Spring calving in the South?

[Post Oak]

I like to calve in the winter just so I can have the flexibility to sell calves whenever the price is at its best. If you have a calf born April or May, you're going to have to sell it fall or keep it over the winter. However, if a calf is born in the winter, you could sell mid summer while the price is high before the fall drop in price hits.....

At least that's what I've aimed for....

Well I am keeping my eyes open for a couple of places nearby that are primarily fescue so I put the just weaned calves on the stockpiled fescue for the winter starting about thanksgiving.

 

[Post Oak]

1 con is that calving in April your cows are going to be ready to be bred back in the middle of the summer. And that is hard work on a bull even one with Brahman influence to get out and get those cows in middle of July and into August. Your conception rate is more than likely going to drop.

How about if you have plenty of shade,ponds, and the bull works the night shift just to breed a dozen cows during the summer?

 

[JustSimmental]

What are the pros and cons of spring (April) calving in the southeast? I am going to phase my cows into April calving over the next few years. My forage base is predominantly (unfertilized) bahiagrass and it kicks in along with hop and Durana clover every year around April 1. The reason behind this change is to reduce hay cost. It just does not seem right for a calve to be sucking while it's mother is standing around a hay bale eating hay and the only thing green in sight is my John Deere 5045.

Cons:
1. Too damn hot in the SE US in April --normally.
2. Bulls shut down when it gets too hot and so does his fertility (unless he's a Gert)
3. Folks are eating hamburgers every weekend in the Spring and Summer months -- no BBQ's normally in November.
4. A drought in the last of May in the SE is common --- right when your cows are in peak milk -- this is bad.
5. Every flying insect, bacteria and other pathogen known to man is out in force in the Spring in the SE-- Brown Stomach nematode will love you
6.

I have no Pros

Maybe a few solutions though:
1. Calve in October when its cooling down -- fewer flies, fewer parasites
2. Plant cereal rye for grazing the 3rd week of October, which will decrease hay usage by 40%+
3. If you need further supplementation Whole Cotton Seed is plentiful and the cheapest all year (pre-breeding) Bulls should not be fed WCS
4. Limit graze your cows on Rye 3-4 hours a day (I know I am being redundant) free choice them hay
5. Put N down pre-plant on rye grazing and by Thanksgiving you should be grazing daily
6. No-till Apache Arrowleaf clover in that bahia grass in October (its cheap man, just do it) use 12 lbs per acre of seed and save it for March 15th when Rye gets stemy
7. Start offering High Mg Mineral 3 weeks prior to grazing rye (just bought a ton the other day ($670))
8. Buy all your hay --- you can get it out of Lake City FL for $15 per roll --- cheaper than chicken feed
9. Buy low quality hay if ya want to and juice it up with haymaster systems for $6 per bale (will increase CP by 5-8%) call them in Savannah GA
10. Breeding in December /January conception rates increase in the cooler weather -- you do own a coat dont ya.
11. Dont forget black powder deer season opens early --dont miss that
12. As rye grazing becomes stemy in March -- limit graze your cows and calves on that clover --calves are old enough to get a lot out of it and increase ww's
13. Hells bells cows will even gain weight on Arrowleaf as peak milk production has passed months ago....
14. April 25th or as soon as soil temps are at least 65 degrees plant (grain drill or whatever) millet ( Tiff leaf 3) at 20 lbs per acre is plenty
15. May 15th wean your calves keep them on high Mg mineral and start them on some millet 2 hours a day -- do it early at daybreak before is gets hot then gettem off
16. Sell those calves and go to the beach and let you cows limit gaze that millet all summer
17. Buy first cutting hay when everyone is still positive about the year and they did their best at weed control and putting out fertilizer -- dont wait.
18. Have a BBQ and invite me -- ya owe me at least that much..... lol
think I am done
JS

 

[Post Oak]

What are the pros and cons of spring (April) calving in the southeast? I am going to phase my cows into April calving over the next few years. My forage base is predominantly (unfertilized) bahiagrass and it kicks in along with hop and Durana clover every year around April 1. The reason behind this change is to reduce hay cost. It just does not seem right for a calve to be sucking while it's mother is standing around a hay bale eating hay and the only thing green in sight is my John Deere 5045.

Cons:
1. Too be nice hot in the SE US in April --normally.
2. Bulls shut down when it gets too hot and so does his fertility (unless he's a Gert)
3. Folks are eating hamburgers every weekend in the Spring and Summer months -- no BBQ's normally in November.
4. A drought in the last of May in the SE is common --- right when your cows are in peak milk -- this is bad.
5. Every flying insect, bacteria and other pathogen known to man is out in force in the Spring in the SE-- Brown Stomach nematode will love you
6.

I have no Pros

Maybe a few solutions though:
1. Calve in October when its cooling down -- fewer flies, fewer parasites
2. Plant cereal rye for grazing the 3rd week of October, which will decrease hay usage by 40%+
3. If you need further supplementation Whole Cotton Seed is plentiful and the cheapest all year (pre-breeding) Bulls should not be fed WCS
4. Limit graze your cows on Rye 3-4 hours a day (I know I am being redundant) free choice them hay
5. Put N down pre-plant on rye grazing and by Thanksgiving you should be grazing daily
6. No-till Apache Arrowleaf clover in that bahia grass in October (its cheap man, just do it) use 12 lbs per acre of seed and save it for March 15th when Rye gets stemy
7. Start offering High Mg Mineral 3 weeks prior to grazing rye (just bought a ton the other day ($670))
8. Buy all your hay --- you can get it out of Lake City FL for $15 per roll --- cheaper than chicken feed
9. Buy low quality hay if ya want to and juice it up with haymaster systems for $6 per bale (will increase CP by 5-8%) call them in Savannah GA
10. Breeding in December /January conception rates increase in the cooler weather -- you do own a coat dont ya.
11. Dont forget black powder deer season opens early --dont miss that
12. As rye grazing becomes stemy in March -- limit graze your cows and calves on that clover --calves are old enough to get a lot out of it and increase ww's
13. Hells bells cows will even gain weight on Arrowleaf as peak milk production has passed months ago....
14. April 25th or as soon as soil temps are at least 65 degrees plant (grain drill or whatever) millet ( Tiff leaf 3) at 20 lbs per acre is plenty
15. May 15th wean your calves keep them on high Mg mineral and start them on some millet 2 hours a day -- do it early at daybreak before is gets hot then gettem off
16. Sell those calves and go to the beach and let you cows limit gaze that millet all summer
17. Buy first cutting hay when everyone is still positive about the year and they did their best at weed control and putting out fertilizer -- dont wait.
18. Have a BBQ and invite me -- ya owe me at least that much..... lol
think I am done
JS

Those sound like good ideas if I had plenty of money and free time. I work sunup to sundown 5 days(and sometimes saturdays) a week and do not have much free time and because of that I have to have a cow that fits the situation that I have . I use to plant ryegrass and clovers in the fall, but I quit because of two reasons. The two reasons are is that it just did not pencil out and I spent every free hour from late september to early november on the tractor seat.

 

[midtncattle]

I went the opposite way. I moved my calving season up to February. Hay usage went relatively unchanged since calves are still young and are not pulling so much from momma. I get to sell them before October. In my area of the SE prices drop in October and do not really come back until after Christmas. It also seemed to me that milk production slowed down during the hot part of the summer. I wanted the calves to be on grass in addition to the milk before the high temps hit especially when it stays hot at night. It seems to work better for me.

I shoot for Valentines day. It gets me through the cold days of January.

 

[Post Oak]

I went the opposite way. I moved my calving season up to February. Hay usage went relatively unchanged since calves are still young and are not pulling so much from momma. I get to sell them before October. In my area of the SE prices drop in October and do not really come back until after Christmas. It also seemed to me that milk production slowed down during the hot part of the summer. I wanted the calves to be on grass in addition to the milk before the high temps hit especially when it stays hot at night. It seems to work better for me.

I shoot for Valentines day. It gets me through the cold days of January.

That would have been a perfect date back during my ryegrass planting days, but I usually don't quit feeding hay until April 1.

 

[u4411clb]

1 con is that calving in April your cows are going to be ready to be bred back in the middle of the summer. And that is hard work on a bull even one with Brahman influence to get out and get those cows in middle of July and into August. Your conception rate is more than likely going to drop.

How about if you have plenty of shade,ponds, and the bull works the night shift just to breed a dozen cows during the summer?

Shade and ponds are not going to help much. Cows reach their peak temperature often times hours later after it is peak heat outside. So at night cows and bulls can be at their peak heat. Also if you are in the fescue region what many refer to as summer slump makes cows body temperature run really hot. This is why people in the south will tell you that how a cow deals with summer slump is far more important than whether a cow is black hided or not. I try to tell people from other regions that say red cows and light color cows should work much better in the south and I tell them how they handle fescue and that heat is far more important. The small amount of cows may help you to a certain degree. It comes down to the fact that testicles and sperm are made to work well only within a certain temperature range.

 

[polledbull]

in TN you can plant your rye at the end of sept. mix marshall or big daddy rye grass with your abruzzi rye . this will extend your grazing into the spring better. I planted my rye late this yea , and I still have not grazed one pasture yet. it is just sitting there , but it has been cold .