Now is the time to cull the cows

The relentless drought that has settled over much of Kansas has caused a lack of standing forage and winter feeding materials. Producers need to look closely at their cow herds; the decision may have already been made for some to cull heavier than normal. Many folks have been forced to liquidate their herds, so culling should be taken very seriously to maintain resources which allow the keeping of the herd.

This is the time to put the pencil to the paper on cull cows; they have to pay their own bills to stay in the herd. Producers cannot be offering free rides this winter.

The open cow is the first to be culled. They are the most expensive cow on the place and we cannot afford to be getting them through the winter if they are not offering a paycheck. Most vets can determine pregnancy at 45 days; the earlier they are culled the more feed resources are saved for the bred cows.

This may also be a time to tighten up your calving window. Those which are late bred will require more feed before calving and have lighter calves at weaning. A short, tight season will allow you to maximize your feedstuffs and produce heavier pounding calves.

After the open cows are gone, we need to consider the old, thin cows. In reality these cows should be fed with the heifers as they need higher quality feed and more of it. If cows are carried into winter in poor shape, they will have a more difficult time calving and raising a good quality calf.

The third "O" of culling is getting rid of the ornery ones. They may have a good calf every year, but when feed supplies are limited and culling in necessary why sell a well-mannered cow which raises a good calf to keep the ornery one?

And the final cows to go should be the "oddballs." These may be the cows that don't match the color, size, confirmation, or structure of the rest of the herd. In the commercial cow business, our end product is the calf crop; calves of similar phenotype improve the marketability of the entire set of calves.

The present state of the economy and the limited forage resources available will cause many producers to be ruthless in their culling strategies. In the cow/calf industry, we rely on our cows to produce good quality calves with proper disposition. If you are short of feed, this is the year to improve your cow herd by selling the open, old, ornery and oddball cows to best utilize your resources on the bred cows carrying a calf.

Editor's Note: Delta George is a K-State Research and Extension agriculture and 4-H extension agent assigned to Bourbon County. She may be reached at (620) 223-3720.