Getting cows bred and a live calf on the ground are critical factors in the success of cow-calf operations. Calving ease is important in both situations and is affected by several things including size and age of the cow, birthweight of the calf and other factors.

Historically, the PTA calculations for calving traits have been centered on a breed average phenotypic base of 8% for Holsteins (calving ease and stillbirth) and 5% for Brown Swiss (calving ease).

Prior to the April genetic evaluations, model changes were announced for both calving ease and stillbirth. These changes considerably improved the accuracy of the traits and improved the stability of the evaluations.

Spring calving season is just about to start on most ranches across the U.S.