Profitability was a recurring theme when it came to the most popular articles offered by the Beef Cattle Research Council in the past year.
But the most popular blog post by far was a story and accompanying video offering calving tips, including why people shouldn’t hang calves upside down if they need help breathing.
“The day a calf is born is going to be the highest-risk day of its entire life,” Dr. Claire Windeyer says in the video.
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The veterinarian then debunks the practice of hanging a calf over a gate or putting it upside down. The idea is to allow fluid from the lungs to drain, but the discharge is generally from the stomach and does no good to breathing. Worse, hanging the animal upside down causes the stomach and intestines to press on the diaphragm and compress the lungs, making it harder for the calf to breathe.
The BCRC created more than 60 practical and science-based posts for its website in the past year. The bottom line was the top draw for many of the most popular ones.
This included one titled ‘What are Profitable Farms Doing?’ which highlighted 2021 results from the Canadian Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network. It consists of about four dozen cow-calf operations (and three dairy-beef farms) across the country.
“Based on data from these benchmark farms for the 2021 production year, it is observed that the higher profit farms within the network tend to have more cows, smaller cows and lower costs per cow,” the article stated.
Also in the top 10 was an article titled ‘How to Increase Profitability Through Calving Distribution.’ It touted several benefits of a shortened calving season, including being able to market larger, more uniform groups of calves. As well, “heifers that were born earlier have greater pregnancy rates, remain in the herd longer and produce one more calf in their lifetime.”
Another post with profitability in the title was one noting the benefits of keeping records on a range of things, including conception rate, weaning weight, calf uniformity, grazing days on pasture and extended grazing and stocking rates.
“Research shows that when producers set goals and keep records, they can achieve up to 60 more pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed,” the post states.
Other articles with an economic focus included two methods for calculating carrying capacity (there are three key questions to ask for either method), calculating the true value of a herd sire (there’s a bull valuation calculator that deals with seven parameters), using vaccines to protect investment in calves (producer surveys have found five to eight per cent of calves die before weaning), and a two-part series on right-sizing the cow herd.
Rounding out the top 10 were articles on new transport regulations and on two producers who had to deal with fire and drought.
All the articles and videos can be found in the Posts & Multimedia section of the website. This includes not only the articles from 2022 but those going back to 2011. The page also has a sign-up for receiving emails about new articles and a monthly e-newsletter.
