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Developing Heifers in
Era of High Feed Costs

Higher feed costs support developing heifers to a lower breeding weight.

by Troy Smith for Angus Journal

 

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2013) — Cow-calf producers who raise their own replacement females are often advised to develop heifers to an appropriate weight for breeding in order to achieve reproductive success. For about 40 years, the recommended rule-of-thumb has been to target a first breeding weight equal to about two-thirds of a heifer’s expected mature weight. In this era of high feed costs, University of Nebraska reproductive physiologist Rick Funston thinks it’s time to re-evaluate heifer target weights.

 

During the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention, Funston addressed a Cattlemen’s College^® session to explain beef-systems research aimed at lowering production costs by targeting more modest heifer target weights. Funston said producers might not be doing themselves any favors by pouring feed into heifer calves during postweaning development.

 

“I would argue that a heifer never has to gain more than a pound and a half per day (on average) to reach a comfortable target weight for breeding,” stated Funston.

 

Many producers often develop replacement heifers on diets containing high-energy feedstuffs and, in Funston’s opinion, allow heifers to become too fat. He suspects feeding for maximum heifer pregnancy rates results in heifers becoming dependent on carrying a certain amount of fat to get pregnant again. When these females join the breeding herd and must live on the same lower-quality forage diets as mature cows, some cannot maintain reproductive performance. They fall out of the herd as second- or third-calvers that fail to rebreed.

 

Funston said producers tend to keep only the number of heifers they need as replacements and feel they must try to get all of them bred. He suggested they consider keeping more heifers than are required, and challenge their adaptability to a diet similar to that of mature cows.

 

According to Funston, all heifers born to the University of Nebraska Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory herd have the opportunity to stay. All heifers are kept after weaning and developed on low-quality grazed forage, either dormant winter range or cornstalk residue, plus supplemental protein. Funston said producers lacking those resources could drylot heifers and limit-feed, using low-cost harvested forages as the basis of the ration.

 

While heifers can be grown on a restricted diet, with modest weight gain during the first part of the development period, their plane of nutrition should be elevated to achieve higher gains during the 45-60 days prior to breeding. With a system targeting low gains, followed by high gains, heifer pregnancy rates can rival those of heifers developed under a more conventional system targeting even gain throughout the development period.

 

“Pouring nutrients into a developing heifer may not save her in the long run,” said Funston, “but this more extensive development system can lower costs by over $100 per head. Heifer adaptability to the production environment is determined early, instead of later when more inputs have been invested. Those that don’t breed can be sold (as feeders) profitably.”

 

Funston admitted that heifers will be lighter at the time of first breeding, but they can catch up if their nutritional needs are met postbreeding and on through calving time.

 

“They do need to keep growing. They still need to be at 85% to 90% of their mature weight by the time they calve,” he added. “They can get there if they’re well taken care of after they’re bred.”