This collection of articles focuses on the benefits of choosing a calving/kidding/lambing time to coincide with warmer temperatures and grass growth. It’s a great way to reduce your workload and infrastructure requirements and has the potential to increase profit. Though these articles look at the topic from a cattle perspective, the principles and ideas are important to consider no matter what you raise and will help you think through what might work best for you. Thanks to the South Dakota Grassland Coalition for the videos.
The Economics of Changing Your Calving Date
One of the reasons producers began calving earlier and earlier was profit. But as we begin doing the math, we can see that all the extra inputs and just plain hardship of such early calving may not pencil out. In addition, the timing you choose could be different than what other folks like because you have different goals. These two articles will give you some examples of how different producers make these decisions.
Changing Calving Dates? Here’s Help for Thinking About Finances, Profit and Marketing
Managing for Forage Quality and Quantity
In this article, ranchers were asked to talk about their forage and livestock and how they manage to provide the right quality and quantity at different times of the year to meet the needs of calves and cows.
Providing Good Forage for Calving Season and Year Round Grazing
Bull Considerations
Check out these ideas about bull size, age, and EPDs and what these ranchers have learned about how heat and humidity impacts breeding.
Why It’s So Hard to Change
Of course, all this said, there’s still one more reason making a switch may not happen – all that social pressure. Once again, our South Dakota ranchers have some thoughts on what it took for them to make the change. Their thoughts are helpful no matter what kind of change you’re considering for your operation.
