You will be owners to a purebred and commercial cow-calf operation. You will be able to choose the background information of the operation if you own the operation. Commercial operations will be required to be more fiscally responsible due to smaller profit margins compared to purebred operations.
Areas/Questions to address:
Answer the questions below. This is not an exclusive list and additional information should be included. Both commercial and purebred operations must answer health questions. Include the rationale you used in making your decisions.
- Reproduction
a. What are the operations’ goals for pregnancy rate and calving rate?
b. What sire(s) will be used in the operation?
i. If more than one is used, describe which females each bull will breed.
ii. How did you determine which bulls to purchase?
c. What is the general makeup of your cow herd (based on age)?
d. How many replacement females do you plan to retain and how you will select them?
i. What are their target breeding weights, pelvic measurements, tract score?
ii. At what age will you breed replacement females?
e. When will the operation calve? Why?
f. What method of breeding will be used (AI or natural service or both)?
i. When will the breeding season start?
ii. Method of heat detection
iii. Use of synchronization protocols or estrus detecting devices
iv. Other methods used
v. Will you use embryo transfer or flush embryos for collection?
g. What method of pregnancy detection will be used?
i. Who will do this?
ii. When will it be completed?
h. How will you manage calving?
i. How will you handle dystocia?
ii. Describe your newborn calf protocols. - Nutrition
a. What quality of pasture do you have available?
i. Do you have warm or cool season grasses (or both)?
ii. What is your stocking rate?
iii. What pasture system will you use? Describe it.
iv. What routine management will be required in the pasture to keep it healthy?
v. When will you analyze your pasture quality and what test will you use?
b. What are the nutritional requirements of your average cow in the herd?
c. What are the nutritional requirements of one of your 500 pound weaned calves?
d. Create a sample grain ration for your lactating cow herd.
e. What mineral supplements will you use?
i. Is your location known for mineral deficiencies? If so, what are they?
f. Where will you source your feedstuffs from?
g. How much feed will you purchase for one year?
h. How much hay will your raise or purchase to feed for one year?
i. How are your cattle fed?
j. What water sources are available? How do you manage them? - Health – Both commercial and purebred operations must describe. Can be similar.
a. What record keeping system will you use?
b. What diseases are normally in your area and how will you prevent against them?
i. Include a detailed schedule including booster injections
ii. Separate program for different stages of cattle (calves, cows, bulls)
c. What medications and medical supplies should you keep on hand?
i. How should these medications be stored?
d. How will you check for illness in your herd?
e. How will you make your culling decisions and where will you sell them?
f. What methods of euthanasia will be used (if necessary)?
g. What veterinarian will you call if it is an emergency?
h. When and how will you wean your calves?
Names
Owner/Consultant Paper
AGR 343 – Spring 2021 – 125 points
I. Partnership (5 points; due by 2/1)
II. Information (90 points)
a. Reproductive questions
i. Completeness of information & rationale
b. Nutrition questions
i. Completeness of information & rationale
c. Health questions
i. Completeness of information & rationale
III. Organization and Format (10 points)
a. Organization
b. Proper format
IV. Grammar (10 points)
a. Sentence/paragraph structure
b. Grammar/spelling
V. Citations (10 points)
a. In text citations
b. Literature cited page
Sample Solution
