Cattle prices are at historic highs, making management of the cow herd investment more critical than ever. A lot of focus is put on developing heifers, rebreeding the 2- and 3-year-old cows, delivering a uniform, healthy calf crop to the next segment of the industry, or managing cull cows. Rightly so, as all these topics are important to the overall financial success of the beef cattle operation.

Most veterinarians recommend vaccinating nursing calves against clostridial, respiratory and digestive pathogens at 2 months old to bolster immunity against those pathogens.

Backgrounding spring-born calves on winter range or cornstalk residue after weaning is a way to increase weight and add value to weaned calves. However, calves grazing low-quality dormant forages or residues need protein supplementation to support gain.