A comprehensive herd health program and your pasture improvement efforts can work in tandem to boost herd performance and drive profitability.
Profitability for cow-calf producers hinges on the number of calves sold, the price those calves bring at market and what it costs to get them there. Each of these factors fluctuates from year to year. One constant, however, is how the grazing resource impacts those variables.
“A high-quality forage base will keep breeding stock in good body condition, which improves conception, increases milk production and boosts daily gains,” says Dr. Sam Ingram, a Range & Pasture field scientist with Corteva Agriscience.
Simply put: More grass means more pounds of beef per acre. Properly conditioned cows breed back quicker, and tighter calving windows produce more-uniform groups of calves that often command a premium at market.
“Implementing pasture improvement practices, such as grazing management, broadleaf weed control and proper fertility, can significantly increase forage quantity and quality and improve pasture utilization for maximum beef production,” Ingram says.
In addition to a sound pasture management program, herd health must be prioritized to keep cows in production and maximize the number of calves on the ground each year.
“The health and success of your calves depend on the care your cows and heifers receive from the start,” says Dr. Dan Tracy, a beef technical services veterinarian with Zoetis. “The right nutritional plane leading up to the breeding season lays the foundation for cows and replacement heifers to be in the best condition for reproductive success. But we must also incorporate sound herd health practices that boost immunity and mitigate risks along the way.”
The good news is that a comprehensive herd health program and your pasture improvement efforts can work in tandem to boost herd performance and drive profitability.
“It comes down to finding the right mix of practices and products that fit the management style of your herd,” Tracy says.
Breaking down your to-dos by season can help you plan for success. Corteva collaborated with Zoetis to create a seasonal guide that brings together herd health and pasture management considerations.
The Seasonal Considerations table outlines key protocols for boosting pasture productivity and animal health throughout the year.
Season |
Pasture |
Animal Health |
Spring |
Monitor pastures early — even before they start to green up.
“This practice allows you to address potential problems while weeds are still small,” Ingram says. “Watch for early emerging annual weeds and biennial thistles. Treating early allows grasses more time and space to grow, which will help suppress any additional weeds.”
Tip: Use a proven herbicide with residual control, such as DuraCor® or GrazonPD3™ herbicide, to control new weed flushes that pop up well into the grazing season. |
A well-planned heifer and cow vaccination program builds immunity to help protect the cow and her unborn calf through proper prebreeding vaccinations and protect your synchronization investment.
Tip: Utilizing a reproduction synchronization program that includes Lutalyse® HighCon Injection (dinoprost tromethamine injection), Factrel® Injection (gonadorelin injection) and Eazi-Breed™ CIDR® Cattle Insert helps support higher fertility cycles by enabling easier, more-accurate heat detection so heifers and cows can come into heat and be bred in a narrower window of time. Improving breeding efficiencies can create a tighter calving window, which can lead to more-consistent calving ages and calf size uniformity. Meanwhile, prebreeding vaccinations can help protect the cow herd from costly reproductive diseases that can challenge breeding efficiencies. |
Branding/turnout |
After a winter in pens and barns, your herd is ready to go back to pasture. But delaying turnout as long as possible can give stressed pastures more time to recover.
Tip: Don’t forget to feed your pastures. Fertilizer alone grows pounds of grass, but it also grows pounds of weeds. UltiGraz℠ Pasture Weed & Feed brings together fertilizer and weed control for increased forage production and the potential to raise more pounds of beef per acre. Combining the two saves an application expense and can help you make the most of your lowest-cost feed source — your grazing acres. |
If you have cattle grazing, then you also have a risk of exposure to internal parasites. A parasite control program is critical for cows so they can utilize nutrients in the forage.
Tip: Control of internal and external parasites is an essential building block for healthy cattle.
Zoetis offers Valcor® (doramectin and levamisole injection), dual-ingredient, single-dose cattle dewormer that attacks both internal and external parasites. In a study, heifer calves treated with Valcor demonstrated 9.3 pounds more gain over 56 days when compared with heifers treated with ivermectin.1 |
Summer grazing — Fall calving |
A lot is asked of each of your cows, with a calf at her side and another in gestation. Protect your pastures’ nutritional plane to meet herd energy requirements.
“Now is the time to treat many perennial weeds, including Canada thistle, tall ironweed and western ragweed,” Ingram says. “Undesirable weeds can leave your grass competing for valuable nutrients and leave your herd hungry.”
Tip: While you’re treating broadleaf weeds, resist the temptation to treat brush and other woody plants too early. Take time to ensure undesirable brush and woody plants are fully leafed out and actively growing, which usually doesn’t start before mid- to late June. |
Summer grazing is a quiet time. Healthy pastures can lead to the best nutrition available for a healthy herd.
Tip: Proper pasture management prevents overgrazing that increases the risk of picking up internal parasites. |
Summer grazing — Spring calving |
Providing quality grazing from the start can help your calves get ahead too.
“The more nutritious, abundant grazing you provide up through weaning, the faster, more efficiently calves gain with less reliance on more expensive supplemental feeding,” Ingram says.
Tip: Large pastures limit rotational grazing possibilities. Consider crossfencing to facilitate cattle movement based on the level of forage production and allow a rest period for the previously grazed pasture. This can increase utilization and increase per-acre production. |
Fall preconditioning vaccinations should be top of mind for the calves before they are weaned.
“The antibodies from colostrum are gone once calves reach weaning time,” Tracy says. “Administering efficacious calf vaccinations prior to weaning will help boost immunity for the next, more-stressful phases of their life.”
Tip: Administering respiratory vaccinations and a dose of parasite control while the calves are still at the side of the cow and about four weeks before weaning is ideal. Consult your herd veterinarian to discuss protocols that align with your herd’s vaccination history. |
Fall breeding |
Highly nutritious forage, whether grazed or harvested, is critical to get fall calving cows in optimum condition for timely breedback. It’s even more important if you are using synchronization protocols to AI-breed those cows.
Take steps to help your grasses recover from the grazing season and prepare for winter.
“Perennial species are great candidates for fall treatment,” Ingram explains. “You can get better control of thistles, dogbane, milkweeds and horsenettle with well-timed fall applications. Late-fall application also can be very effective on seedling biennials, such as plumeless and musk thistle and common burdock, and winter annuals.”
Tip: Any fall moisture will germinate new weed seedlings. Most are easier to control at this stage, which makes herbicide applications especially effective during this season. |
A timed artificial insemination program can help tighten the calving window, and the labor requirements that go with it. Your local veterinarian is a great person to consult with any questions on protocols and products that make sense for your herd.
“A synchronization program helps define the breeding season and frontload calving as much as possible,” Tracy says. “This practice not only provides labor efficiencies during calving, but it also allows calves more time on the cow and more pounds of beef produced at the end of the season.”
Tip: When implementing a synchronization program, follow these four steps:
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There are many variables and practices that can contribute to more pounds of beef produced per acre. But Ingram and Tracy recognize each herd is unique, with different management practices already in place.
“There is more than one way to manage a successful cattle operation,” Tracy says. “Be sure to take full advantage of local expertise to identify and customize management protocols for your herd." He encourages producers to regularly consult their local veterinarian, nutritionist and Corteva Range & Pasture Specialist for best results.
Read more about how herd health and grazing management go hand in hand here. And for more information on the herd health protocols mentioned above, visit BuildingHealthyHerds.com.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR LUTALYSE/LUTALYSE HIGHCON: Women of childbearing age and persons with respiratory problems should exercise extreme caution when handling Lutalyse/Lutalyse HighCon. Lutalyse is readily absorbed through the skin and may cause abortion and/or bronchiospasms, therefore spillage on the skin should be washed off immediately with soap and water. Aseptic technique should be used to reduce the possibility of post-injection clostridial infections. Do not administer Lutalyse in pregnant cattle unless cessation of pregnancy is desired. See full Prescribing Information for Lutalyse, here. See full Prescribing Information for Lutalyse HighCon, here.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR FACTREL: Factrel is for use in cattle only. See full Prescribing Information for Factrel, here.
Avoid contact with skin by wearing protective gloves when handling Eazi-Breed CIDR inserts. Do not use in heifers of insufficient size or age for breeding or in cattle with abnormal, immature, or infected genital tracts. Do not use inserts more than once.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR VALCOR: Do not treat cattle with Valcor within 15 days of slaughter. Not for use in female dairy cattle 20 months of age or older, including dry dairy cows; not for use in beef calves less than 2 months of age, dairy calves, and veal calves. Safety has not been evaluated in breeding bulls. Use with caution in cattle treated with cholinesterase inhibitors. This product is likely to cause injection site swelling; tissue damage (including granulomas and necrosis) may occur. These reactions have resolved without treatment. See full prescribing information, here.
1 Data on file, Study Report No. A131R-US-21-940, Zoetis Inc.
™ ® ℠ DuraCor, GrazonPD3 and UltiGraz are trademarks and service marks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. GrazonPD3™ is a Restricted Use Pesticide. Under normal field conditions, DuraCor® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. Consult the label for full details. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. GrazonPD3 is not for sale, distribution or use in Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York state. UltiGraz℠ with fertilizer is available for use with specific herbicides in the states of AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV and WY. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.
Factrel, Lutalyse and Valcor are the property of Zoetis Services LLC or a related company or a licensor. CIDR is a registered trademark of InterAg.
