Beef Cattle - Which Cows Do I Sell?
By Wade Parker County Extension Coordinator

Even though the majority of the county has been blessed with rainfall, the memories of the prolonged dry period of last year and this year are still in our minds. Not only are the memories in our minds, but the lack of feed for beef and dairy cattle are affecting pocketbooks and overall production.

There are several approaches to dealing with drought in a beef cattle operation. You can buy extra feed, wean calves early, creep feed calves, sell calves or sell cows. Probably, the correct answer for most people is to do some combination of the above.

As hay is still in very short supply, be very careful of poor quality hay on the market. In short, do some checking around before you load everything on the truck. Some areas have received more rain than others, thus making their hay superior in nutritional quality. On the other hand, some areas have received very little rain. This hay will be of poor quality and also runs a strong risk of having nitrate poisoning. A forage test always results in a win-win situ- ation.

A 1,000-pound lactating cow will eat approximately 25 pounds of hay per day, and a 1,000-pound dry cow will eat approximately 20 pounds of hay per day. There are not many herds that don't contain a few hay-eaters that should be culled. Culling a few unproductive cows can decrease the stocking rate and generate a little cash to buy feed for the rest of the herd. Careful selection can help with the immediate problem and also improve the herd in the long run. Some animals to look for when culling are:

Open cows. As soon as cows are pregnancy checked, get rid of open cows.

Cows without calves. Cows that have lost a calf for any reason are expensive to feed for no return.

Cows with physical defects. Look for problems such as bad udders, eye problems, and structural soundness.

Older cows. A cow's productivity begins to decline at about 10 years of age. Getting rid of these cows now will help future production.

Cows with poor production. If records are available, cull cows that have produced calves with low average weaning weight ratios. However, many producers do not keep records. The best approach in this case is to look at the calves with the cows now. Use the appearance of this year's calf to help decide on culling a cow.

Late calving cows. Producers on a controlled breeding program should look at calving dates of their cows. They may wish to cull a few of those "tailend" cows that may miss breeding next year. Culling late-calving cows can shorten the calving season.

Wild cows. Any excuse to cull a cow with poor temperament is a good excuse.

Selling a few cows may be necessary in some herds. If care is taken in selection, producers may eventually come out of the drought with a better cow herd.

East Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance Meeting

We are in the process of revitalizing the East Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance (EGCTA). Many people remember this organization from several years ago. The primary purpose of the alliance was to educate and enhance conservation tillage cropping systems.

In an effort to revitalize EGCTA, we will have a Conservation Tillage Workshop on Thursday, July 26, at the Midville Experiment Station. Lunch will be served at 12:00 p.m. We have arranged two great guest speakers that will present a program called "Mythbusters of Conservation Tillage." In their presentation, they will cover the common myths about conservation tillage.

After the meeting in Midville, we will visit Tilmanstone Farms to view soybean variety trials and observe how Lamar Black manages crops in intensive cover on all agronomic crops. A Fibermax Variety Trial is also being grown.

This meeting will include the surrounding counties and we encourage all interested parties to attend.

The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offers educationalprograms, assistance and materials to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability.