Calving season is a highly anticipated event for cow-calf producers. They’ve spent the last year making genetic selections and management decisions in hopes for a healthy and superior calf crop.

There are advantages and disadvantages to every calving season; producers need to figure out what works best for their own climate and management system.

Since 2016, Kansas cattlemen and women have had the opportunity to attend Kansas State University Extension calving schools to not only brush up on their pre-calving and calving management but also learn new cow herd management strategies and calf-pulling techniques.

For most spring-calving beef producers, your herd is either calving now or will start to calve soon. Hopefully this article catches you before calving starts so you actually have time to read it – I know how busy this time of year can be. But as your calves start to come, I want you to have a metric in the back of your mind: calving distribution.

Animal health continues to be a major concern for all sectors of beef production. As the saying goes, “You can’t get over a bad start,” and this holds true for calf health.