Tag Archives: cow-calf

Meet Whit and Jennifer Morris.

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Their farm business took shape in 2003 when they bought land in Blackstone to support their cowherd. Around this time, Jennifer was an Extension agent in Nottoway and Whit also had a career in agriculture. As the business grew, Jennifer made the transition to caring for the farm full-time, and Whit joins her to manage the farm outside of his job.

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Today, the family runs a commercial herd comprised mostly of Angus and Gelbvieh crosses. The farm is primarily a cow-calf operation, meaning that Whit and Jennifer breed their cows and heifers each year, raise the nursing calves to weaning age, and sell the calves after weaning time. They choose some of their heifer calves to stay in their breeding herd. They also send some of their animals to annual Virginia Premium Assured Heifer sales and Virginia Quality Assured feeder calf sales in conjunction with the Amelia Area Cattlemen, a local producer group.

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While the calves born on the Morris farm may eventually go on to a feedlot for the last few months before harvest, these calves and their dams spend a considerable portion of their lives out on grass. In fact, the many cattlemen who run cow-calf operations in Virginia know that the most efficient and economical way to manage cows and their offspring from calving time to weaning time is on pasture—pasture which, Whit and Jennifer have learned firsthand, requires strategic management if it is to meet the demands of lactating cows and large, growing calves.
Cattle producers can feed hay to meet the animals’ forage requirements when grass is not growing in the summer or when it goes dormant in the winter, but the cost of making or buying hay can far exceed the cost of maintaining a good stand of grass. To minimize the number of days that they must feed hay and to maximize the health, efficiency, and productivity of their pastures, Whit and Jennifer have spent the last several years building and improving a controlled grazing system to take full advantage of the tall fescue, clover, Bermuda grass, and other species growing on their land.

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Their grazing plan changes throughout the year according to conditions and forage growth habits. In the summer, the cattle follow a “rotational grazing” system. In this system, the pastures are subdivided and animals are given access to one area at a time. Jennifer moves the cattle to a new area when the grass is grazed to a critical height. If cattle stay in one place too long and graze forages too closely, grasses lose nearly all of their leaf area. They then have to expend their root reserves to supply energy for sending out more leafy growth, and they tend to bounce back slowly even when given a rest period. If Jennifer pulls the cattle off of each paddock before the cattle overgraze it, the grasses have enough leaf area left behind to fuel fast regrowth through photosynthesis.

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In the cold months, the farm switches to a “strip grazing” system to make use of the tall fescue which was grown in the fall months and saved or “stockpiled” for the winter. Strip grazing offers benefits similar to rotational grazing, but unlike a rotation in which animals are moved from fenced paddock to paddock, strip grazing entails setting up a temporary fenceline and moving the animals’ fenceline further and further down the paddock as the animals consume what is offered to them. Each time Whit and Jennifer move the fence and provide access to a fresh part of the pasture, the animals consume the available forage far more evenly and efficiently than they would if they had simply been turned out continuously on the entire area at once.

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In a continuous grazing system, animals access the entire available pasture at all times, and, due to behavior and preferences, end up overgrazing some areas and underutilizing others, resulting in changes to both the health and the quality of the forages. Animals also tend to congregate and loaf in the same areas each day, concentrating nutrients from manure in these areas. To complicate matters, many parts of the pasture can never adequately rest from overgrazing and the stand of grass eventually becomes weak.

Both of the grazing strategies that Whit and Jennifer employ—rotation and strip grazing—have well-documented advantages over continuous grazing including more even nutrient distribution, higher pasture utilization, and more efficient use of available forages. Whit and Jennifer have also seen a significant downsize in hay feeding requirements because their management strategies create highly productive pastures and lengthen the number of days that forage remains available during the winter.

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A cattle producer who does not have enough available pasture or who does not use a controlled grazing plan may end up feeding hay to pick up the slack during the summer, in the late fall, and all throughout the winter if the pastures become weak or overgrazed. This can quickly become expensive, and Whit and Jennifer have been grateful that their pasture management plan has brought relief from a portion of their hay costs. “We didn’t feed hay til the snow this year,” Jennifer notes. In a typical year, she also feeds some hay in the fall so that pastures can build some growth and later be used for winter grazing. “We might feed hay around the end of October or first of November while the stockpiled fescue is growing,” she says.

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Enacting rotational grazing or strip grazing may sound like plenty of work on its own, but to Jennifer, it beats the labor and fuel associated with making hay. “We cut hay when absolutely necessary, and if we don’t need to cut it, we bush hog the extra to save the nutrients for later,” she says. In the business of raising cattle, “there’s enough work in it already with maintaining fences,” says Jennifer.

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A good grazing plan may save on hay, but some people worry that adopting an intensive plan may rack up fencing costs in the short-term, trading away the economic benefits of reducing labor, fuel, and fertilizer for haymaking. However, Jennifer has advice for graziers who wish to adopt a sensible controlled grazing plan for the sake of reaping the long-term benefits. “Keep fencing simple,” she offers. “Use good outside perimeter fencing and cross-fence with a simple single wire—a few T-posts, a few wooden posts, and your wire. The worst that can happen is mostly some calves might get into the next paddock and graze more. It doesn’t have to be built to government specs.”

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People who have limited time or who are not yet ready to jump on board with strip grazing can benefit even from simply dividing a pasture in half and rotating cows between halves—many who start this way later choose to subdivide pastures further, including the Morris family. “We went from one paddock to seven in Blackstone using the available water,” Jennifer says in reference to the developments she and Whit made on the farm soon after they purchased it.

What is next for the Morris farm? Whit and Jennifer hope to address some challenges plaguing herds in Southside Virginia including their troubles with fescue toxicosis, a problem caused by a symbiotic organism living in tall fescue grass which can cause physiological stress on cattle. For now, they provide as much shade as possible to relieve some of this stress in the summertime. In the future, Jennifer and Whit also would like to incorporate more clover into their pastures for both its nutritional benefits and its nitrogen-fixing abilities. Frost seeding may be on the agenda when winter comes back around.

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For now, the farm is thriving and the care and attention spent on grazing management is paying off. The farm has even recently been used as an educational resource during grazing schools offered by the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council and Virginia Cooperative Extension. The grass may have just begun to green up thanks to a cold, sluggish March, but come spring and summer, the pasture rotation will be in full swing, and the Morris family eagerly awaits the chance to get their cattle back on some good grass. To the animals, who have learned that the grass really is greener on the far side of the polywire, the presence of Whit or Jennifer coming to open the gate to the next field elicits equal excitement.

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Additional Resources for Readers:

Pasture and Forage Publications from Virginia Cooperative Extension

Planning Fencing Systems for Controlled Grazing

Controlled Grazing of Virginia’s Pastures

Amelia Area Cattlemen

VA Beef Cattle Programs

Meet Robert Harper, Cattle Producer.

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100_1148 (1024x768)Robert manages cattle as part of a partnership called Cross River Farms, LLC. Robert’s operation is located at Dungeness Farm, which has fascinating roots in early American history. Dungeness was built by Isham Randolph in the early 1700s, and Thomas Jefferson’s mother was raised there. Today at the Goochland farm, Robert specializes in several aspects of cattle production. In addition to running a cow-calf operation that includes Red Angus cattle, he custom-raises Holstein heifers for a nearby dairy farm. He also manages a group of females for the Amelia Area Cattlemen Heifer Development Program. Heifers in this program are produced and owned by individual livestock producers from across the region, but they are brought together to live at Cross River after they are weaned.  They are bred in December and undergo further development through the winter. In the spring, most return to the herds on their home farms where they were born. A few are sold in April to buyers looking for high-quality females for their cow-calf herds. 

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To keep up with so many cattle, Robert must carefully manage his feeding program to ensure that he has adequate pasture and hay available to the cattle throughout the year. Because each set of cattle on his farm has a unique purpose, Robert must tailor his feeding and management to suit the needs of each particular group. His brood cows in his cow-calf herd need enough energy and protein from feed to produce milk for their calves from birth until weaning. The calves, in turn, need to grow steadily before and after weaning so that they will perform well at a finishing operation later in life and provide high-quality beef for consumers.

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However, the young female calves in the heifer development herd require a different approach. Unlike their counterparts that will not remain in a herd for many years and must instead reach a robust “finished” weight in a timely fashion, the heifers need to grow at a more moderate pace. The young heifers must build bone, fat, and muscle tissue at a rate that promotes longevity and sound reproductive traits in preparation for a future career living on pasture and raising their own calves on a cow-calf breeding operation. To meet this goal, the heifers are run on pasture and receive a daily ration of silage, commodity feeds, hay and grain to grow and mature in preparation for breeding. Robert periodically weighs the Cross River heifers to gauge their growth and make management decisions.

100_1207 (1024x768)Once the heifers reach an appropriate age and body size and undergo a reproductive soundness check from a veterinarian, they are ready to be bred. Robert Harper and the rest of his fellow cattle producers in Virginia have the option to use a live bull for breeding or rely on artificial insemination. Both options follow the natural cycle for cattle reproduction, allowing females to produce one calf each year as they would do if left to their own devices. After breeding, cows remain pregnant for nine months before calving, and the calf nurses the cow on pasture for several months before it is weaned.

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P1070882 (726x1024)Unlike most horses and sheep which only can be bred during certain seasons, cattle cycle naturally throughout the entire year. However, instead of leaving the bull with the herd full-time and allowing heifers and cows to get pregnant and calve sporadically, producers aim to confine calving to a single season, often the fall, so that calves within a herd are all of approximately the same age and can receive the same health treatments such as vaccinations at the same time. This practice reduces stress on the animals by limiting the number of times that the herd must be brought in close proximity to humans for handling. For these reasons, Robert and the Amelia Area Cattlemen choose to breed the heifers at Cross River in December so that they will calve during the following fall season. To ensure that the animals can all be bred around the same time, they follow a heat synchronization program that causes all of the heifers to cycle on the same schedule. Once the group of heifers collectively comes into heat, they are bred. This herd is first bred using artificial insemination. This advanced, well-studied reproductive method puts little stress on the heifers and allows herd managers to bring cutting-edge genetics into the herd from bulls all over the country.

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100_1179 (1024x768) The heifers at Cross River wear heat detection patches. When the silver surface of the patch is rubbed off, the heifer is ready to be bred.

If a producer wants to use a live bull, he or she will not have to spend time synchronizing cow and heifer cycles or watching animals for signs of heat—the bull takes on this job himself. However, a locally-purchased bull’s genetic traits may not always be predictable, and the producer will need to rotate a new bull into the herd every few years to ensure that the quality of the herd and its collective genetic potential continue to progress. If producers choose instead to buy units of semen from a company that offers a catalog of bulls available for artificial insemination, they can select semen from bulls with well-documented performance traits that match their goals to improve traits like mothering ability, meat quality, animal build, or a plethora of other factors.

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Bulls that are selected for use in an artificial insemination program are considered the “top of the line” in the industry and are subject to extensive performance testing and offspring data collection. Hence, producers like Robert Harper and members of the Amelia Area Cattlemen who choose to breed via artificial insemination have the means to improve their herds far more quickly and increase their genetic diversity far more easily than they could with a live bull. However, old-fashioned bulls still have their place and there are still many high-quality bulls sold locally that may never be featured in a semen company catalog. These animals are useful even to a herd that relies on artificial insemination, as not every heifer will successfully conceive through this means. Hence, the “cleanup bull” is turned out with the artificially-inseminated heifers so those that do not “catch,” or get pregnant, come back into heat and have the opportunity to get bred by the bull.

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Like many producers, Robert likes to stay on top of the curve and adopt progressive practices that improve the health, performance, and longevity of his animals and the animals he custom-raises for fellow cattlemen across the region. His creative edge has allowed him to increase the scope of his operation over the years, but anyone who visits the Cross River Farms partnership at Dungeness can easily sense that Robert’s passion for working hard to raise high-quality cattle has been the ultimate force driving his success.

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P1070888 (1024x768)Additional Resources for Readers:

Getting Started in the Cattle Business in Virginia

Replacement Heifer Development Steps

Ten Steps to Buying the Right Bull

Artificial Insemination vs Natural Bull Service-Where are the Economic Benefits?

Meet Windy Springs Farm.

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Operated by the Roberts family of Amelia, this farm is home to a herd of beef heifers, cows, and their calves. It is one of the many “cow-calf” operations that contribute to Virginia’s inventory of nearly 1.5 million cattle and calves.  In fact, the cattle industry is ranked second-highest in the state, standing just behind broilers which bring the highest value in receipts. What many people do not know, however, is that not all beef producers in this area make a living raising cattle all the way from birth to harvest. In fact, cattle production is often divided into stages, and in the conventional industry different types of farms may specialize in different stages of cattle management.

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100_1006 (1024x768)All beef animals start out as calves, but before the calf comes the brood cow. Left to her own devices, a good female can raise a healthy calf if she is provided with pasture or hay that meets her nutritional demands while she is pregnant and when the calf is nursing. In fact, raising heifers and cows that subsist on grass and hay is by far the most efficient management system. Furthermore, a forage-based system where cows graze year-round in the field promotes healthy rumens in cows, provides a clean calving environment, and mitigates contagious diseases that can worsen when very young animals are kept in tight quarters. Contrary to some misconceptions, most cows in a conventional commercial production system are only given some feed when nutritional needs cannot be completely met by forage, and calves spend seven or more months with their mothers in the field consuming milk and pasture before they are weaned. This is the calf production step of the beef industry; farms that specialize in maintaining cows for breeding and raising calves from birth to weaning are generalized as “cow-calf operations.”

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100_1032 (1024x768)Weaned calves, now known as feeder cattle, may then go to a “backgrounder” or “stocker” operation. They may weigh several hundred pounds at weaning time on the cow-calf operation, but they may undergo a period of additional weight gain and adjustment to peer groups on a stocker operation. The final step is finishing, where cattle are fed to an appropriate weight and then processed for the wholesale and retail market. Virginia feeder cattle are often sent to states like Pennsylvania, Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio for finishing because these states offer an advantage in feed availability and processing.

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100_0983 (1024x768)Although the commercial cow-calf, stocker, and finishing operation sequence is most common, there are exceptions. Farmers who sell directly to consumers at farmers markets and other venues may choose to raise animals from start to finish and take responsibility for processing and marketing. This system is most common on small direct-market operations located in proximity to large numbers of urban consumers. Other farms may specialize in producing purebred animals for high-quality breeding stock, and some may specialize in raising show cattle, heritage breeds, or hobby animals. These operations are far less common than conventional commercial operations due to the nature of their production and marketing needs.

100_0999 (1024x768)Virginia is fortunate to experience adequate rainfall during average years, and producers who manage their pastures diligently are capable of maintaining medium to high-quality forage for their animals nearly year-round. Amelia County, where Windy Springs Farm is situated, is no exception. In fact, crop production and cattle production overlap in Central Virginia where land is suitable for either use. Hence, Virginia has a reputation primarily as a cow-calf state and Windy Springs is one of many cow-calf operations in the region. Producers in this area often time breeding so that calves will be born in the fall of the year. However, some operations choose a spring calving season. 100_1017 (1024x768)

The Roberts family aims to have all of their heifers and cows calve around the same time so that each calf is at the same stage of growth as its peers. Why is this important? Cows and calves need treatments like vaccination and parasite control in order to remain healthy, grow properly, and prevent disease outbreaks. Windy Springs calves must also be tagged so that they can be identified and records can be made each time they are handled in the future. The herd must be brought through the farm’s handling facility for these tasks to be performed with minimal stress. If all calves within a group are approximately the same age, the whole group can receive certain health treatments at once. This allows the farm to be more efficient and reduces the number of times the animals must be handled.

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100_0984 (1024x768)100_1008 (1024x768)Windy Springs has a handling facility designed to minimize stress. Animals start in a group pen and are walked down an alley towards a chute and a head gate, which humanely stabilizes the animal while it is treated. Good handlers like Johnny and Lawson Roberts rarely keep animals in the head gate for more than a minute even when completing multi-step tasks, and some chores performed at certain times of the year can be completed in just seconds per animal. Cows have a herd mentality, so they follow their peers in line as they walk towards the chute and they rejoin the herd immediately in the pasture after they are treated. The end result is a vigorous crop of calves that will remain healthy later in life when they are transported to another operation or comingled with new peers. Windy Springs Farm, like many cow-calf operations, takes pride in maintaining a high-quality herd of cows and working long hours to raise calves that excel on the farm and provide a top-notch product for the consumer.

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100_1019 (1024x768)Additional Resources for Readers:

Getting Started in the Cattle Business in VA

Beef Cow/Calf Herd Health Program and Calendar

Beef Cattle Management Publications

Meet Jennifer Ligon, Low-Stress Cattle Handler.

100_0966 (1024x768)Jennifer is more commonly known as the agriculture agent for Virginia Cooperative Extension in Buckingham County and has become a leader in animal science and cattle industry programs both within her county and across the state. However, she has taken on a particularly important role as a proponent of low-stress cattle handling methods that improve animal welfare and prevent losses associated with poor handling practices. Virginia is home to many top-notch cattle producers. Some have innate cow-reading skills and have unwittingly practiced low-stress methods for years; some have learned and adopted low-stress methods later in life. The rest employ conventional methods, which is where Jennifer’s work comes in.

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100_0972 (1024x768)Because cattle are prey animals, they choose to maintain a large area of personal space. When a person enters this “flight zone,” animals feel pressure to move and restore their personal space. A skittish or untrained animal may have a flight zone extending several hundred feet out from its body. Over time, after repeated positive experiences with humans, this zone will become smaller and animals will tolerate closer distances to humans. The reverse is true if they encounter negative experiences. The dairy cow presents an example of an animal with a very small flight zone. Because she is handled daily and usually in a positive manner, her flight zone may only extend a few feet from her body. Some dairy cows may even allow themselves to be touched. Nonetheless, when a person steps into the flight zone of a beef animal, they apply pressure that causes the animal to move. When they step out of the flight zone, they release the pressure on the animal and it may no longer feel the need to move away.

100_0968 (1024x768)As a rule, brood cows and their calves in Virginia spend their days enjoying pasture and hay. This production system for cow-calf operations is highly cost-effective and makes use of the state’s abundant forage. Producers are nearby daily to check on the herd, move the animals to fresh pasture, or bring in feed or hay. Cattle become accustomed to these routines. However, calves and cows occasionally need to be brought into direct proximity to humans in order to receive routine care such as vaccinations, parasite controls, tagging, reproductive soundness exams, pregnancy checks, and ultimately weaning, the primary cause of stress in a cow-calf operation. The only way to perform these activities safely is to bring the cattle into a handling facility, creating opportunities for stress if the cattle are moved too quickly or exposed to loud noises, fast-moving objects, or people encroaching too quickly or aggressively on the “flight zone.”100_0969 (1024x746)

Conventional handlers tend to rely on vocal encouragement, arm-waving, and applying pressure from the back of the group in order to move animals from one pen to another or from a pen to the chute, where cattle are restrained briefly for treatment. Low-stress handling methods employ minimal noise, movement, and arm-waving. Handling methods matter during tasks such as emptying pens, where startled or stressed herds may continually circle past an open gate and frustrate handlers who wish to push them forward through it. A low-stress handler can accomplish this task more quickly by working from the front of the herd and briefly training animals to walk calmly or stop moving using pressure-and-release movements into and out of the flight zone. Once animals understand that the handler will remove the flight zone pressure when they step in the right direction, the handler can stand in one place off to the side of the group and direct animals through the gate calmly and efficiently. The same applies to moving cattle from a pen to an aisle or chute; a worked-up herd will feel forced when pushed towards narrow space. A calm animal may willingly choose to enter an aisle or alley when pressure is applied appropriately and the animal naturally chooses to step away from the pressure.

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100_0962 (1024x768)Over the past decade, low-stress handling has gained popularity and farmers throughout Virginia have attended educational sessions to become more adept at working with cattle in accordance with their instincts. Two 2013 events sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension featuring nationally-recognized cattle handling experts drew several hundred attendees. Virginia producers who become certified in the “Beef Quality Assurance” industry program attend educational recertification courses which emphasize low-stress handling as a key component of high-quality beef cattle production.  Extension agents, university specialists, and veterinarians across the state support and facilitate these efforts. In particular, Jennifer Ligon has undertaken research to quantify the benefits of low-stress handling in comparison to conventional handling methods on cow-calf operations. In several locations, she compares the behavior of animals that encounter both handling methods during various tasks.  She plans to evaluate impacts of stress, including weight loss during the weaning process. Jennifer also works closely with local cattlemen and organizes educational efforts that demonstrate low-stress handling methods. 100_0958 (1024x768)

Many consumers are concerned with the practices that are used to produce food. They can rest assured that low-stress handling methods promote calmer, happier cattle that are treated responsibly at all times.  Low-stress handling has the potential to benefit cows, raise consumer confidence, keep handlers safe, and cut losses to improve profitability across Virginia’s cattle operations. With the help of industry leaders and agents like Jennifer, more producers are adopting these practices and reaping the benefits.

100_0935 (1024x768)Additional Resources for Readers:

Getting Started in the Cattle Business in VA

Cattle Handling Pointers

Low-Stress Cattle Handling: The Basics