Adapted Cows

As I travel across the United States working with ranchers, I’m often asked where to focus time and energy to make the greatest impact on profitability. In many of my presentations, I close with a couple of summary slides that highlight the highest-leverage decisions—those that can drive meaningful improvement in the shortest amount of time. One example is:

Adapted Cows, Calving Season, and Grazing Management

Effects on:

• Soil Health
• Carrying Capacity
• Fed Feed vs. Grazed Feed
• Overheads
  • Labor & Facilities
• Herd Fertility 

This suggests that adapted cows, calving season, and grazing management are interconnected; and, when working together, they will have profound effects on soil health, livestock carrying capacity, the amount of fed feed compared to grazed feed, overheads—especially labor and facilities, and herd fertility.  It should be obvious that these can have a powerful effect on farm or ranch profitability. 

What is an “Adapted Cow”? 

To be “adapted” your cows must fit the natural environment in which they live and whatever you, as herdsmen or caregiver, add to the natural environment such as fed feed and supplements, shelter, immunizations, and so on. Some animals will be genetically adapted, and some will not.  Some will have natural adaptability or the ability to adapt to changing conditions in the same location from year to year. Some of these adaptations may result from epigenetics, the process by which environmental factors influence gene expression. Epigenetic effects can begin during embryonic development or occur later in life, as environmental conditions—such as temperature, rainfall, and feed availability—change over time. Some animals have more favorable epigenetic outcomes than others.

This comes down to learning how to cull the right cow(s) and how to select the right bull(s).

Here is the list of cows that I think should be culled:

Open Cows

This includes cows that are not pregnant after the breeding season concludes.

Dry Cows

Dry cows are those that were pregnant after the breeding season concluded but then lost a calf after being diagnosed pregnant. Examples include aborted calf, lost calf at birth, or lost the calf before weaning.  These are the expensive cows.  You fed them all winter, they didn’t provide a calf to sell, and if you keep and breed her, you will not have a calf to sell for nearly two years.

Cows that require individual attention

I do not want any cows that experience calving problems, health problems, etc. in my herd. I follow a two-strike rule—if I have to touch her once, she gets a notch taken out of her tag.  If I have to touch her the second time, she will be sold.  With effective culling each year you can eventually get down to a one strike rule.

Cows with “wild” or Poor Disposition 

You are the judge.  I personally don’t want wild or mean cows nor do people who buy your calves.  Remember, there are three things that cause poor disposition: They inherit it, learn it from herd-mates, or learn it from their handlers. Culling will help solve the first two causes – the third is up to you to fix.

Cows that raise a poor calf

This doesn’t have to be complicated. No calf ID or scale is needed. At weaning you simply sort off the poor calves (heifers or steers) and hold them separate. Later that day or next morning put them back in with the cows.  As soon as they “mother-up”, sort off those pairs, put the poor calves with the weaned calves (unless you want to sell them separately) and then mark the cull cows (mothers of those calves) so that you can quickly find them when it is time to sell them.

Ugly Cows

Your definition. Be careful. If the ugly cow didn’t fall into one of the previous categories, she’s not necessarily a bad cow.  If you have enough bred heifers to keep your herd size where you want it, you could sell the ugly cow.

There are two important “ifs” to this list. First, if you apply this continuously and seriously each year, you will have to cull fewer and fewer cows each year. Second, if you select bulls that bring back the same problems you are trying to cull against, you will have to keep culling a higher number of cows each year.  

Select the Right Bull

Raise your own bulls from your very best cows or buy bulls from people who can tell you which cows are their best cows according to your definition of best.

Here is my suggested list of cows that could be mothers of good bulls:

• Always calves in the first 24 days of the calving season.
• Has good body condition when she calves.
• Has good feet and legs and no eye problems.
• Has a very good udder.
• Has a good disposition.
• Has always raised an acceptable calf
• Has never had to be handled for any reason except for routine procedures with the entire herd—pregnancy checks, immunizations, etc. No calving problems nor doctoring for any sickness.

I usually don’t tag calves at birth.  However, I recommend tagging calves from these very good cows at birth—even a blank tag would work, simply indicating “Do not castrate.”  If the calf is an obvious misfit, don’t tag it. You are essentially looking for mothers that are very good cows.  Then you will let the bull-calves grow until they are 12 to 15 months of age.  They then must pass a BSE (Breeding Soundness Examination), start showing evidence of being a bull, and have a good weight in relationship to height.  If they are taller or have a larger frame, they must weigh more—or as Johan Zietsman says, “Look like eight pounds of sugar in a five pound bag.”

Look for Masculinity

Bulls should look like bulls, and they will sire females that look like females.  Bulls that look like steers will sire daughters that also look like steers.  Depending on how the bulls are developed, sometime between 12 and 15 months of age they should start to show some crest development. They should start to be more massive in the front quarters than the rear quarters— while still showing evidence of muscle in the rear quarters. They may also develop some curl to the hair in front of the shoulders, and if they are not black, they should be darker colored in front of the shoulder than behind.  These are expressions of sex hormones. For the development of young bulls, I prefer a non-grain diet or, when possible, pasture development supplemented with alfalfa hay or another source of protein when needed.

If any of these yearling bulls do not measure up, they should be culled even though they came from very good mothers.  Maybe the sire wasn’t so good ,or the gene combination of sire and damn wasn’t good.  With minimal bull development cost, I suggest starting with 100 bull calves if you will need to select 30 bulls each year or ten bull calves if you will need three.

Buying Bulls

If you are buying your bulls, which most ranchers are, your most important selection is the seedstock provider from whom you buy your bulls.  He needs to understand what you want.  He needs to raise cattle very similarly to the way you do and not pamper his cattle nor make excuses for poor cows.  He should be able to tell you which of his cows could raise bulls that you would like; and then the bulls should prove themselves as they develop on moderate or light rations.

The Adapted Cow

After culling cows this way for many years and gradually shifting my bull selection to this method, I can assure you that, over time, your cattle will adapt to your environment, herd fertility will be excellent, maintenance needs will decrease, and the herd will become increasingly uniform in appearance. The cattle will tell you what size they should be and what they should look like to fit your management and environment. Your cows will become trouble–free and cost efficient.

When adapted cows are calving in the right season under good grazing management, key profit drivers move in the right direction rather quickly.  

If you would like to explore how this approach could work in your own operation, I encourage you to reach out to an Understanding Ag consultant to learn more. A conversation can help you identify practical next steps and determine what adjustments may have the greatest impact on your profitability and long-term resilience.