Beef Industry News

How’s the weather in your part of the world? If you’re in the beef cattle industry, you might want to push back calving to much later in the spring, according to Tyler Harris of BEEF.

The weather hasn’t been forgiving, especially in the Midwest and Great Plains, where temperatures have dropped to sub-zeros. Terry Mader, who is a retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of animal science, says that most cattle in Nebraska adapt well to cold weather.

Cattle are quite resilient and can adapt to a 5-to-10 degree change in temperature in a month. However, when the weather changes drastically in a week, it might be more stressful to herds and producers alike. Mader says mature animals with enough energy due to balanced diets will handle the drastic temperature drop fairly well. Younger animals and mature ones on maintenance diets are more likely to be compromised.

Based on research done on the northern Plains, there has been a 2% increase in calf mortality and 4% increase in calf morbidity in late winter calving compared to data from early spring and late spring. Please note that not all farms calve this early, but there are a number that have newborn calves in early spring. The reason for the higher morbidity and fatality rates could be due to low forage availability and extreme weather conditions. Here’s the link to the full article.

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Andy Chatterjee • Beef & Swine Recruiting Specialist

Andy Chatterjee is a Talent Scout for Continental Search. He handles placements for the feed industry. He is currently undergoing training for this demanding position. Andy was handling operations for Continental Search for 4 years before he was promoted to Talent Scout. His understanding of the business from the ground up will make him an ideal addition to the recruiting team. You can reach him at (302) 353-4065 ext. 571 or andy@consearch.com.