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Which Heifer Development Strategy is Right for You?

June 12 | Written By Shaye Koester

Let’s face it, as cattle producers we don’t always give enough credit to the females of our herds and the foundation they create for us. It’s sometimes simpler to think about the steers or bulls that get sold because that’s the majority of our income for the year, right? Shelby Rosasco, Beef Extension Specialist at the University of Wyoming, shares why it is important for cattle producers to focus on heifer development and how to know which strategy is right for their operation.

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Why Heifer Development Matters

The types of heifers we bring into our operations impact the quality of product we sell and our overall business strategy. Think about it. Whether you retain your own females or buy from someone else, you are likely hoping to see them turn into those old cows who do their job and work for you! That being said, the rate at which a heifer develops and performs is heavily impacted by her first year of life and even how her dam was cared for during the gestation process. “Heifers are the future of your herd. It’s an opportunity to think about where your herd is going to be in the next 5 to 10 years and the decisions we make early on have a long-term impact on what type of cow she becomes in the herd.”, says Rosasco.

Factors Impacting Development

Rosasco knows there are many successful heifer development strategies out there, but notes that puberty attainment and getting heifers to breed early in their first breeding season are 2 important factors in how heifers develop and perform in their environment. Nutrition and genetics are of course built into these two factors as well. “Fertility isn’t a one-time event. Everything we do during the gestation period and after as it relates to nutrition, health, stress and handling influences how that heifer develops.”, says Rosasco.

Cattlemen and women need to remember the goal of the heifer when they think about their heifer development strategy and realize that each strategy needs to push fertility and reproduction. “When you think about the purpose of a heifer, she is supposed to have a calf each year within a 365-day window. So, while it may sound like a simple answer, pushing fertility in your heifer development strategy is really important.”, says Rosasco.

Part of puberty attainment relates back to calving distribution. While it isn’t always true, sometimes heifers born later in the calving season are later to mature and which impacts their fertility. When thinking about puberty attainment, Rosasco encourages beef cattle producers to think about how they can get their heifers to have multiple cycles before the start of breeding season to help set them up for success.

Retaining Your Own Females vs. Buying from Someone Else

What’s the right solution, footing the bill to retain your own females or buying from someone else? If you are a cattle producer who asks yourself this question, start by determining the goals of your operation. Know what product you are selling and what is valuable to your buyers. You also need to evaluate your resources and financial situation. “When I think about the economics behind heifer development, I think of it like a stocker operation. What’s the opportunity cost of keeping my own heifers to breed versus buying from someone else who has comparable genetics and how long is it going to take me to break even?”, says Rosasco.

Regardless of which option is right for you make an active effort to keep an open mind and look for at ways to continually improve your strategy. “One of the biggest missed opportunities producers make is getting complacent with what they are doing year after year. It’s easy to get in a routine and look at keeping the same type and number of heifers each year.”, says Rosasco. Take a step back and look at how you could improve fertility in your herd.

Like everything else in beef business, there is no clear-cut solution that works for every cattle producer. However, the one thing that we can all do to ensure success in the cow and female areas of our ranches is to focus on what resources we have available, what we can afford and what the break-even of our females will be for the different scenarios we are considering.