Ellen Crawford shares the importance of assertive culling strategies, and the role veterinarians can provide to producers. Culling parameters should remove cattle that do not help the farm or ranch meet its goals. That’s where veterinarians can help producers avoid emotional decisions versus logical business decisions.
Operations that are more resilient to drought generally have a strong, well-developed culling strategy in place.” – Lisa Pederson
Source: Bovine Veterinarian, July/August 2022. Link. Practical considerations when deciding when advising producers about which cows to cull:
- Ornery cattle
- Open and/or dry cows
- Old cows
- Thin cows
- Cows that calve later in calving season
- Cows with poor udders
- Cows with poor structure and feet
- Poor producers
- Fence crawlers