calved late or their conformation is breaking down are easy decisions. Marketing cows or retaining heifers based on productive efficiency definitely requires more thought. Biological efficiency is not always the same as economic efficiency. In a cattle production system, efficiency is often a combination of those two. How we […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
