Cows that arrive on the farm with a high price tag have a tendency to be crowned as queens before they prove themselves in the system. Hopefully, they are worth that special treatment and they pay for themselves quickly, but it takes time to find out.

While milk accounts for roughly 80% to 85% of our gross revenue on dairy farms, there’s untapped potential in diversifying the remaining 15% to 20% of income streams.

Economic culling decisions can be very complex and challenging to make. Ensuring every cow that passes through the milking system holds value will help lead to increased farm profitability.

While it may be tempting to raise every heifer calf, especially when replacement rates are high, it is essential to your profitability to identify when and why culling is necessary.

Learn how to manage forage inventories after harvest, improve average daily gain of calves and capitalize during times of tight farm margins.

Dr. Andrew Bohnhoff is the Director of Forage and Nutrition for Prairie Estates Genetics. Today, he returns to the Progressive Dairy Podcast to discuss and define cull rate, an ever-important but sometimes underconsidered variable for dairy farmers.

Cattle producers face a list of virtually unending challenges, tasks and responsibilities, and when tackled without the aid of a bovine veterinarian, they can become overwhelming in both size and intensity.