Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
Size Matters In The Cow Calf Business
Economies of scale are an important consideration for any business and can lead to greater profitability. However if that greater scale principle is applied to individual cow weights on the ranch we quickly find out that bigger is not better.
Variation in individual cow weights in the U.S. is up to 1,000 pounds. It is not uncommon to see variation of this magnitude in any given herd, even relatively small herds. Kris Ringwall of North Dakota State University recently reported in Beef Talk that the mature weight of 102 cows in two herds at the Dickinson Research Extension Center in Dickenson, ND ranged from 856 to 1935 pounds. These cattle are actually in two herds with average weights of 1216 and 1571 pounds, respectively and are likely representative in size of not only cattle in North Dakota but the entire U.S.
Dr. John Paterson found similar magnitude in the variation in cow size among the Montana ranches participating in the Montana Beef Network. One of the ranches we visited near Big Timber had an average cow weight of well over 1300 pounds. The heaviest cow was just over 1900 pounds. To their surprise when they weaned her calf it weighed 305 pounds. That is not a heavy enough calf to pay that cow's winter-feed bill let alone the entirety of her annual expenses. Not surprisingly the ranch manager punched her ticket for a trip on the first truckload of cull cows to the cow processor. Frankly we have countless cows across the U.S. that are high-cost and inefficient that need to be removed the production system.
If the objective of our cow calf operations is to produce a calf that weighs between 550 and 650 pounds at 7 months of age of a quality and type to fit into our growing and finishing systems as economically as possible then how does mature weight of the cow impact that objective? One would logically expect that larger cows are more capable of producing large calves than small cows, but at what cost?
We expect a cow to wean a calf that is close to 50% of her mature weight every 365 days. This is a reasonable goal that is achieved in the more efficient operations. If a good cow can produce 50% of her body weight in the form of a calf every year then we don't need cows that weigh in excess of 1300 pounds. Cows in commercial cow/calf operations that weight over 1300 pounds are increasingly challenged to produce at this rate.
Increasing cow size has a point of diminishing returns. At some point an increase in mature weight no longer returns a sufficient return in increasing calf weight to offset the cost of the heavier cow. As cows increase in weight they have an increasingly difficult time weaning a calf that will equal 50% of their body weight. Very seldom does a 1500-pound cow wean a 750-pound calf let alone a 1900-pound cow weaning a 950-pound calf.
Of course weaning weight of a calf is more a result of a cow's milking ability than her size. In our quest to increase, and subsequently select for, weight gain performance we have correspondingly selected for increased mature size as the two are highly correlated. This selection for growth in heifers over maternal qualities in retaining replacements has led to larger cows that consume more increasingly costly forage with marginal improvements in weaning weight productivity.
These larger cows may possess the genotype to produce very large calves, but the nutritional environment required to support that production is the exception not the rule on most ranches. Large cows have higher nutritional requirements, require more supplementation and thus incur higher input costs to maintain productivity. At today's prices for hay, supplement and mineral it is estimated that for every 100 pounds of mature weight an additional $15-$20 is required per year in costs for those three inputs alone.
In addition, the larger cows consume more forage during the grazing season. That extra 100 pounds increased dry matter intake by approximately 1.83 pounds per day during the grazing season at the NDSU research facility in Dickenson. Depending on the length of the grazing season that would amount to between 200 and 300 pounds of additional dry matter per cow for each 100 pounds increase in body weight.
Using the1.83 pounds of forage per day the annualized forage dry matter requirement difference for the 100-pound difference in body weight is 668 pounds. The difference in average body weight of the NDSU herds is 355 pounds. Assume those two herds each contains 50 cows and the difference in forage dry matter required annually is 118,570 pounds or nearly 60 tons. Sixty additional tons for those fifty larger cows is not economically sustainable. How do you suppose those two herds will each respond to drought conditions?
The logical next question, how many additional cows can you run on 60 tons of forage? If the cows in the herd that averaged 1216 pounds consume on average 2.3% of their body weight per day then during the year each cow will consume a total of 10,208 pounds of forage or just over five tons. This means that the extra forage the larger herd is consuming could support nearly 12 more cows that weigh 1200 pounds, which is a 24% increase.
We may not want to increase our herd by that amount, as there are other variables, e.g. capital financing, cash flow, etc., that must be considered in managing the business. But certainly stocking rate could be increased moderately while still maintaining a forage reserve that improves the grazing resource and allows for reserves during drought.
With increasing production costs, especially those associated with nutrition, the size of our cows must be addressed. It is well established that small and medium sized cows in crossbreeding systems are more economically efficient than large sized cows. The fact is cows that are too large, and there are plenty of them in our production systems, are costing our producers millions of dollars in higher maintenance and production costs.
The challenge is in managing our way to more moderately sized cows. It is easy enough sending a large cow to town, but how do we know we are not just replacing her with a heifer out of the herd of the same kind? Retaining heifers out or the herd gets us what we already have. Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Like begets like.
We will need to locate replacement females with genetics for moderate size and as high in maternal traits as is sustainable in the production environment. One way to do that is to locate bulls that meet these new requirements and breed them to moderate sized cows with above average maternal traits (the smaller cows that produce big calves and breed back within a controlled breeding season) within the herd and use only the heifers from those for replacements.
In effect we are creating a herd within a herd managed for the purposes of supplying the most efficient female. The challenge here is finding enough of those cows within the herd to provide the replacement heifers needed annually. Initially we might need to seek replacement females from outside of the cowherd that have been bred for moderate size and sound maternal traits.
Given the importance of mature cow size and its relationship to economic productivity it stands to reason that producing efficient replacement females is paramount to the success of a cow/calf operation. The business of breeding and selling heifers of this type is becoming increasingly important.
In today's economic environment arguably the most valuable piece of equipment on a cow/calf operation is a good set of scales. Size does matter, so what do your cows weigh?
Source: Bryan McMurry, Ph.D., Cargill Ag Nutrition
Economies of scale are an important consideration for any business and can lead to greater profitability. However if that greater scale principle is applied to individual cow weights on the ranch we quickly find out that bigger is not better.
Variation in individual cow weights in the U.S. is up to 1,000 pounds. It is not uncommon to see variation of this magnitude in any given herd, even relatively small herds. Kris Ringwall of North Dakota State University recently reported in Beef Talk that the mature weight of 102 cows in two herds at the Dickinson Research Extension Center in Dickenson, ND ranged from 856 to 1935 pounds. These cattle are actually in two herds with average weights of 1216 and 1571 pounds, respectively and are likely representative in size of not only cattle in North Dakota but the entire U.S.
Dr. John Paterson found similar magnitude in the variation in cow size among the Montana ranches participating in the Montana Beef Network. One of the ranches we visited near Big Timber had an average cow weight of well over 1300 pounds. The heaviest cow was just over 1900 pounds. To their surprise when they weaned her calf it weighed 305 pounds. That is not a heavy enough calf to pay that cow's winter-feed bill let alone the entirety of her annual expenses. Not surprisingly the ranch manager punched her ticket for a trip on the first truckload of cull cows to the cow processor. Frankly we have countless cows across the U.S. that are high-cost and inefficient that need to be removed the production system.
If the objective of our cow calf operations is to produce a calf that weighs between 550 and 650 pounds at 7 months of age of a quality and type to fit into our growing and finishing systems as economically as possible then how does mature weight of the cow impact that objective? One would logically expect that larger cows are more capable of producing large calves than small cows, but at what cost?
We expect a cow to wean a calf that is close to 50% of her mature weight every 365 days. This is a reasonable goal that is achieved in the more efficient operations. If a good cow can produce 50% of her body weight in the form of a calf every year then we don't need cows that weigh in excess of 1300 pounds. Cows in commercial cow/calf operations that weight over 1300 pounds are increasingly challenged to produce at this rate.
Increasing cow size has a point of diminishing returns. At some point an increase in mature weight no longer returns a sufficient return in increasing calf weight to offset the cost of the heavier cow. As cows increase in weight they have an increasingly difficult time weaning a calf that will equal 50% of their body weight. Very seldom does a 1500-pound cow wean a 750-pound calf let alone a 1900-pound cow weaning a 950-pound calf.
Of course weaning weight of a calf is more a result of a cow's milking ability than her size. In our quest to increase, and subsequently select for, weight gain performance we have correspondingly selected for increased mature size as the two are highly correlated. This selection for growth in heifers over maternal qualities in retaining replacements has led to larger cows that consume more increasingly costly forage with marginal improvements in weaning weight productivity.
These larger cows may possess the genotype to produce very large calves, but the nutritional environment required to support that production is the exception not the rule on most ranches. Large cows have higher nutritional requirements, require more supplementation and thus incur higher input costs to maintain productivity. At today's prices for hay, supplement and mineral it is estimated that for every 100 pounds of mature weight an additional $15-$20 is required per year in costs for those three inputs alone.
In addition, the larger cows consume more forage during the grazing season. That extra 100 pounds increased dry matter intake by approximately 1.83 pounds per day during the grazing season at the NDSU research facility in Dickenson. Depending on the length of the grazing season that would amount to between 200 and 300 pounds of additional dry matter per cow for each 100 pounds increase in body weight.
Using the1.83 pounds of forage per day the annualized forage dry matter requirement difference for the 100-pound difference in body weight is 668 pounds. The difference in average body weight of the NDSU herds is 355 pounds. Assume those two herds each contains 50 cows and the difference in forage dry matter required annually is 118,570 pounds or nearly 60 tons. Sixty additional tons for those fifty larger cows is not economically sustainable. How do you suppose those two herds will each respond to drought conditions?
The logical next question, how many additional cows can you run on 60 tons of forage? If the cows in the herd that averaged 1216 pounds consume on average 2.3% of their body weight per day then during the year each cow will consume a total of 10,208 pounds of forage or just over five tons. This means that the extra forage the larger herd is consuming could support nearly 12 more cows that weigh 1200 pounds, which is a 24% increase.
We may not want to increase our herd by that amount, as there are other variables, e.g. capital financing, cash flow, etc., that must be considered in managing the business. But certainly stocking rate could be increased moderately while still maintaining a forage reserve that improves the grazing resource and allows for reserves during drought.
With increasing production costs, especially those associated with nutrition, the size of our cows must be addressed. It is well established that small and medium sized cows in crossbreeding systems are more economically efficient than large sized cows. The fact is cows that are too large, and there are plenty of them in our production systems, are costing our producers millions of dollars in higher maintenance and production costs.
The challenge is in managing our way to more moderately sized cows. It is easy enough sending a large cow to town, but how do we know we are not just replacing her with a heifer out of the herd of the same kind? Retaining heifers out or the herd gets us what we already have. Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Like begets like.
We will need to locate replacement females with genetics for moderate size and as high in maternal traits as is sustainable in the production environment. One way to do that is to locate bulls that meet these new requirements and breed them to moderate sized cows with above average maternal traits (the smaller cows that produce big calves and breed back within a controlled breeding season) within the herd and use only the heifers from those for replacements.
In effect we are creating a herd within a herd managed for the purposes of supplying the most efficient female. The challenge here is finding enough of those cows within the herd to provide the replacement heifers needed annually. Initially we might need to seek replacement females from outside of the cowherd that have been bred for moderate size and sound maternal traits.
Given the importance of mature cow size and its relationship to economic productivity it stands to reason that producing efficient replacement females is paramount to the success of a cow/calf operation. The business of breeding and selling heifers of this type is becoming increasingly important.
In today's economic environment arguably the most valuable piece of equipment on a cow/calf operation is a good set of scales. Size does matter, so what do your cows weigh?
Source: Bryan McMurry, Ph.D., Cargill Ag Nutrition
). She was dry that year, but she never weaned much of a calf really. She was an outlyer...but if she was there and weighed that much, there was potential for others to weigh that. 
