Beefmaster in Us Beef Cattle Barns

Raising beef cattle for profit tin can be a satisfying enterprise. However, there are a number of management skills that each beef producer should have to exist successful. Each livestock enterprise has different resource: land, labor, majuscule, feed, and management. To raise beef cattle sustainably, you must manage these resource.

In add-on to managing resources, new producers must enquire themselves, What practice I need to get started? This question involves considerations for the blazon of animals a producer wishes to raise as well as where to notice these animals, how to select them, and what equipment will exist needed for the functioning. Producers also demand to consider how they volition feed their animals and what health care practices they volition employ to keep the animals healthy. Savvy producers will permit markets place the type of animals they should raise in lodge to generate a profit. This fact sheet may be used as a guide for beefiness cattle producers just getting started in the industry to acquire:

How to determine what blazon of brute you should raise
Well-nigh the different breeds and how to select the right 1 for you
Where to purchase your animals
What to await for as the ideal characteristics
What equipment yous'll need to raise your animals
How to breed and raise your beef cattle
What to feed and how to care for your animals' health
What it takes to market your animals

What Blazon of Animals Should I Raise?

The first matter to decide when starting a new beef cattle enterprise is what type of animals to raise. This conclusion should directly reverberate the markets a producer has available to sell beefiness cattle and consider the resources available on the subcontract and the producer'south individual goals.

Beef cattle may be used to produce meat or generate seedstock (breeding animals). The intended markets may dictate what breed or breeds are best suited for the operation. Some producers choose to breed females to produce calves to sell for convenance stock or market animals. Other producers may adopt to purchase weaned animals, also known equally feeders, to raise to market weight.

Producers should start by determining if they wish to enhance purebred or commercial stock. A purebred operation typically raises animals of one breed. Often a purebred operation will accept all registered animals that can also be sold through purebred sales. A commercial operation may have unregistered purebred animals, or they may take crossbred animals. Crossbred animals have the do good of hybrid vigor, which is merely the ability of crossbred offspring to increase in productivity over the average of the breeds that were part of the cantankerous. This means that a crossbred calf could grow faster, or a crossbred female could produce more milk for its offspring.

Selecting a Breed

Each livestock breed has different traits for which they are recognized. Brood associations tin provide information on those traits and aid y'all narrow your decision regarding what brood or breeds fit best with your performance. Beef cattle breeds are often divided into maternal (cow) and terminal (sire) breeds. Maternal breeds are typically moderately sized and recognized for their ability to raise healthy calves. Final breeds are mostly a bit larger in their size and unremarkably used for meat production. In addition to these two classifications, blended breeds of cattle as well be.

Composite breeds are cattle breeds that are generally made up of maternal and terminal breeds and oft combine genetics for specific environments or markets. While many producers use both maternal and terminal breeds in their systems, composite breeds have been established and are recognized by their pedigree. Many breeds exist in the United States. The more common breeds are listed in the table below.

Maternal

Angus
Hereford
Shorthorn
Red Angus

Terminal

Charolais
Gelbvieh
Limousin
Simmental
Maine Anjou

Blended

SimAngus
Maintainer
Braford
Beefmaster
Limflex

Angus Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Hereford Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beefiness Producers Working Grouping

Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Photo credit: Dave Hartman, Penn State Extension

Where Can I Purchase Animals?

Animals can be purchased through several different means. Many sales are held across the country throughout the year and may offering simply one breed, a variety of breeds, or even crossbreds for sale. Another option would exist to locate reputable breeders and buy straight from their subcontract. A broad variety of animals may be available at a local auction barn; however, let the heir-apparent beware. Animals sold through this venue are more than probable to take health issues.

Choose breeding males that will complement the outstanding traits in your females and amend their weaknesses. Always use the best bull y'all can afford to improve the genetics in your herd. The male has a slap-up influence on your herd considering his offspring could remain in the herd for a number of years.

Be conscious of selecting and keeping adept productive females that will produce and wean one calf per twelvemonth without assistance and maintain their torso condition without becoming overly thin or fatty.

Selection Principles

There are two methods to select livestock: animal functioning and visual appraisement. Animals should beginning be selected on performance (e.chiliad., how well calves grow or how much calves weigh at weaning), and then the college-performing animals should be evaluated visually.

Performance option principles evaluate measurable traits such every bit birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, or meat yield and quality.

Producers who evaluate growth traits should adjust weaning weights to account for the sex of the calf, age of the dam, birth weight, and weaning weight. Weaning weights are typically adapted to 205 days of age.

Progressive cattle producers with registered animals can enroll their herd in breeding association databases to obtain expected progeny differences (EPDs). These EPDs use genetic linkages to appraise genetic merit for growth, carcass, and maternal traits. EPDs allow producers to evaluate fauna genetics without environmental influences.

Commercial producers can utilize performance data when selecting a new bull. More than information on expected progeny differences tin can be plant by contacting brood associations.

Visual brute appraisement evaluates aspects such as structural correctness, muscling, torso chapters, and brood graphic symbol. Evaluating structural correctness allows producers to identify animals with defects that are not credible through operation evaluation.

Purebred producers who raise registered stock should become familiar with breed characteristics associated with the brood they raise, such as:

ear length and shape
color and distribution of color
polled status
defects that disqualify animals from registration

These depicted bulls exhibit the ideal characteristics of breeding males .

Angus bull. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

Hereford bull. Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Equipment Needs

Later on the appropriate animals are called for the operation, the equipment necessary to maintain those animals must be gathered. Beef cattle operations can be depression input but still need a variety of equipment. Basic equipment includes feeders, water tubs or watering systems, and health care equipment. Because prophylactic is a concern when managing these large animals, beef cattle operations should also have equipment for handling cattle.

Feeders

Feeders should be used to forestall animals from eating off the ground. Well-designed feeders volition also preclude animals from wasting feed by spilling it onto the ground. There are potential health concerns when cattle eat off the footing, including parasite infections; however, feed costs represent the primary input toll on whatever beefiness cattle functioning and as such, feed waste is a driving factor for feeders.

Feeders can be unproblematic similar racks to hold round bales. Photo credit: Bigstock.com

Many different sizes and styles of feeders are available for beef cattle. Some feeders can accommodate feeding both hay and grain, while others may exist designed to feed only hay or merely grain. Producers should exist sure that all animals take admission to the feeder if feeding at specified time frames. If animals have free-option access to the feeders throughout the mean solar day, smaller feeders can exist used.

Feeders may likewise include simple troughs to hold supplemental protein, energy, or minerals for grazing cattle. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

In solitude finishing systems, beef cattle may be fed a more than consummate mixed ration in a bunk. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beefiness Producers Working Grouping

Beef cattle of all classes should e'er take access to a good-quality mineral mix formulated for their production needs. Nigh producers provide beefiness cows and grazing cattle gratuitous-choice minerals when on pasture, while others limit-feed minerals daily in a grain mix.

Fenceline-style feeders allow producers access on ane side to place feed and grain into the feeder while animals access their feed on the other side. Walkthrough feeders allow producers to walk down the eye of the feeder. Grain can be placed in a trough on either or both sides and hay is shared in the central walking surface area. Producers should exist careful non to contaminate feeders with manure-covered footwear.

Larger operations often feed hay in the course of big round or foursquare bales. Many styles of hay feeders exist, but the inverted-cone-style feeders are ofttimes recommended for beef cattle equally they commonly waste the least corporeality feed waste.

Water

Water is possibly the virtually important nutrient considering information technology impacts feed consumption. Poor-quality water or not enough water can decrease feed intake and result in decreased animal performance. Producers can supply water using anything from buckets to troughs to automatic watering systems. As with feeders, many different styles are available. The key is that h2o should exist fresh, clean, and bachelor at all times.

Automated frost-free waterers may be used on pasture or in confinement for cattle. Photo credit: Betty Cameron, Bedford County Sheep Producer

Permanent jump improvements tin can provide a year-round water supply for beef cattle on pasture. This system has additional crushed stone around information technology to prevent excess mud accumulation in the surface area. Photo credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn State Extension

Simplistic bladder tank trough systems tin can exist hands moved depending on cattle location. Photo credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn State Extension

Pasture Systems

Many beef cattle, particularly mature cows and bulls, graze pastures throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Producers should pay close attention to pasture superlative in an attempt to maximize fodder utilization. Pastures should exist subdivided to provide an adequate amount of forage for the grazing fourth dimension, oft 4 to five days. Animals should exist moved to a new section of pasture by the time fodder has been grazed downward to 4 inches in pinnacle. Rotating pastures ensures the nutrients from manure are spread out and that cattle use available resources efficiently. Continuous grazing can cause forage stand up impairment in overused or high-traffic areas and encourages weed growth in other less-desirable areas of the pasture.

A good-quality perimeter debate contains livestock within the pasture and keeps predators out. Many producers prefer loftier-tensile fencing with some wires electrified. Subdivision fencing divides larger fields into smaller areas to better manage forage growth. Subdivision fencing for beef cattle can often be a single strand of polywire with footstep-in posts to reduce input costs. Most cattle volition respect one strand if it is electrified.

Pastures should also provide access to h2o. This ranges from temporary systems that move with the animals to permanent systems. Many producers cull to install underground systems that can exist accessed throughout a pasture organization to reduce the labor of hauling h2o. Depending on the system and region, information technology may be necessary to admission electricity to rut waterers in cold months.

Health Intendance Equipment

Routine health intendance employs practices to preclude disease. Mutual practices include tagging, vaccinating, dehorning, castrating, and deworming. These practices require basic equipment such as tags and tagging pliers, syringes and needles, elastrator bands, a band expander tool, and a drench syringe or drench gun. Tagging is considered a health care piece of equipment because tagging is important to identify treated animals.

Producers may also wish to dehorn their cattle to prevent horn growth. This is often performed with an electric dehorner presently later the horn buds break through the pare. Dehorning prevents future injury to other animals and handlers.

Hoof trimming is another health care equipment detail. Hoof trimming is not considered routinely necessary in most beef cattle operations. In addition, about beef cattle must be put in a tilt table in guild to take their hooves trimmed for the rubber of both the trimmer and the animal. Therefore, many beginning cattle producers will contact a professional should hoof care be necessary.

A bander can be used to castrate immature males. Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Other Types of Equipment

Larger equipment may be used by beef cattle operations to permit producers to handle or manage animals more than efficiently. Producers can use a scale to monitor beast growth performance at weaning and other times throughout the year. A scale should as well be used to weigh animals to calculate the correct dosage for medication treatments. Three types of scales are often used by livestock producers: axle, dial, and digital.

Equipment for beef cattle product should include these items necessary to maintain herd health, like this deluge for deworming animals. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Most feeder calves and finished cattle are bought and sold on a weight footing. Therefore, because the economics in beef systems are based on pounds of calf to sell or weight of finished cattle, scales are an important part of cattle operations. Scales can also help monitor weights at critical times throughout the year, such as convenance, weaning, then on. All scales should be tested to ensure accurateness. Uncomplicated scales can be placed in line in a handling organization.

Handling organisation equipment allows producers to more efficiently handle animals. It functions by gathering animals into a group pen so funneling them into the chute. Animals walk single file downwards the chute, where they are held for routine health care or sorting. Gates at both ends of the system incorporate the animals while producers perform tasks. Gates can part by sliding back and forth or upwards and downwardly like a guillotine.

A caput catch in the chute restrains the cattle for necessary procedures, while ensuring the safety of both the cattle and the human handlers. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn Country Extension

If the beef cattle performance intends to use implants to increase growth performance of market animals, a handling organization should exist used. In add-on, if the performance desires to brood using artificial insemination, a handling system is a must.

An alley allows the beefiness cattle producers to move several cattle at a fourth dimension, making cattle treatment easier and more efficient. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Reproduction and Convenance Seasons

Gestation length for beef cattle is about nine months, varying slightly among breeds and sires. Withal, the typical gestation length for almost cows ranges from 282 to 288 days.

Cattle will cycle throughout the year. However, managing a divers breeding season will assist improve the efficiency of the cow herd and marketability of the calves. Most productive cattle operations maintain a unmarried breeding season. While many operations breed animals to calve in the spring when weather is warming upwardly, some may cull to calve in the fall to accept advantage of a less saturated calf market place. Purebred cattle used for seedstock are often bred to calve early on in the year, January or February, then that those animals tin can enter the convenance herd at heavier weights.

Estrus cycles and age at puberty vary slightly among breeds. If breeding heifers (females that accept not calved before), they should weigh at least 65 to 70 pct of their mature weight past the start of the breeding season with a target of 85 pct of their mature weight at calving. Mostly, information technology is expected that heifers will encounter this weight and be ready to brood betwixt 11 and 15 months of age. It is also appropriate to breed heifers one wheel ahead of mature cows so that they have additional time to rebreed the following season.

Some producers will accept this a step further and synchronize their females and so that they are sure to brood the heifers at the desired fourth dimension and the residual of the cows come into heat, or wheel, at the same time nigh a month later. This synchronization is necessary for an efficient and effective bogus insemination procedure and is about ofttimes achieved with the employ of a CIDR, although feed condiment protocols exist for heifers. The CIDR contains hormones and is inserted vaginally into the females. Many protocols are available for synchronization and starting time producers are advised to work with their veterinary to institute their ain on-farm protocol.

In most instances, cattle requite birth outdoors and, thus, calving season is timed to start when weather warms upwardly and grass is bachelor on pasture. However, some producers prefer to breed earlier in the breeding season in society to market at specific times in the summertime or fall. In other situations, producers may breed earlier so that calves are older and heavier while on pasture.

Producers wishing to calve before may need to house animals in a barn, such equally a bank barn, depending on the climate. Calving indoors tin can help prevent ears from freezing and ensure calf viability in colder temperatures.

Signs of Impending Calving

As a cow nears her fourth dimension to requite birth, she exhibits several signs that the birthing procedure will begin. Soon before calving, the udder will brainstorm to tighten. This tightening is the udder filling with colostrum. Colostrum is the showtime milk and information technology contains antibodies that help protect newborn calves from disease.

When the cow is ready to give birth, the muscles around her hips will begin to relax and may announced as if they are sinking. The vulva changes color and is most apparent with lighter skin colors. For example, a light pink color will change to a darker pink color. Perhaps more noticeably, the vulva will swell. The udder volition experience full and tight at this bespeak. The cow will also refuse feed and move abroad from the herd.

The start sign that the female is in labor is the appearance of the water bag. Inside a short flow of time, the front end feet and nose of the newborn should appear. This volition progress as the female pushes to expel the newborn. In one case the calf is born, the female parent should begin licking to dry out off the newborn and encourage the calf to stand and nurse.

A visible water bag or anxiety betoken impending calving. Photograph credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Typically, most beefiness cows calve on pasture and require little assist. If assist is required, inexperienced producers should consult a veterinary or an experienced producer for assistance. Assistance may be required if a calf has non been delivered within half dozen hours of the water bag appearing or if the cow is found straining and the water bag appears to have already been ruptured. Always use caution when trying to work with or effectually laboring cows or cows that have recently delivered. Dams will defend their young well against predators but may turn this aggression on an unsuspecting human trying to tag or examine a new calf likewise.

Pay shut attention to newborns for the first couple days after birth. Mothers should exist attentive to newborns and willing to stand up for newborns to nurse. Newborns should stretch when they stand and appear alarm. Newborns that weep for their mother or rush to nurse as soon equally they get up probable are not receiving plenty milk. Weak calves may require feeding with a tube. Consult a veterinarian or an experienced producer for assist.

A good beef cow should immediately tend to her calf without interference. Photo credit: Wendall Landis, Penn State Beef Barn Director

Feeding and Nutrition

All animals crave h2o, protein, carbohydrates and fats (to provide energy), vitamins, and minerals in their daily diet. These may come from a variety of sources only should be balanced to encounter nutritional requirements. Nutrient requirements alter throughout an animate being's lifetime and reverberate its phase of production: growth, maintenance, breeding, pregnancy, or lactation (milk production).

Forages such every bit pasture and hay often encounter requirements for mature animals, just they may not run into requirements for fast-growing animals. Therefore, additional protein or energy sources may demand to exist added to the ration to run into requirements of young, rapidly growing cattle.

Additional protein requirements may exist met with better quality hay or through sources such as soybeans, soybean meal, or distillers grains. Additional energy requirements may be met with a variety of grain sources, but cattle are near commonly fed corn because it is frequently the cheapest energy source.

In nigh cases, pasture provides the most economical feed source for mature cows. Cattle should rotationally graze pastures to yield the best quality and quantity of grazing days. In general, animals should enter a pasture when forages are 6 to 10 inches tall. Animals should rotate out of a pasture by the time the forage has been grazed down to 4 inches. This not only provides high-quality feed for the animals but besides helps maintain salubrious plants.

Grain supplements are nigh often used for growing cattle or in times of pasture shortage. Feeding grain to growing cattle increases weight gain. One common grain feeding practice is creep feeding, the do of supplying good-quality grain and/or hay to young calves while they are nursing. This boosts weight gains and body condition, or level of fatness.

Health Problems

A skilful indicator of salubrious cattle is their trunk condition. Torso condition for beef cattle is scored on a nine-bespeak scale with i existence emaciated and 9 being obese.

Breeding females should be maintained at an boilerplate body condition score of five to six. Animals with decreasing trunk status scores, or that are losing weight, signal a potential wellness issue.

The first stride to keeping animals salubrious is to forbid diseases from entering the farm. Implementing biosecurity practices tin can help keep diseases off the farm. Any new brute that arrives at the farm—and animals that leave the farm and return—should be quarantined from other animals for 3 to four weeks. In add-on, changing shoes and clothing afterward visiting locations where you lot had contact with other cattle can assistance forestall bringing diseases to your subcontract. Visitors to the subcontract should be asked to either disinfect their shoes or wear plastic disposable boots.

All producers should class a human relationship with a veterinarian. This veterinary-client-patient relationship allows the veterinary to get familiar with your farm management practices and your animals and to more quickly address any health bug inside your herd.

Internal and External Parasites

While almost beef cattle systems do non feel production losses straight as a result of parasites, it is partly because they are very easy to care for and forestall in beefiness cattle. Wide-spectrum antiparasitics can be applied equally a cascade-on or an injectable product. Many beefiness cattle producers choose pour-on products considering they are easy to apply and fairly effective.

Additional internal parasites that may affect beef cattle include worms and coccidia. External parasites that may touch beef cattle include flies, ticks, and lice. Consult your veterinarian for more information on individual parasite species and their treatment.

Cattle should be treated for internal and external parasites to keep them healthy. Photograph credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn State Extension

Abortion Diseases

Perhaps more critical than the parasites themselves are the impacts they may take on reproductive functioning. Several parasites that touch cattle can cause abortions. For instance, anaplasmosis causes an anemia and then severe that cattle may arrest. It is most usually spread by biting insects similar ticks; however, because it is a bloodborne affliction, humans may play a role in infecting cattle past reusing contaminated needles and castration and dehorning equipment.

There are other abortion diseases that are caused by sexually transmitted diseases. These can include chlamydia and trichomoniasis. Buying bulls and replacement females from reputable farms or brokers and asking nigh the history of venereal illness can aid prevent the spread of these disorders to your farm.

Several other diseases may also cause abortions in cattle. Some of the common diseases that cause abortions tin be prevented with a vaccine for viruses like bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). Piece of work with your veterinarian to constitute a good vaccination programme for your beef cattle herd.

Human foot Health

A major reason for implementing biosecurity measures is to prevent highly contagious, hard-to-eradicate problems such equally hairy heel wart, besides known every bit digital dermatitis. Many beefiness cattle producers are noting an increase in the prevalence of digital dermatitis in herds across the land. Digital dermatitis is difficult to eradicate and can crusade severe lameness. If your herd becomes infected, information technology is time consuming and expensive to treat infected animals and eradicate the disease. Handling requires hoof trimming and antibiotics, thus veterinarian oversight is required.

In addition to digital dermatitis, foot wellness can be impacted by poor nutrition. Cracked hooves or curved (sometimes chosen spooned) hooves are often a sign of a mineral deficiency. Always provide a expert-quality mineral to beefiness cattle and feed according to the label instructions.

Marketing

A number of markets are available for beefiness cattle. When choosing a marketplace, you must make up one's mind whether your operation will focus on selling alive animals or marketing meat. Many producers in the eastern U.s. focus on direct marketing of their beef cattle as freezer beef or retail beefiness cuts due to the access to consumers. Alternatively, many larger producers may focus merely on selling finished cattle to a large meat packer.

Left: Many beef producers choose to sell beefiness past the side or the quarter. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Right: Steaks are a popular consumer pick, but selling private cuts requires a proper license. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Keep in mind that land laws prohibit a producer from selling meat unless the animal was processed in a USDA-inspected facility. Therefore, the producers oft sell calves alive and the customer would make cutting arrangements with the processing facility. Many producers also provide the service of delivering the animals to a local processing facility.

Other options for beef cattle include marketing convenance stock, feeder calves to the feedlot, or market animals for junior shows. Breeding stock are typically purebred animals and may be marketed directly from the subcontract and through a registered sale. Many states operate a bull test, assuasive producers to pay to have their bulls adult alongside other immature bulls and enter a larger sale at the finish of the test. Work with your local extension educator to decide the best markets for your operation.

Conclusion

Raising beef cattle can be a rewarding farming enterprise. Very few beef cattle operations are identical to one another, allowing producers a variety of opportunities to develop a plan that uniquely suits their lifestyle and farming enterprise. This brief introduction just touches on a few of the aspects to recall almost when because a beef cattle enterprise. Before beginning your own enterprise, seek the advice of your extension educator or experienced beefiness cattle producers in your area.

For more than data about beef cattle, visit Penn Land Extension Beef Cattle

Many opportunities exist for beef cattle producers. This publication covers bones concepts related to raising these animals. New and beginning producers should seek farther information on not only basic production practices but too nutrition, reproduction, and health in order to produce high-quality, healthy animals.

And then You Desire to Heighten Beef Cattle? This fact sheet may be used as a guide for beefiness cattle producers just getting started in the industry to learn:

How to make up one's mind what type of animal you should raise
Nearly the different breeds and how to select the right 1 for you
Where to purchase your animals
What to await for every bit the ideal characteristics
What equipment you'll need to enhance your animals
How to breed and raise your beef cattle
What to feed and how to intendance for your animals' health
What it takes to market your animals

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Source: https://extension.psu.edu/so-you-want-to-raise-beef-cattle-print