Ensuring your cows are in peak condition is not only good for their health but has been proven to increase in-calf rates.
Ensuring your cows are in peak condition is not only good for their health but has been proven to increase in-calf rates.
With calving season fast approaching, now is a good time to focus on getting your cows in tip-top condition and making sure you have a pasture management plan in place to ensure you have enough grass in spring.
As many of you know, both of these things are essential in setting you and your herd up for a successful season.
Body condition scoring
Ensuring your cows are in peak condition is not only good for their health but has been proven to increase in-calf rates. The ideal body condition score for cows pre-calving is 5 and heifers 5.5.
If you haven't already, now is a good time to assess your herds' BCS to help you to come up with a plan to ensure they reach BCS targets in time for calving.
Once you've come up with a plan, regularly monitor your cows to ensure they're on track to achieving their BCS targets. This will help you identify early on if you need to alter your approach.
When it comes to heifers, it's a good idea to check them every four to six weeks to ensure you're giving your replacements the best possible start.
Remember, as they're still young and growing, they will need more time to put on weight, so it's important to start this process early.
There are a number of strategies you can use to help your cows achieve their ideal BCS. Depending on your situation, you may choose to dry off, cull, or spilt cows into mobs for preferential feeding.
It's a good idea to do a feed budget to determine how much feed you have on hand. This will also inform your decisions on how to reach cow condition and average pasture cover (APC) target.
Average pasture cover
A farmer using a plate meter to calculate average pasture cover.
Your APC target will depend on your region, stocking rate and calving date, relative to when pasture growth exceeds herd requirements. However, APC for calving is usually around 2200-2400kg DM/ha. Plan your APC targets by working backwards from balance date (when pasture supply is equal to demand). There are a range of strategies to help you hit your APC targets. Two of the key ones are to increase rotation length and reduce herd demand. Set rotation length so pastures aren't grazed before the 2.5 to 3 leaf stage and continue to focus on achieving target residuals of 1500kg DM/ha. Continue to monitor and evaluate feed demand and work it into your feed budget and BCS plan.
